Tech FAQ

The purpose of this tech FAQ is to give you a general overview of the most common terms in the overly complicated world of computing. Contact 3Connected for a consultation where we can show you how to take some of the technologies and make them work for your business.

This FAQ is periodically updated as it is a work in progress, if you don't see something here, and you want to know how it can be used in your business, send an e-mail to info@3connected.com and we can help.

The penguin is the logo most commonly
associated with the Linux operating system. Linux is an offshoot of Unix and like Unix comes in many flavors. The beauty of Linux is that its open source, costs nothing, customizable, secure, and has relatively low overhead. Many a solution can be done with the penguin. However just like there are many different types of penguins, there are different versions of Linux.

Examples of the various flavors are Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, CentOS, SUSE, and Gentoo.

The Microsoft Windows logo needs know description. It is literally almost everywhere. Windows does just not mean the operating system on your computer. Windows Operating Systems also consists of servers, mobile phones, and embedded devices such as disk enclosures. However when it comes to the most common recognizable thing, most people will always recognize the Microsoft Windows logo for the OS that runs on their computer, and the office suite they use to do their work, hence Microsoft Office.

The Apple symbol is just as recognizable as the Microsoft logo. Apple Computers run on a different operating system but the hardware now is actually similar. Apple computers are generally made by Apple and runs Apple software. The operating system that is used on Apple computers is called OS X. This is a derivative of Unix, so they are very similar. Under the hood though an Apple computer will have the same processor as a regular PC as well as other similar attributes. As it is made by Apple they are built and geared around Apple software. OS X is known for its beauty, simplicity, and functionality.

Unix is an operating system that was developed back in 1969 by AT&T employees at Bell Labs. Like Linux there are many flavors of Unix. Company's such as Sun Microsystems, HP, and others have their own versions of Unix. The majority of Unix servers are usually for the most part deployed as servers and some workstations. Interestingly enough Sun Microsystems who is a major player in the Unix world released the bulk of its Solaris (their Unix operating system) system code into an open source project called Open Solaris. FreeBSD is also a popular version of Unix. Unix runs on Intel computers as well as other types. The command line does tend to scare away some people.

To put it simply, Voice Over Internet Protocol is the transmission of voice traffic over a network. The Internet Protocol was originally designed for data. The success of IP in becoming a wide standard for data networking has led to its adaption in voice networking.

There are two ways to define what a remote desktop is. Take literally it means the ability to use a desktop with all your applications via remote. It can also be defined as the tool used for access a Windows Terminal Server to use your desktop as you would if you were in the office. Windows Terminal Services allows you to access a Remote Desktop with all your applications. When setup they can work hand in hand together.

PPTP stands for Point to Point Tunneling Protocol. It was developed jointly by Microsoft and US Robotics. It is used to create an external connection for a Virtual Private Network for MS Windows operating systems. You can essentially dial into the corporate network over the internet. Hence a virtual private network from home, to your office over the internet. All Windows Operating systems are capable of PPTP.

This is a service that when used on a Windows Server allows the user to dial into the corporate network. The windows client is running PPTP which goes across the internet and ends at a Routing and Remote Access server which then processes the login and allows the user to be authenticated into the network.

This is a development method which offers accessibility to a product's source code. The open source model for software allows concurrent input of different agendas, techniques, and priorities. This differs from closed models of development which does not allow for community participation.

Asterisk is open source software built for VoIP. With asterisk one can create a fully functional pbx which will allow you to communicate with telephony over the internet.

Customer Relationship Management is what this stands for. It is an excellent tool to organize your sales database and centralize all info. There are many different types of CRMs.

This software allows you to create a web site that is a front end for document management, work group collaboration, and application management. Portal software runs through a web browser and can provide an excellent tool to make your workforce mobile as it allows all records to be accessible over the web.

An IP address is a unique address used by different computers on a computer network to identify and communicate with one another.

Web mail is one of the most useful web applications on the Internet, it allows you to access, send, receive and manage your email through a web browser. The great part of web mail is that you can access your email from almost any computer around the world, as long as it has an Internet connection and web browser.

The definition of a database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. In order for a database to be truly functional, it must not only store large amounts of records well, but be accessed easily. In addition, new information and changes should also be fairly easy to input. In order to have a highly efficient database system, you need to incorporate a program that manages the queries and information stored on the system. This is usually referred to as DBMS or a Database Management System. Besides these features, all databases that are created should be built with high data integrity and the ability to recover data if hardware fails.

RAM is an abbreviation for Random Access Memory. It usually refers to "temporary" memory, as when the system is shut down, the memory is lost. This is why the memory is referred to as being "random," as any piece of information can be circulated through the memory regardless of its location and its relation to any other information within the RAM.