Analog -- the natural electrical waveform of sound and light. It is a transmission method that is based on a continuous electrical signal wave as opposed to the 0/1 structure of digital transmission. Analog is considered less desirable than digital.

Application -- a computer program that performs a specific task or function. For example, Microsoft Excel is an application.

Archive -- a collection of files stored on a computer network.

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) -- a networking protocol that is able to transfer information at a very high speed because it has broken the data down into small segments. ATM allows voice, video and data to be simultaneously transported over one line. (Not to be confused with ATMs or Automatic Teller Machines, which are used for banking.)

Authentication -- a security measure for checking a network user's identity.