3Com HomeConnect 3CP4130 User Manual page 46

A term coined in the early 1970s to describe a geographically-dispersed office
where workers can work at home on a computer and transmit data and documents
to a central office via telephone lines.
USB (Universal Serial Bus)
A new external bus standard that supports very fast data transfer rates. A single
USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices. Manufacturers are
including USB ports in more and more new computers.
VCI (Virtual Circuit Identifier)
A virtual circuit is a connection between two devices that acts as though it's a
direct connection even though it may physically be circuitous. The term is used
most frequently to describe connections between two hosts in a packet-switching
network. The two hosts can communicate as though they have a dedicated
connection even though the packets might actually travel very different routes
before arriving at their destination.
VPI (Virtual Path Identifier)
"Virtual path" refers, in networking, to the location of a file or directory on a
server being accessed remotely via the Web. The VPI is the address of the file.
WAN (Wide Area Network)
A computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area. Typically, a
WAN consists of two or more local-area networks (LANs). Computers connected
to a wide-area network are often connected through public networks, such as the
telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines (cable) or
satellites. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet.
Workstation
(1). In networking, workstation refers to any computer connected to a local-area
network. It could be a "workstation" (definition 2) or a personal computer (PC).
(2). A "workstation" in a second sense generally means a computer that is capable
of a moderate amount of computing power and high graphics capabilities. It is
somewhere in power between a PC and a mini-computer, although the lines are
becoming more and more blurred.