World Wide Webfx Internet Glossary of Computer Terms

Glossary of Computer Terms
from World Wide Webfx

queue: A backup of packets awaiting processing. See also spool.
Quick Time: A video format for making movies available on the World Wide Web.
RAM: Random Access Memory temporarily stores current application software and data for quick access.
Rapid Filer: a MS Windows program that allows file transfer between the microcomputer and a remote computer.
reciprocal linking: The practice of providing a link to a web site in return for a link posted on that site referencing back to to the originating site.
regional: See mid-level network.
remote computer: a computer that you are connecting to in different location from your local computer.
repeater: A device that propagates electrical signals from one cable to another. See also gateway, router.
Request for Comments (RFC): The document series, begun in 1969, that describes the Internet suite of protocols and related experiments. The name comes from bureaucratspeak-as do its government procurement cousins RFQ (Request for Quote) and RFP (Request for Purchase). Not all (in fact very few) RFC's describe Internet standards, but all Internet standards are written up as RFCs. The RFC series of documents is unusual in that the proposed protocols are forwarded by the Internet research and development community; acting on their own behalf, as opposed to the formally reviewed and standardized protocols that are promoted by organizations such as CCITT and ANSI. See also For Your Information, STD.
ROM: Read Only Memory stores permanently essential system programs and start-up instructions for the PC.
route: The path that network traffic takes from its source to its destination. Also, a possible path from a given host to another host or destination.
router: A device that forwards traffic between networks, using information from then network layer and from routing tables. Some routers are "dedicated," meaning that they do nothing but shuffle traffic; some are used for other purposes, including file storage. See also gateway.
routing: The process of selecting the correct interface and next hop for a packet being forwarded. See also router.
routing domain: A set of routers exchanging routing information within an administrative domain.
routing table: A table or database of routing paths and decision variables that allows a router to send packets on to the correct destination. Routing tables are maintained both by humans and computers.
RS/6000: a multiuser Unix Workstation manufactured by IBM that runs the AIX operating system. The majority of Unix accounts are on this class of machines.
RTFM: Read the Flippin' Manual (or some such similar thing). This is a mild flame in response to a user's question when the answer is immediately available in a README, STD, FAQ, or FYI file. Read first, ask questions later.