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GlossaryofNetworkingTerms
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10Base2
10MbpsbasebandEthernetspecificationusing50ohmthincoaxialcable.10Base2,whichispartoftheIEEE802.3
specification,hasadistancelimitof185meterspersegment.
10Base5
10MbpsbasebandEthernetspecificationusingstandard(thick)50ohmbasebandcoaxialcable.10Base5,whichispartof
theIEEE802.3basebandphysicallayerspecification,hasadistancelimitof500meterspersegment.
10BaseF
10MbpsbasebandEthernetspecificationthatreferstothe10BaseFB,10BaseFL,and10BaseFPstandardsforEthernetover
fiberopticcabling.
10BaseFB
10MbpsbasebandEthernetspecificationusingfiberopticcabling.10BaseFBispartoftheIEEE10BaseFspecification.Itis
notusedtoconnectuserstations,butinsteadprovidesasynchronoussignalingbackbonethatallowsadditionalsegments
andrepeaterstobeconnectedtothenetwork.10BaseFBsegmentscanbeupto2,000meterslong.
10BaseFL
10MbpsbasebandEthernetspecificationusingfiberopticcabling.10BaseFLispartoftheIEEE10BaseFspecificationand,
whileabletointeroperatewithFOIRL,isdesignedtoreplacetheFOIRLspecification.10BaseFLsegmentscanbeupto1,000
meterslongifusedwithFOIRL,andupto2,000metersif10BaseFLisusedexclusively.
10BaseFP
10MbpsfiberpassivebasebandEthernetspecificationusingfiberopticcabling.10BaseFPispartoftheIEEE10BaseF
specification.Itorganizesanumberofcomputersintoastartopologywithouttheuseofrepeaters.10BaseFPsegmentscan
beupto500meterslong.
10BaseT
AspecificationoftheIEEE802.3committeefortheimplementationof10MbitEthernetonunshieldedtwistedpairwiring.
10Broad36
10MbpsbroadbandEthernetspecificationusingbroadbandcoaxialcable.10Broad36,whichispartoftheIEEE802.3
specification,hasadistancelimitof3,600meterspersegment.
100BaseFX
100MbpsbasebandFastEthernetspecificationusingtwostrandsofmultimodefiberopticcableperlink.Toguaranteeproper
signaltiming,a100BaseFXlinkexceed400metersinlength.BasedontheIEEE802.3standard.
100BaseT
A100MBEthernetspecificationusingLevel5UTP.
100BaseT4
100MbpsbasebandFastEthernetspecificationusingfourpairsofCategory3,4,or5UTPwiring.Toguaranteepropersignal
timing,a100BaseT4segmentcannotexceed100metersinlength.BasedontheIEEE802.3standard.
100BaseTX
100MbpsbasebandFastEthernetspecificationusingtwopairsofeitherUTPorSTPwiring.Thefirstpairofwiresisusedto
receivedata,thesecondisusedtotransmit.Toguaranteepropersignaltiminga100BaseTXsegmentcannotexceed100
metersinlength.BasedontheIEEE802.3standard.
100BaseX
100MbpsbasebandFastEthernetspecificationthatreferstothe100BaseFXand100BaseTXstandardsforFastEthernet
overfiberopticcabling.BasedontheIEEE802.3standard.
100VGAnyLAN
100MbpsFastEthernetandTokenRingmediatechnologyusingfourpairsofCategory3,4,or5UTPcabling.Thishigh
speedtransporttechnology,developedbyHewlettPackard,canbemadetooperateonexisting10BaseTEthernetnetworks.
BasedontheIEEE802.12standard.
4B/5Blocalfiber
4byte/5byteloc100Mbpsovermultimodefiber.SeealsoTAXI4B/5B.
08/10Blocalfiber
8byte/10bytelocalfiber.Fiberchannelphysicalmediathatsupportsspeedsupto149.76Mbpsovermultimodefiber.
A&Bbitsignaling
ProcedureusedinT1transmissionfacilitiesinwhicheachofthe24T1subchannelsdevotesonebitofeverysixthframeto
thecarryingofsupervisorysignalinginformation.Alsocalled24thchannelsignaling.

