gateway
1. A deprecated term for a device that enables
data to flow between different networks (forming an
{internet}).
Preferred terms are "{protocol converter}" (connects networks
that use different {protocols}), "{router}" (connects two
broadcast networks at layer 3 ({network layer}). Another
example is a {mail gateway}, which is a layer 7 ({application
layer}) gateway.
2. An {interface} between an information source
and a {World-Wide Web} {server}. {Common Gateway Interface}
is a {standard} for such interfaces. The information source
can be any system that can be accessed by a program running on
the web server. A typical example is a {relational
database}.
(2000-05-24)