World Wide Webfx Internet Glossary of Computer Terms

Glossary of Computer Terms
from World Wide Webfx

OC-3: A very fast data transmission circuit. An OC-3 circuit (155,000,000 bits per second) (see backbone)
octet: Eight bits. In networking, this term is sometimes used instead of "byte," because some systems have bytes that are not 8 bits long.
online: Connected to or part of a network especially the Internet.
Online Computer Library Catalog: OCLC is a nonprofit membership organization offering computer-based services to libraries, educational organizations, and their users. The OCLC library information network connects more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. Libraries use the OCLC system for cataloging, interlibrary loan, collection development, bibliographic verification, and reference searching.
on-line documentation: locally written and commercial documentation that is available by direct access on the computer.
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI): A suite ofprotocols, designed by ISO committees, to be the international standard computer network architecture. See also International Organization for Standardization.
Open URL: The dialog box you use to type the complete URL address for a Web page or other Internet server
Operating System: Software that allows a computer to accept input and generate output to various peripheral devices.(DOS and Windows 95 are operating systems).
OSI: See Open Systems Interconnection.
OSI Reference Model: A sevenlayer structure designed to describe computer network architectures and the way that data passes through them. The lowest levels handle the physical media and transmission characteristics of the network. The highest levels handle the user applications and data transmission. This model (sometimes referred to as the "seven-layer model") was developed by the ISO in 1978 to clearly define the interfaces in multivendor networks, and to provide users of those networks with conceptual guidelines in the construction of such networks. See also International Organization for Standardization.
output: Data that is displayed on the computer monitor or printed.