AAL
ATMadaptationlayer.Servicedependentsublayerofthedatalinklayer.TheAALacceptsdatafromdifferentapplicationsand
presentsittotheATMlayerintheformof48byteATMpayloadsegments.AALsconsistoftwosublayers,CSandSAR,AALs
differonthebasisofthesourcedestinationtimingused,whethertheyuseDBRorVBR,andwhethertheyareusedfor
connectionorientedorconnectionlessmodedatatransfer.Atpresent,thefourtypesofAALrecommendedbytheITUTare
AAL1,AAL2,AAL3/4,andAAL5.
AAL1
ATMadaptationlayer1.OneoffourAALsrecommendedbytheITUT.AAL1isusedforconnectionoriented,delaysensitive
servicesrequiringconstantbitrates,suchasuncompressedvideoandotherisochronoustraffic.
AAL2
ATMadaptationlayer2.OneoffourAALsrecommendedbytheITUT.AAL2isusedforconnectionorientedservicesthat
supportavariablebitrate,suchassomeisochronousvideoandvoicetraffic.
AAL3/4
ATMadaptationlayer3/4.OneoffourAALs(mergerfromtwoinitiallydistinctadaptationlayers)recommendedbytheITUT.
AAL3/4supportsbothconnectionlessandconnectionorientedlinks,butisprimarilyusedforthetransmissionofSMDS
packetsoverATMnetworks.
AAL5
ATMadaptationlayer5.OneoffourAALsrecommendedbytheITUT.AAL5supportsconnectionoriented,VBRservices,
andisusedpredominantlyforthetransferofclassicIPoverATMandLANEtraffic.AAL5usesSEALandistheleastcomplex
ofthecurrentAALrecommendations.Itofferslowbandwidthoverheadandsimplerprocessingrequirementsinexchangefor
reducedbandwidthcapacityanderrorrecoverycapability.
AARP
AppleTalkAddressResolutionProtocol.ProtocolintheAppleTalkprotocolstackthatmapsadatalinkaddresstoanetwork
address.
AARPprobepackets
PacketstransmittedbyAARPthatdeterminewhetherarandomlyselectednodeIDisbeingusedbyanothernodeina
nonextendedAppleTalknetwork.IfthenodeIDisnotbeingused,thesendingnodeusesthatnodeID.IfthenodeIDisbeing
used,thesendingnodechoosesadifferentIDandsendsmoreAARPprobepackets.
ABM
AsynchronousBalancedMode.AnHDLC(andderivativeprotocol)communicationmodesupportingpeeroriented,pointto
pointcommunicationsbetweentwostations,whereeitherstationcaninitiatetransmission.
ABR
1.availablebitrate.QOSclassdefinedbytheATMForumforATMnetworks.ABRisusedforconnectionsthatdonotrequire
timingrelationshipsbetweensourceanddestination.ABRprovidesnoguaranteesintermsofcelllossordelays,providing
onlybesteffortservice.Trafficsourcesadjusttheirtransmissionrateinresponsetoinformationtheyreceivedescribingthe
statueofthenetworkanditscapabilitytosuccessfullydeliverdata.ComparewithCBR,UBR,andVBR.2.areaborderrouter.
RouterlocatedontheborderofoneormoreOSPFareasthatconnectsthoseareastothebackbonenetwork.ABRsare
consideredmembersofboththeOSPFbackboneandtheattachedareas.Theythereforemaintainroutingtablesdescribing
boththebackbonetopologyandthetopologyoftheotherareas.
AC
AlternatingCurrent.Anelectricalpowertransmissionsysteminwhichthedirectionofcurrentflowalternatesonaperiodic
basis.
Accelerator
Ahardwareadditiontoanexistingcomputingdevicethatincreasesthecomputer'sprocessingspeedandcapabilities.
Access
Referringtotheabilityofacomputingdevicetousedataorresourcesbeyonditsnativecapabilities.
AccessList
Listkeptbyrouterstocontrolaccesstoorfromtherouterforanumberofservices.Forexample,thelistcanpreventpackets
withacertainIPaddressfromleavingaparticularinterfaceontherouter.
AccessMethod
ThetypeofMediaAccessControlmethodthatanodeusestogaincontrolofanetwork.
Accounting
OneoffivecategoriesofnetworkmanagementdefinedbyISOfor
Management
managementofOSInetworks.Accountingmanagementsubsystemsareresponsibleforcollectingnetworkdatarelatingto
resourceusage.Seealsoconfigurationmanagement,faultmanagement,performancemanagement,andsecurity
management.
Accuracy
Referringtohowcloselyatestinstrument'smeasurementscomparetoastandardvalue,usuallyexpressedasapercentage
ofthevaluemeasured.
