Government Data Centers: Meeting Increasing Demands (2003)
Chapter: Appendix E: Glossary
Appendix E
Glossary
DATABASE SCHEMA
A definition of the table structures and data types used to store data in a database. All the data in the database adhere to the database schema.
EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE (XML)
Provides its users with capabilities for defining sets of tags that can be used to mark up documents with information about the meaning of the data contained in the documents.
FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP) DOWNLOAD
A user is provided access to data stored on the data center computers, allowing copying of files.
INTERFACE
Means for users to interact with computing and database systems.
INTEROPERABILITY
The ability of a system or a product to work with other systems or products without special effort on the part of the customer.
LINEAGE
Metadata describing where reused structures and types of data came from.
METADATA
Data about data. Includes data about how, when, where and by whom a set of scientific data was named, structured, represented, collected, calibrated, stored, processes, exchanged, etc. Also, data about data distribution, data statistics, data usage, etc.
NETWORK BANDWIDTH
The capacity to move large data files electronically.
OPEN-SOURCE
Software with its source code made available without any restrictions on its redistribution or reuse.
PARSE
To process a data stream and recognize the individual data in the stream by using the schema for the data stream.
PETABYTE
A measure of memory or storage capacity and is 2 to the 50th power bytes or, in decimal, approximately 1,000 terabytes.
QUERY
Language entered by a user of a search engine or database to find data or information.
RANDOM ACCESS
To access individual data directly, as on a CD, computer disk, or computer memory, rather than scanning through data to find individual data, as on a tape.
SCHEMA
A definition of the structures and representation types of a collection of data.
SUBSETTING
The process of computing and making available a subset of the data in a data stream that satisfies a set of specific conditions. This subset may be delivered immediately or may be stored and subsequently delivered when requested by a user.
TERABYTE
A measure of computer storage capacity and is 2 to the 40th power or approximately 1,000 billion bytes (i.e., a thousand gigabytes).
XML schema
A definition of the structures and representation types of data in a collection of XML documents. All the XML documents in the collection defined by the XML schema adhere to the XML schema.
