Connection Speed
Internet connections are typically measured in kilobits (kbps) or megabits per second (mbps). A kilobit is 1024 bits (binary digits). Eight bits are required to represent a byte (the letter 't' or the & symbol each require one byte). That means that a kilobit is 128 characters. A megabit is 1048576 bits or 131072 characters transferred in once second (that's approximately 40 pages of single-spaced text!).

A T1 connection to the internet is approximately 1.5 mbps which means that 196608 bytes of data may be transferred each second (actually, Internet traffic operates at somewhat slower speeds due to the way traffic is handled).

iPartner's connection to the Internet is run through redundant OC3 and DS3 lines. OC3 lines run at approximately 155 mbps--or 103 times faster than a T1. DS3 lines run at about 45 mbps (30 times faster than a T1). The redundancy (multiple lines through diverse service providers) means that when the Internet "goes down" for some companies, yours doesn't. Most internet hosting companies will provide T1 access or occasionally DS3.

iPartner's connctions are:
2 Verio OC3s, 3 Sprint DS3s, 1 UUNET DS3, 1 MCI DS3 (OC3 = 155.52 Mbps, DS3 = 44.736 Mbps)

Dialog Box
A window that appears on your screen that you typically cannot resize and that promts you to enter a command, select an option, or choose a file.

DOS Commands
This prints very small on some computer montiors, so feel free to drag your mouse across this section, choose copy from the Edit menu on your web browser, and paste it into your favorite word processor.

List the directory contents	dir
Change to directory dirname	cd dirname
Delete a file			del filename
Exit the DOS shell		exit
Run FTP				ftp
Quit FTP			quit

DOS Shell
The DOS Shell gives you an alternative "ugly" look at your computer. There are no windows, colors (typically), or uses for a mouse; just you and your keyboard (kind of scary!). You'll want to look at some of the DOS commands to get around.

Email or E-Mail
Electronic mail. Using an email client, you compose a message, much like you would on a typewriter. You then have the option to save the message, or send it immediately to whomever you like (provided they have an email account). The message is relayed electronically across the Internet until it arrives at an electronic "post office" where the recipient may then request it (by "checking their email"). FTP Commands

open				open a connection to a server
close				close a connection to a server
quit				exit FTP
put				put a file to the server
mput				put multiple files to the server(e.g., mput *.jpg)
get				get a file from the server
mget				get multiple files from the server (e.g., mget *.html)
ls				list the contents of a server directory
lcd				local change directory
!				exit to the DOS shell (use "exit" to return to FTP)

New Customer
An iPartner.net customer of less than 1 month.

Parent Directory
The parent directory is the directory immediately "above" the current directory tree (the tree is an upside-down tree for historical reasons).

POP
Post Office Protocol. Any of the available flavors of email servers running on the Internet today.