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Cache
When you download a web page, the data is "cached," meaning it is temporarily stored on your computer. The next time you want that page, instead of requesting the file from the web server, your web browser just accesses it from the cache, so the page loads quickly. But if the web page is updated frequently, as are pages with news, sports scores or financial data, you won't see the most current information. Use the Reload button on your browser to download fresh data from the server.
CGI
An acronym for Common Gateway Interface, CGI is an interface program that enables an Internet server to run external programs to perform a specific function. Also referred to as gateways or CGI "scripts," these programs generally consist of a set of instructions written in a programming language like C or PERL that process requests from a browser, execute a program and format the results in HTML so they can be displayed in the browser. Gateway scripts are commonly used to add interactivity to a web page by allowing users to do certain things. For example fill out and submit forms for processing (as in an order form for an online catalogue); query databases by submitting search requests; and register or gain access to password-protected areas of a site. CGI scripts are also used to implement a variety of tracking and measurement systems on a web site.
See also PERL; HTML
Cgi-bin
The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The 'bin' part of 'cgi-bin' is a shorthand version of binary because originally, most programs were referred to as binaries. In reality , most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files - scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the same machine.
Clickable Image
A clickable image is any image that has instructions embedded in it so that clicking on it initiates some kind of action or result. On a web page, a clickable image is any image that has a URL or more than one URL embedded in it (i.e. hidden behind it). This can be accomplished simply by including an anchor tag in an HTML (image) tag. Embedding more than one URL in an image requires constructing an image map.
See also URL; HTML
Client
A client is a program that uses the services of another program. The client program is used to contact and obtain data or request a service from the server.
Co-located server
A co-located server is where the customer would supply his or her own server and it would
physically reside within the ISP's Data Centre facility. Star offers a range of co-located server
solutions, housed in our state-of-the-art data centre.
See also Data Centre
Contention ratio
Used to express the total number of users which share an Internet connection. For example, if the service is contended or "oversubscribed" at 20:1, it means that you share the bandwidth with up to 19 other users. Thus the performance of the connection will vary according to time of day and time of week, depending on how many other users happen to be online at that moment.
Cookie
A cookie is a file sent to a web browser by a web server that is used to record one's
activities on a web site. For instance, when you buy items from a site and place them in a
so-called virtual shopping cart, that information is stored in the cookie. When the browser
requests additional files, the cookie information is sent back to the server. Cookies can remember
other kinds of personal information, such as your password, so you don't have to re-enter it each
time you visit the site; and your preferences, so the next time you return to a site, you can be
presented with customised information. Some people regard cookies as an invasion of privacy; others
think they are a harmless way to make web sites more personal.
Most cookies have an expiration date and either resides in your computer's memory until you
close your browser or saved to your hard drive. By the way, cookies cannot read information stored
in your computer.
You can use a text editor to view cookie files. For Windows users of Netscape Navigator, the
file is called cookies.txt and is located in the same folder as Netscape. Macintosh users can find
it in the Netscape folder in the System/Preferences folder. Internet Explorer creates separate
files for each cookie and stores them in folders named Cookies or Temporary Internet
Files.
Cryptography
The process of securing private information that is passed through public networks by mathematically scrambling (encrypting) it in a way that makes it unreadable to anyone except the person or persons holding the mathematical "key" that can unscramble (decrypt) it. The two most common types of cryptography are "same-key" and "public-key." In same-key cryptography, a message is encrypted and decrypted using the same key, which is passed along from one party to another in a separate transmission. A more secure method is public-key cryptography that uses a pair of different keys (one public, one private) that have a particular relationship to one another, such that any message encrypted with one key can only be decrypted with the other key and vice versa.
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