ACF
AdvancedCommunicationsFunction.AgroupofSNAproductsthatprovidesdistributedprocessingandresourcesharing.

ACF/NCP
AdvancedCommunicationsFunction/NetworkControlProgram.TheprimarySNANCP.ACF/NCPresidesinthe
communicationscontrollerandinterfaceswiththeSNAaccessmethodinthehostprocessortocontrolnetwork
communications.
Acknowledgment
Notificationsentfromonenetworkdevicetoanothertoacknowledgethatsomeevent(forexample,receiptofamessage)has
occurred.SometimesabbreviatedACK.
ACR
Allowscellrate.ParameterdefinedbytheATMForumforATMtrafficmanagement.ACRvariesbetweentheMCRandthe
PCR,andisdynamicallycontrolledusingcongestioncontrolmechanisms.
ACSE
Associationcontrolserviceelement.AnOSIconventionusedtoestablish,maintainorterminateaconnectionbetweentwo
applications.
ActiveHub
MultiporteddevicethatamplifiesLANtransmissionsignals.
ActiveMonitor
DeviceresponsibleformanagingaTokenRing.AnetworknodeisselectedtobetheactivemonitorifithasthehighestMAC
addressonthering.Theactivemonitorisresponsibleformanagementtaskssuchasensuringthattokensarenotlostorthat
framesdonotcirculateindefinitely.
Adapter
Hardwarethatallowsacomputingdevicephysicalaccesstoanetwork.
AdaptiveRouting
Seedynamicrouting.
ADCCP
AdvancedDataCommunicationsControlProtocol.
Address
Anumericaldesignationthatuniquelyreferstoaspecificcommunicationentity.
AddressedCall
Modethatpermitscontrolsignalsandcommandsto
Mode
establishandterminatecallsinV.25bis.
AddressMapping
Techniquethatallowsdifferentprotocolstointeroperatebytranslatingaddressesfromoneformattoanother.Forexample,
whenroutingIPoverX.25,theIPaddressesmustbemappedtotheX.25addressessothattheIPpacketscanbetransmitted
bytheX.25network.Seealsoaddressresolution.
AddressMask
Bitcombinationusedtodescribewhichportionofanaddressreferstothenetworkorsubnetandwhichpartreferstothehost.
Sometimesreferredtosimplyasmask.alsosubnetmask.
AddressResolution
Whentwoaddressingsystemsrefertothesameentity,theprocessoftranslatingorexpressingtheaddressofanentityon
onesystemtotheequivalentaddressofthesameentityinthesecondsystem.Forinstance,translatinganIPaddresstoits
givenDNSname.
AddressResolution
SeeARP
Protocol
AddressSpace
Therangeofpossibleuniqueaddressesallowedbyanaddressingscheme.
Adjacency
Relationshipformedbetweenselectedneighboringroutersandendnodesfortheproposeofexchangingroutinginformation.
Adjacencyisbasedupontheuseofacommonmediasegment.
AdjacentNodes
1.InSNA,nodesthatareconnectedtoagivennodewithnointerveningnodes.2.InDECnetandOSI,nodesthatsharea
commonnetworksegment(inEthernet,FDDI,orTokenRingnetworks).
AdministrativeDistance
Arateofthetrustworthinessofaroutinginformationsource.Thehigherthevalue,thelowerthetrustworthinessrating.
AdmissionControl

Seetrafficpolicing.
ADPCM
Adaptivedifferentialpulsecodemodulation.Processbywhichanalogvoicesamplesareencodedintohighqualitydigital
signals.
ADSU
ATMDSU.TerminaladapterusedtoaccessanATMnetworkviaanHSSIcompatibledevice.SeealsoDSU.
Advertising
Routerprocessinwhichroutingorserviceupdatesaresentatspecifiedintervalssothatotherroutersonthenetworkcan
maintainlistsofusableroutes.
AEP
AppleTalkEchoProtocol.UsedtotestconnectivitybetweentwoAppleTalknodes.Onenodesendsapackettoanothernode
andreceivesaduplicate,orecho,ofthatpacket.
AFP
AppleTalkFilingProtocol.TheAppleproprietaryspecificationforanetworkfilesystem.
Agent
1.Anactiveprocessinacomputerthatisresponsibleforacertaintypeofactivitywhendemandedbyanoutsideentity.2.In
SNMP,theactiveprocessinacomputingdevicethatisresponsiblefordeterminingtheparametersdefinedintheMIB
(ManagementInformationBase)andreportingthemondemandtoaConsole.
