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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions. A compilation of answers to the most common questions on a particular subject.
Firewall: A combination of hardware and software, used to protect a network from unwelcome traffic. A firewall can be used to separate a LAN into two or more parts, or to control network traffic.
FrontPage: FrontPage is a WYSIWYG website editor by Microsoft. In order to use FrontPage to create and maintain your website, your hosting service must install "extensions" (CGI programs that provide the server side implementation of FrontPage) for your account. Ameritech offers FrontPage extensions.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A common method of sending and receiving files on the Internet. You might use FTP to upload HTML files to your web host from your own computer. A user ID and password are needed to use FTP, unless Anonymous FTP is allowed.
GIF: Graphic Interchange Format. A type of image file. GIF files are graphics or pictures, often used on websites. Because GIF files contain a maximum of 256 colors, this file format is ideal for simple graphics with minimal shading or color variation. Other types of graphics are better suited for the JPEG file format.
Gigabyte: (GB)One billion bytes. To be more accurate, one gigabyte actually contains 1,073,741,824 bytes. Since the prefix "giga" is associated with one billion, the term gigabyte is used to define 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Graphic: Any picture or image file within a website. Graphics are usually in GIF or JPEG format.
Hit: A single request from a browser for a single item from a server. When a browser displays a website that contains 2 graphics, 3 hits occur at the server: 1 hit for the HTML page itself, plus a hit for each of the two graphics. See Also: Impressions
Homepage: The first page of a website. Some people choose to have only a homepage, with no supporting pages.
Host: A computer system accessed by a user from a remote location. In the case of two computer systems connected via modem, the "host" is the system containing the data and the "remote" is the computer at which the user is working. Or A computer that is connected to a TCP/IP network, including the Internet. Each host has a unique IP address. Or as a verb, "host" means providing the infrastructure for a computer service. A company that hosts a server may provide the hardware and software needed to run that server, but does not supply all the content on that server. Ameritech provides hosting services by running and maintaining the server, while allowing customers to maintain their own website content.