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kitz:
Glossary and Explanation of some of the common terms in use on this site.


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kitz:
AAL5 - ATM Adaption Layer 5 [ITU.I363-5.1996]

ACK - Acknowledgement.  Control code used to indicate receipt of data from a remote computer.

ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

AFAIK - As Far As I Know

ATM - Asynchronous Transfer Mode - More info on the ATM Backhaul & ATM packets.

Attenuation - A measurement indicating the reduction of signal strength.  In relation to adsl this figure may also be referred to as loop loss and give an approximate indication of the length of your line.  More info from ~ What is attenuation.

ATU-C - ADSL Transmission Unit - Central.  The adsl device in the local  exchange. eg DSLAM or MSAN.

ATU-R - ADSL Transmission Unit - Remote.  The adsl in the home/office. eg adsl modem or router.

AUP - Acceptable Usage Policy.  Terms laid out by your ISP defining acceptable use of your connection.

kitz:
bps - bits per second. Used to indicate a measurement of speed.  Denoted by a small b

Bps - Bytes per second. Measurement of data transfer speed.  There are 8 bits in a Byte.  Denoted by a capital B and may also be displayed as B/Sec.

BER - Bit Error Rate.

bit - Binary Digit.

BPL - Broadband over Power Lines.

bRAS - Broadband Remote Access Server - A piece of hardware at a remote location, although collectively it may be used to describe a location of many Remote Access Servers and an important location from where your adsl is configured.  More information RAS.

bRAS profile - Broadband Remote Access Server Profile.  Profile information about your line, detailed information about bRAS and IP profile.

BSoD - Blue Screen of Death.

BT - Block Terminal.  Small box often installed in the home to join telephone wires.

BT - British Telecom.  UK's major telephone network supplier.  Split into several distinct sections. More info about the BT Groups.

BTo - British Telecom Openreach division.  - Responsible for the telephone access network and its maintenance,  such as your telephone line from the home to the exchange.

BTr - British Telecom Retail division - Seller of BT services to the general public.  Who we pay our telephone bill to. BT Internet/ BT Broadband also come under the BT retail division.

BTw - British Telecom Wholesale division - Provides network services to telecommunication companies such as our ISP.  BT adsl equipment is maintained & provided by BT Wholesale and they are responsible for such things like the DSLAM in the exchange, the RAS, and the BT backhaul to ISPs.

BTDT(GTS) - Been There Done That (Got the T Shirt)

BTW - By The Way.

Byte - 8 bits.

kitz:
CBC - Capacity Based Charging.  BT wholesale method of charging ISPs based on the amount of capacity of their Central Pipes - More information CBC

CGI - Common Gateway Interface.  A webserver interface allowing the transfer of data between the webserver and remote computer.  CGI scripts allow dynamic interaction between a user and the server.

CGI - Computer Generated Imagery.

CHAP - Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol. A protocol used on servers to validate the identity of remote clients. Commonly used by ISPs to validate customers logging on to the service.

CLI - Command Line Interface. - A method which allows interaction with a computer (or routers) operating system by issuing certain commands.

CLI - Caller Line Identification - Facility which allows customers to see who is calling before they answer the phone.

Colossus - BTw's Main Internet Backbone.  More info on Colossus IP Network.

CP - Consumer Products - BT speak for products sold to the general public.

CPA - Call Routing Apparatus (BT).

CPE - Customer Premises Equipment - BT speak for equipment in your home such as your router or telephone device.

CPU - Central Processing Unit - Computer hardware which carries out the data processing.

CRC - Cyclic Redundancy Check. 

CRC Error - Cyclic Redundancy Check Error - In relation to adsl, when your router has detected an error or lost packet.   More information CRC.

CSC - Customer Support (or Service) Centre for an ISP.

CSE - Customer Service Engineer.

CVLAN - Customer Virtual LAN.

CWDM - Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing.

CWSS - Copper Wideband Serving Section (BT).

kitz:
DAC - Digital To Analog Converter.

DACS - Digital Access Carrier Systems. - ADSL will not work on DACed lines.

Data Rate - An indication of your throughput (or real) speed.

DataStream - Type of adsl where the ISP rents VP bandwidth at the local exchange from BT Wholesale.  For more info see Datastream

DCoE - Diagnostic Centre of Excellence. An Openreach resource, available to Field Technicians and other members of staff.

DECT -  Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications

DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.  Method of automatically assigning IP addresses to network equipment.

DMT - Discrete Multi Tone Technology.  A method of converting digital data into frequencies that can be carried over the telephone line.  More info on DMT.

DLM - Dynamic Line Management.  BT Wholesale's method of managing ADSL profiles.  Detailed information on BTw's DLM system. Other LLU providers may have their own DLM system.

DNS - Domain Name System.  A method of converting human readable domain names into an IP address that can be understood by a computer. eg converting a web url such as bbc.co.uk into the IP address of the server where the website is held.

DNS - Domain Name Server.  A server which holds a list of DNS names to IP addresses.

DoS - Denial of Service.

DOS - Disk Operating System.

DP - Distribution Point. (BT)

DPI - Dots Per Inch.

DSL - Digital Subscriber Line - Broadband technology over the local telephone network.

DSLAM - Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer.  Equipment usually at the local telephone exchange responsible for maintaining your adsl connection.
For detailed information see - DSLAM.

DSLMax - BT Wholesale's offering of 'up to 8Mbps' speeds.  More information : What is DSL Max and How Max DSL works

D/W - Drop Wire (BT).

DWDM - Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing.

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