AIS
Alarmindicationsignal.InaT1transmission,anallonessignaltransmittedinlieuofthenormalsignaltomaintain
transmissioncontinuityandtoindicatetothereceivingterminalthatthereisatransmissionfaultthatislocatedeitherat,or
upstreamfrom,thetransmittingterminal.
AIX
IBM'simplementationofUnix.
Alarm
Messagenotifyinganoperatororadministratorofanetworkproblem.Seealsoeventandtrap.
AlarmIndicationSignal
SeeAIS.
Alaw
TheITUTcompandingstandardusedintheconversionbetweenanaloganddigitalsignalsinPCMsystems.Alawisused
primarilyinEuropeantelephonenetworksandissimilartotheNorthAmericanmulawstandard.Seealsocompandingand
mulaw.
Algorithm
Asetofrulesanddecisionstructuresforactionsinaspecificallydefinedsetofcircumstances.
Alias
Afilewhosesolepurposeistorepresentanotherfile.
AlignmentError
InIEEE802.3networks,anerrorthatoccurswhenthetotalnumberofbitsofareceivedframeisnotdivisiblebyeight.
Alignmenterrorsareusuallycausedbyframedamageduetocollisions.
AllringsExplorerPacket
Seeallroutesexplorerpacket.
AllroutesExplorerExplorerPacket
packetthattraversesanentireSRBnetwork,followingallpossiblepathstoaspecificdestination.Sometimescalledallrings
explorerpacket,Seealsoexplorerpacket,localexplorerpacket,andspanningexplorerpacket.
ALOE
Archaic.AppleTalkLowOverheadEncapsulation.AvendordevelopedalternativetoAURP,ALOEprovidesamechanismto
tunnelAppleTalkprotocolsinsideIPpackets,typicallyinWANlinks.
Alphanumeric
Referringtoagroupofprintablecharactersthatincludesthelettersofthealphabetinbothupperandlowercase,the
numeralsplusalimitedgroupofadditionalsymbolsandpunctuationmarks.
AM
AmplitudeModulation.Modulationtechniquewherebyinformationisconveyedthroughtheamplitudeofthecarriersignal.
ComparewithFMandPAM.Seealsomodulation.
Ambient
Referringtoasetofconditionsthatexistindependentlyofthesystemofinterest.
AMI

Alternatemarkinversion.LinecodetypeusedonT1andE1circuits.InAMI,zerosarerepresentedby01duringeachbitcell,
andonesarerepresentedby11or00,alternately,duringeachbitcell.AMIrequiresthatthesendingdevicemaintainones
density.Onesdensityisnotmaintainedindependentofthedatastream.Sometimescalledbinarycodedalternatemark
inversion.Seealsoonesdensity.
Amp
Ampere.Astandardunitofmeasurementforelectricalcurrentflow.
Amplitude
Intheterminologyofwavemotion,theheightofthewave.Amplitudeisusuallymeasuredfromareferencepointof0.In
electricalwaves,amplitudeistypicallyexpressedinvolts.
Analog
Referringtoasystemorcomponentthatusesasystemofmeasurement,responseorstorageinwhichvaluesareexpressed
asamagnitudeusingacontinuousscaleofmeasurement.
AnalogTransmission
Signaltransmissionoverwiresorthroughtheairinwhichinformationisconveyedthroughvariationofsomecombinationof
signalamplitude,frequency,andphase.
Anomaly
Anunusualinstanceorcircumstance.
ANSI
AmericanNationalStandardsInstitute.TheprinciplegroupintheUS.fordefiningstandards.
AOCE
AppleOpenCollaborationEnvironment.Asystemofhigherlevelprotocolsusedforthetransmissionofdataand
authenticationbetweenapplications.
APaRT
Automatedpacketrecognition/translation.TechnologythatallowsaservertobeattachedtoCDDIorFDDIwithoutrequiring
thereconfigurationofapplicationsornetworkprotocols.APaRTrecognizesspecificdatalinklayerencapsulationpackettypes
and,whenthesepackettypesaretransferredfromonemediumtoanother,translatesthemintothenativeformatofthe
destinationdevice.
API
ApplicationProgrammingInterface.Asetoftoolsandproceduresprovidedbytheprogrammerofanapplicationsothatother
programmerscancontrol,exchangedatawith,orextendthefunctionalityofanapplication.
