This glossary was written and prepared by Blair Bergum of  DNSnews.net
For additions or corrections to this glossary, please send email to glossary at dnsnews dot net

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AAAA

pronounced Quad A, is a host domain record that maps the name to the hosts Ipv6 address. The RDATA of the Quad A record is an Ipv6 address which is in the format of 8 groups of as many as four hexadecimal digits separated by colons.

absolute domain name

see FQDN, Fully Qualified Domain Name.

Abstract Syntax Notation

See ASN and ASN.1.

access

refers to when a client purchases transit “connection” services to the Internet.

access cache

the cache of an ISP that caches requests from all of its customers and shares the cache with any other of its customers who use this ISP.

Active Server Pages

see ASP.

accredited Registrars

Registrars who have been approved by ICANN to sell and register domain names to registrants.

ACP

Administrative Domain Name Challenge Panel

ACPA

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of November 29, 1999, was established to protect trademark holders from domain name registrants who infringed upon their mark by registering a domain name with the mark of the trademark holder with the purpose of selling the domain name back to the trademark holder.

ADR

Alternate Dispute Resolution System as proposed by the U.S. government in their White Paper for a method of resolving domain name disputes.

address sorting

where the topologically closest NS address is listed in the Resource Records for a router, so it will be accessed first. See also round robin, which instead rotates the addresses from the queries requested.

adware

a term to describe free sponsored software that often contains cookies and Registry keys that are loaded onto an unsuspecting users without their knowledge. This data or program is then used to track a user's movements across the Internet. See also spyware.

AFSDB

Andrew File System Data Base, gives the location of the database server or the DCE cells authentication. AFSDB was originally designed by CMU as part of the Andrew Project.

AFTLD

African Top Level Domains.

AH.net

an independent Australian-based DNS registry service that provided an alternative root that is authoritative, which is not approved or endorsed by ICANN.  However, in 1996, the owner pulled the domain name from the project, and decided that AH.net was not going to become a saleable product.  AH.net decided to honor the true meaning of the Internet by sharing of resources and technology.

AICPA

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

alias

another name for, a pseudonym. Aliases are common in the resource records of the DNS, for A Records, Pointers, and CNAMES. See also Alias Record.

alias Record

is an alias Domain Name, one that exists only as a programmed name and not one that was actually registered. An alias name is mapped to an original domain name using CNAME.

alternate roots

is a unique authoritative root that is not sanctioned or a part of the ICANN authoritative root system.

AlterNIC

Alternate Network Information Center, is an independent global registry service that provides alternate roots that are authoritative, that are not endorsed or supported by the TLD’s that are introduced by ICANN. The AlterNIC’s TLD’s are administered on another set of root name servers and they utilize their own registry service.

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

see AICPA.

anonymous FTP

Anonymous File Transfer Protocol, allows visitors to anonymously upload or download files from their server via their workstations without any need for usernames or passwords. Anonymous FTP requires a static IP address on the part of the host.

ANSI

American National Standards Institute, is the organization responsible for the technology standards in the United States of America. ANSI works with member organizations like the ISO and the IEC. ANSI developed the standard ASCII.

APA

Administrative Procedure Act.

Apache

a UNIX based web server, commonly used for Internet sites.

API

Application Program Interface.

APNIC

Asian Pacific Information Centre, regional Registry covering the Asia-Pacific domains. http://www.apnic.net

APTLD

Asian-Pacific Top Level Domain forum.

archives

removable media containing copies of code, data, or content that are stored off site or in a remote location for safekeeping.

ARCnet

Attached Resource Computer Network.

A Record

Address Record, is the host address that is associated with a domain. It is in the form of an Internet IP address that is written in the form of a dotted decimal format, or dotted quad. This IP address points to the domain name. Sometimes the A Record is also known as an Alias Record because the domain name is like an Alias for the IP address.

ARIN

American Registry for Internet Numbers, is the Regional Registry for Americas and African regions. http://www.arin.net

A Root

see Authoritative root.

ARPA

Advanced Research Project’s Agency, later renamed to DARPA in 1972 to reflect their affiliation with the DOD, (Department of Defense).

A Root Server

Maintains the authoritative root database and replicates changes and updates to the other root servers on a daily basis. Also known as Authoritative Root Server.

ARPAnet

first packet-switching technology and communications network developed from funding from the U.S. government. ARPAnet was an experimental wide area computer network that connected important research organizations in the U.S. Its goal was to allow government contractors to share expensive or scarce computing resources. However, ARPAnet was also used for collaboration ranging from sharing files and software to email distribution.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange, was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ASCII is the most common form for transmitting text files. 128 characters are defined in this format and there are no embedded codes or text-formatting in this standard.

ASP

Active Server Pages, is a scripting language from Microsoft that facilitates the incorporation of database data into webpages.

ASN

1) Autonomous System Numbers.

2) Abstract Syntax Notation, an ISO standard used to describe a message sent over a network in terms of syntax, for data and type, and how the data is encoded. The specification is currently ASN.1, Abstract Syntax Notation One. See also ASN.1.

ASN.1

Abstract Syntax Notation One, is a standard used to describe a message sent over a network in terms of syntax, for data and type, and how the data is encoded. The rules are divided in two parts, one for syntax, and the other for encoding the data in a message. ASN.1 is intended to work within the OSI framework. See also OSI.

ASO

Address Supporting Organization

ASO Members

Include ARIN, RIPE, and APNIC.

AUP

Acceptable Use Policy, outlines the acceptable content and use of the client when utilizing services from the service provider.

authoritative

refers to the information or record on a name server which is the master record.

Authoritative root

one of the thirteen authoritative root servers that contains the master copy of the file that identifies all TLD’s and redistributes this file to the other twelve root servers.

Autonomous System Numbers

See ASN.

autoresponders

a mail program that automatically sends an email message to the sender under certain pre-set conditions.

AXFR

All Transfer Request, initiates a full zone transfer between a master name server and a secondary master name server.