H

hacker

A term applied to individuals interested in computers and computing. This term is often used popularly to refer to individuals involved in criminal pursuits such as breaking into computers without proper authorization. Many purists prefer its original meaning, referring to individuals who have deep interest in as well as understanding of computers. See also cracker.

handshake

The process of negotiating a connection between two hosts. The initiating host waits for acknowledgment from the destination host, which in turn waits for acknowledgment of its own response.

home page

The opening document of a World Wide Web site. It may also refer to the Web document that an individual user’s Web browser points to on start-up.

host

Any device connected to a network that can send or receive requests for network services.

host address

The server address that is used to process transaction requests. For production transactions, the host address is “connect.signio.com”; for test transactions, it is “test.signio.com.”

host port

The port address that is used in conjunction with the host address when using the client in conjunction with a custom integration or storefront software application for transaction processing. Always use port 443.

HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language; an Internet standard for creating World Wide Web documents, based on the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). Markup languages create plain-text files using tags to set off functional sections of the document, which are interpreted appropriately for display by the document-viewing software.

HTTP

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol; an Internet standard defining the interaction between World Wide Web clients and servers.

HTTP protocol

Hardware and/or software that connects computer networks and allows them to communicate.

hyperlink

A digital phone number of another computer or network location, often represented as a button or highlighted text on a computer screen.