ApolloDomain
ProprietarynetworkprotocolsuitedevelopedbyApolloComputerforcommunicationonproprietaryApollonetworks.
APPC
AdvancedProgramtoProgramCommunication.IBMSNAsystemsoftwarethatallowshighspeedcommunicationbetween
programsondifferentcomputersinadistributedcomputingenvironment.APPCestablishesandtearsdownconnections
betweencommunicatingprograms,andconsistsoftwointerfaces,aprogramminginterfaceandadataexchangeinterface.
Theformerrepliestorequestsfromprogramsrequiringcommunicationthelatterestablishessessionsbetweenprograms.
APPCrunsonLU6.2devices.SeealsoLU6.2.
AppleEvent
Apple'sprimarymechanismforinterprocesscommunication.
AppleScript
AprogramminglanguagethatcancalltaskswithinMacintoshapplications.
AppleShare
AnapplicationpublishedbyApplethatallowsaMacintoshtobeafileserverusingtheAFPprotocol.
AppleTalk
1.Apple'sproprietarynetworkarchitecture.2.Theprotocols,applications,networksandservicesincludedinApple'snetwork
architecture.
Application
Anindependentlyexecutablesetofalgorithmsanddatastructuresthatperformaspecificsetoffunctions.
ApplicationLayer
Layer7oftheOSIreferencemodel.Thislayerprovidesservicestoapplicationprocesses(suchaselectronicmail,file
transfer,andterminalemulation)thatareoutsideoftheOSImodel.Theapplicationlayeridentifiesandestablishesthe
availabilityofintendedcommunicationpartners(andtheresourcesrequiredtoconnectwiththem),synchronizescooperating
applications,andagreementonproceduresforerrorrecoveryandcontrolofdataintegrity.Correspondsroughlywiththe
transactionserviceslayerintheSNAmodel.Seealsodatalinklayer,networklayer,physicallayer,presentationlayer,session
layer,andtransportlayer.
APPN
AdvancedPeertoPeerNetworking.EnhancementtotheoriginalIBMSNAarchitecture.APPNhandlessessionestablishment
betweenpeernodes,dynamictransparentroutecalculation,andtrafficprioritizationforAPPCtraffic.ComparewithAPPN+.
SeealsoAPPC.

APPN+
NextgenerationAPPNthatreplacesthelabelswappingroutingalgorithmwithsourcerouting.Alsocalledhighperformance
routing.SeealsoAPPN.
ARA
AppleTalkRemoteAccess.ProtocolthatprovidesMacintoshusersdirectaccesstoinformationandresourcesataremote
AppleTalksite.
Architecture
Thesumtotalofallofthespecifications,protocolsandimplementationsthatdefineaparticularnetworkingsystem.
Archive
Astorageofinfrequentlyusedorhistoricaldata.
ARCnet
AttachedResourceComputerNetwork.A2.5MbpstokenbusLANdevelopedinthelate1970sandearly1980sbyDatapoint
Corporation.
Area
Logicalsetofnetworksegments(eitherCLNS,DECnet,OSPFbased)andtheirattacheddevices.Areasareusually
connectedtootherareasviarouters,makingupasingleautonomoussystem.Seealsoautonomoussystem.
ARM
Asynchronousresponsemode,HDLCcommunicationmodeinvolvingoneprimarystationandatleastonesecondarystation,
whereeithertheprimaryoroneofthesecondarystationscaninitiatetransmissions.Seealsoprimarystationandsecondary
station.
ARP
AddressResolutionProtocol.TheprotocolformappingIPaddressestophysicaladdressessuchasEthernetorTokenRing.
ARPA
AdvancedResearchProjectsAgency,ResearchanddevelopmentorganizationthatispartofDoD.ARPAisresponsiblefor
numeroustechnologicaladvancesincommunicationsandnetworking.ARPAevolvedinDARPA,andthenbackintoARPA
again(in1994).SeealsoDARPA.
ARPANET
AdvancedResearchProjectsAgencyNetwork.Landmarkpacketswitchingnetworkestablishedin1969.ARPANETwas
developedinthe1970sbyBBNandfundedbyARPA(andlaterDARPA).IteventuallyevolvedintotheInternet.Theterm
ARPANETwasofficiallyretiredin1990.
ARQ
Automaticrepeatrequest.Communicationtechniqueinwhichthereceivingdevicedetectserrorsandrequestsretransmission.
