TBG Technologies Talks Networking Jargon

Milwaukee WI

30 August, 2021

1:12 PM

Description

Our names are Jake Polzin, President and Toomas Mitt, Founder of TBG Technologies, an IT support company since 2004. The reason TBG Technologies exists is that we believe small companies are ignored. We are talking about the really small businesses. Those with ten or fewer employees usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to technology support. They have the same goals as big corporations. They have the same technology issues. But they have a tough time getting good, reliable help. Every technology has its own language with its own vocabulary and grammar. Auto mechanics know what a differential is and why it is important. Librarians have the Dewey decimal system. Baristas know what mouse tails are and why they are a good thing. Computer nerds are no different. There is a special language that makes sense to those of us who work with these things every day but sound like a foreign tongue to everyone else. Do you need to know this language? I mean, if you aren't a computer nerd yourself, why bother? If you have a staff of nerds ("IT Professionals") that take care of things in-house, then you don't. But our clients don't have this and end up trying to take care of some things themselves. So, you end up hearing a lot of terms that probably don't make a lot of sense. And while you don't need to know all of this strange language, it is helpful to know some key words so that you can make more intelligent decisions about your own computers and network. This is a short list of the most common terms you will hear. There can be many meanings for these – we only care about how they are used in simple business networks. Network A group of devices connected so they can share resources like files, printers, etc. The Cloud A fancy name for the internet. The idea is that there are things going on out in the clouds that are important, but the details don't need to be known for it to work. Modem This is a device that connects a computer or a network to the internet. It converts the information at the computer into the type of information the internet needs. In the old days, it was used to connect a telephone line to a computer. If you remember the sounds these "phone modems" used to make, you are old, in internet years. Firewall Did you know you have a firewall in your car? It protects you from the heat in the engine compartment. A nerd knows a firewall protects a network from all the bad guys out in the internet. It is your first and probably most important line of defense keeping your systems safe. Firewalls are usually devices that connect to your internet provider's modem. A firewall has two sides: a dangerous or "red" side and a safe or "green" side. The red side is the internet and the green side is the protected network in your office. Router This is a device that works like the old-time telephone operators in a building. It makes sure information is directed to the correct device. This is sometimes combined with a firewall in the same box. LAN Short for "Local Area Network". A nerd's term for all the computers, printers, and other devices on the "safe" side of a firewall. A nerd would never be caught spelling it out as in "L – A – N." A nerd will always make a word out of it and call it a "LAN" (rhymes with "man"). WAN Another shortened term. This one is short for "Wide Area Network". Simply means the network on the "red" side of the firewall. In other words, the internet. WLAN Nerds really love acronyms, don't they? This one is short for "Wireless Local Area Network" and represents those devices that connect to your local network (your LAN) using a wireless connection. Your laptop, smartphone, tablet, and some printers can all connect to your office network by wireless. They are using your WLAN. SSID Now we'll get to one of the more obscure terms. This one is short for "Service Set Identifier," What it really means to all of us is that it is the name of a wireless network. When you go to Starbucks, you connect to their wireless network by first searching for it. What you are looking for is Starbuck's SSID. Your wireless network at home has a name – that is its SSID. RAM Here's another one you have probably heard. RAM stands for "Random Access Memory" and it's the memory your computer has to work with. Think of it as the desktop in your office. A bigger desktop means you can do more things at one time. Too small and your computer creeps along. SSD Here's a new one. SSD stands for "Solid State Device." This is taking over the hard drive on computers. Think of it as the file cabinet in your office. It is where things are stored until you need them. An SSD is great because it has no moving parts, is very small, and generates almost no heat. Oh, and it is a lot faster than the old spinning disk hard drive your old computer had. That's all for now – these are the most common terms used in small networks. The definitions we've given here are not the only ones and there are lots of little technical details that we left out. But this should give you some idea of what is being talked about when your technician starts spouting jargon. Of course, our technicians understand this and don't try to confuse you! Jake Polzin is the President and Toomas Mitt is the Founder of TBG Technologies, located at 11300 W. Greenfield Avenue, West Allis, Wis. 53214. Tom can be reached at [email protected] and Jake can be reached at [email protected]. www.tbgtechnologies.com We Make Technology Behave.