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B

Backbone
A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

Back-up
The essential job of saving and storing data on a tape or other storage device, such as a CD-ROM, outside your computer hard disk or computer network.

Bandwidth
The volume of data a line or channel can carry every second. Digital bandwidth is measured in bps (bits per second). The greater the bandwidth the quicker information can travel through it. Higher bandwidths are required for specialist applications like multimedia.

Banner ads
A graphic image which acts as an advertisement to entice site visitors to ‘click through’ to obtain further information.

Baud
In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300= 1200 bits per second).

BBS (Bulletin Board System)
A computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being connected to the computer at the same time. In the early 1990’s there were many thousands (millions?) of BBS’s around the world, most are very small, running on a single IBM clone PC with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS and a system like AOL gets crossed at some point, but it is not clearly drawn.

Binary
Information consisting entirely of ones and zeros. Also, commonly used to refer to files that are not simply text files, e.g. images.

Binhex (BINary HEXadecimal)
A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII.

Bit (Binary DigIT)
A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.

BITNET (Because It’s Time NETwork (or Because It’s There NETwork))
A network of educational sites separate from the Internet, but e-mail is freely exchanged between BITNET and the Internet. Listservs®, a popular form of e-mail discussion groups, originated on BITNET. At its peak (the late 1980’s and early 1990’s) BITNET machines were usually mainframes, often running IBM’s MVS operating system. BITNET is probably the only international network that is shrinking.

Blog (weB LOG)
A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.” Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog.
Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominently.

BPS
Bits per second. The rate at which one bit can be carried, normally expressed in thousands, Kbps, or millions, Mbps.

Broadband
High speed access to the Internet, generally at speeds of around 512Kbps or faster, such as ADSL or Cable Modem.

Browser
Software, such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, that lets you navigate around the web. Most browsers are provided free of charge.