AS
Seeautonomoussystem.
ASBR
Autonomoussystemboundaryrouter.ABRlocatedbetweenanOSPFautonomoussystemandanonOSPFnetwork.ASBRs
runbothOSPFandanotherroutingprotocol,suchasRIP,ASBRsmustresideonanonstubOSPFarea.
ASCII
Referringtoastandard7bitcharactersystemthatincludesthealphanumericcharactersandprintercontrolcodes.
ASDSP
AppleTalkSecureDataStreamProtocol.AnencryptedversionofADSPusedbyAOCE.
ASIC
ApplicationSpecificIntegratedCircuit.Acustomchipforaspecificapplication.
ASLM
AppleSharedLibraryManager.
ASN.1
AbstractSyntaxNotationOne.InSNMP,thelanguageusedtodescribedatamanagedbytheMIB.
AssociativeMemory
Memorythatisaccessedbasedonitscontents,notonitsmemoryaddress.Sometimescalledcontentaddressablememory
(CAM).
AST
Automaticspanningtree.FunctionthatsupportstheautomaticresolutionofspanningtreesinSRBnetworks,providinga
singlepathforspanningexplorerframestotraversefromagivennodeinthenetworktoanother.ASTisbasedontheIEEE
802.1standard.
ASTA
AdvancedSoftwareTechnologyandAlgorithms.ComponentoftheHPCCprogramintendedtodevelopsoftwareand
algorithmsforimplementationonhighperformancecomputerandcommunicationssystems.SeealsoHPCC.

Asymmetry
Innetworking,asysteminwhichtherelationshipbetweentwoentitiesisinherentlyunequal,witheachentityrestrictedtoaset
ofoperationsandprerogativesdefinedbyitsroleintherelationship.
Asynchronous
Asystemofcommunicationinwhicheachdiscreetdeliveryofinformationestablishesitsowntimingimpulseratherthan
havingtoconformtothetimingimpulseofpreviousdeliveries.
Asynchronous
Termdescribingdigitalsignalsthataretransmittedwithoutpreciseclocking.Suchsignalsgenerallyhavedifferentfrequencies
andphaserelationships.Asynchronoustransmissionsusuallyencapsulateindividualcharactersincontrolbits(calledstart
andstopbits)thatdesignatethebeginningandendofeachcharacter.ComparewithIsochronoustransmission,
plesiochronoustransmission,andsynchronoustransmission.
ATcommandsTransmission
Asetofcommandsthatcontrolamodemoralteritscharacteristics.
ATDM
Asynchronoustimedivisionmultiplexing.MethodofsendinginformationthatresemblesnormalTDM,exceptthattimeslots
areallocatedasneededratherthanpreassignedtospecifictransmitters.ComparewithFDM,Statisticalmultiplexing,and
TDM.
ATM
AsynchronousTransferMode.Abroadbandtransmissionsystemusing53octetpacketsoveracellswitchednetworkat
speedsupto2.2GBPS.
ATP
AppleTalkTransactionProtocol.Transportlevelprotocolthatallowsreliablerequestresponseexchangesbetweentwosocket
clients.
Attenuation
Alossintheamplitudeorstrengthofasignalduetoaninteractionwiththesignal'smedia.Generallyexpressedindecibels.
Attribute
Configurationdatathatdefinesthecharacteristicsofdatabaseobjectssuchasthechassis,cards,ports,orvirtualcircuitsofa
particulardevice.Attributesmightbepresetoruserconfigurable.OnaLightStream2020ATMswitch,attributesaresetusing
theconfigurationprogramorCLIcommands.
AUI
Attachmentunitinterface.IEEE802.3interfacebetweenanMAUandaNIC(networkinterfacecard).Alsocalledtransceiver
cable.
AURP
AppleTalkUpdateBasedRoutingProtocol.Apple'sWANprotocol.
AURPTunnel
ConnectioncreatedinanAURPWANthatfunctionsasasingle,virtualdatalinkbetweenAppleTalkinternetworksphysically
separatedbyaforeignnetwork(aTCP/IPnetwork,forexample).
AuthorityZone
AssociatedwithDNS,anauthorityzoneisasectionofthedomainnametreeforwhichonenameserveristheauthority.
AutomaticCallReconnect
Featurepermittingautomaticcallreroutingawayfromafailedtrunkline.
AutonomousConfederation
Groupofautonomoussystemsthatrelyontheirownnetworkreachabilityandroutinginformationmorethantheyrelyonthat
receivedfromotherautonomoussystemsorconfederations.
AutonomousSystem
Collectionofnetworksunderacommonadministrationsharingacommonroutingstrategy.Autonomoussystemsare
subdividedbyareas.Anautonomoussystemmustbeassignedaunique16bitnumberbytheIANA.Sometimesabbreviated
AS.
Autoreconfiguration
ProcessperformedbynodeswithinthefailuredomainofaTokenRingnetwork.Nodesautomaticallyperformdiagnosticsin
anattempttoreconfigurethenetworkaroundthefailedareas.
AverageRate
Theaveragerate,inkilobitspersecond(kbps),atwhichagivenvirtualcircuitwilltransmit.
B8ZS
Binary8zerosubstitution.Linecodetype,usedonT1andE1circuits,inwhichaspecialcodeissubstitutedwhenever8
consecutivezerosaresentthroughthelink.Thiscodeistheninterpretedattheremoteendoftheconnection.Thistechnique
guaranteesonesdensityindependentofthedatastream.Sometimescalledbipolar8zerosubstitution.ComparewithAMI.
Seealsoonesdensity.
BackEnd

Nodeorsoftwareprogramthatprovidesservicestoafrontend.Seealsoclient,frontend,andserver.
BackEndProcessor
Acomputerrunninganapplicationthatsuppliesdatatoothercomputersondemand,buthasnouserinterface.
BackPressure
Propagationofnetworkcongestioninformationupstreamthroughaninternetwork.
Backbone
Referringtotheinternet,acentralnetworkthatprovidesapathwayforothernetworkstocommunicate.
BackgroundTask
Acomputingtaskthatisexecutingwhileanothertaskorapplicationisdisplayingitsuserinterface.
Backoff
The(usuallyrandom)retransmissiondelayenforcedbycontentiousMACprotocolsafteranetworknodewithdatatotransmit
determinesthatthephysicalmediumisalreadyinuse.
Backplane
Thecommunicationchannelsofasingledevice'sarchitecture,suchasinahuborconcentrator.
Backup
Acopyofasetoffilesmadeforreplacementpurposesincasetheoriginalsetisdamagedorlost.
BackwardCompatible
Anupgradedcomponentofacomputingsystemthatcanbeusedinterchangeablywithitspreviousversion.
BackwardLearning
Algorithmicprocessusedforroutingtrafficthatsurmisesinformationbyassumingsymmetricalnetworkconditions.For
example,ifnodeAreceivesapacketfromnodeBthroughintermediatenodeC,thebackwardlearningroutingalgorithmwill
assumethatAcanoptimallyreachBthroughC.
BalancedConfiguration
InHDLC,apointtopointnetworkconfigurationwithtwocombinedstations.
Balun
Balanced/Unbalanced.Adevicethatlinkstogetherdissimilarwiretypesandattemptstominimizeanynegativeeffectstothe
signalthatwouldnormallyresultfromthedissimilarity.
Band
Inanalogcommunications,therangeoffrequenciesoverwhichacommunicationsystemoperates.
Bandwidth
Inanalogcommunications,thedifferencebetweenthehighestandlowestfrequenciesavailableintheband.Indigital
communications,bandwidthislooselyusedtorefertotheinformationcarryingcapacityofanetworkorcomponentofa
network.
BandwidthAllocation
SeeBandwidthreservation.
BandwidthReservation
Processofassigningbandwidthtousersandapplicationsservedbyanetwork.Involvesassigningprioritytodifferentflowsof
trafficbasedonhowcriticalanddelaysensitivetheyare.Thismakesthebestuseofavailablebandwidth,andifthenetwork
becomescongested,lowerprioritytrafficcanbedropped.Sometimescalledbandwidthallocation.Seealsocallpriority.
BARRNet
BayAreaRegionalResearchNetwork.RegionalnetworkservingtheSanFranciscoBayArea.TheBARRNetbackboneis
composedoffourUniversityofCaliforniacampuses(Berkeley,Davis,SantaCruz,andSanFrancisco),StanfordUniversity,
LawrenceLivermoreNationalLaboratory,andNASAAmesResearchCenter.BARRNETisnowpartofBBNPlanet.
Baseaddress
Thelowestaddressavailableinanaddressrange.
Baseband
Acommunicationsysteminwhichonlyonesignaliscarriedatanyonetime.
Baud
Unitofsignalingspeedequaltothenumberofdiscretesignalelementstransmittedpersecond.Baudissynonymouswithbits
persecond(bps),ifeachsignalelementrepresentsexactly1bit.
BaudRate
Thenumberofvoltageorfrequencytransitionspersecond.
BBN
Bolt,Beranek,andNewman,Inc.HightechnologycompanylocatedinMassachusettsthatdevelopedandmaintainedthe
ARPANETandlater,theInternet,coregatewaysystem.

BBNPlanet
SubsidiarycompanyofBBNthatoperatesanationwideInternetaccessnetworkcomposedinpartoftheformerregional
networksBARRNET,NEARNET,andSURAnet.
Bc
CommittedBurst.NegotiatedtariffmetricinFrameRelayinternetworks.Themaximumamountofdata(inbits)thataFrame
RelayinternetworkiscommittedtoacceptandtransmitattheCIR.
BChannel
Bearerchannel.InISDN,afullduplex,64kbpschannelusedtosenduserdata.ComparetoDchannel,Echannel,andH
channel.
Be
ExcessBurst.NegotiatedtariffmetricinFrameRelayinternetworks.ThenumberofbitsthataFrameRelayinternetworkwill
attempttotransmitafterBcisaccommodated.Bedatais,ingeneral,deliveredwithalowerprobabilitythanBcdatabecause
BedatacanbemarkedasDEbythenetwork.
Beacon
FramefromaTokenRingorFDDIdeviceindicatingaseriousproblemwiththering,suchasabrokencable.Abeaconframe
containstheaddressofthestationassumedtobedown.
BECN
Backwardexplicitcongestionnotification.BitsetbyaFrameRelaynetworkinframestravelingintheoppositedirectionof
framesencounteringacongestedpath.DTEreceivingframeswiththeBECNbitsetcanrequestthathigherlevelprotocols
takeflowcontrolactionasappropriate.ComparewithFECN.
Bellcore
BellCommunicationsResearch.OrganizationthatperformsresearchanddevelopmentonbehalfoftheRBOCs.
BellmanFordRoutingAlgorithm
Seedistancevectorroutingalgorithm.
Benchmark
Atestperformedtcompareacomputerprocessinonesetofcircumstancestoanother.
BER
1.Biterrorrate.Theratioofreceivedbitsthatcontainerrors.2.Basicencodingrules.Rulesforencodingdataunitsdescribed
intheISOASN.1standard.
BGP
BorderGatewayProtocol.InterdomainroutingprotocolthatreplacesEGP.BGPexchangesreachabilityinformationwithother
BGPsystems.ItisdefinedbyRFC1163.
BGP4
BGPVersion4.Version4ofthepredominantinterdomainroutingprotocolusedontheInternet.BGP4supportsCIDRand
usesrouteaggregationmechanismstoreducethesizeofroutingtables.
BIGA
BusInterfaceGateArray.TechnologythatallowstheCatalyst5000toreceiveandtransmitframesfromitspacketswitching
memorytoitsMAClocalbuffermemorywithouttheinterventionofthehostprocessor.
Bigendian
Methodofstoringortransmittingdatainwhichthemostsignificantbitorbyteispresentedfirst.Comparewithlittleendian.
Binary
1.Anumericalsystemusing"2"asitsbase.2.Datathatisencodedorpresentedinmachinereadableform(1's&0's).
BIND
BerkeleyInternetNameDomain.ThestandardTCP/IPnamingservicethatlinksnetworknameswithIPaddresses.
BiphaseCoding
BipolarcodingschemeoriginallydevelopedforuseinEthernet.Clockinginformationisembeddedintoandrecoveredfromthe
synchronousdatastreamwithouttheneedforseparateclockingleads.Thebiphasesignalcontainsnodirectcurrentenergy.
Bipolar
Electricalcharacteristicdenotingacircuitwithbothnegativeandpositivepolarity.Contrastwithunipolar.
BISDN
BroadbandISDN.ITUTcommunicationstandardsdesignedtohandlehighbandwidthapplicationssuchasvideo.BISDN
currentlyusesATMtechnologyoverSONETbasedtransmissioncircuitstoprovidedataratesfrom155to622Mbpsand
beyond.
Bit
Thebasicunitofdatarepresentationindigitalcomputers.amemorylocationthatcanhaveoneoftwovalues.
BITNET
"BecauseIt'sTime"NetworkingServices.Lowcost,lowspeedacademicnetworkconsistingprimarilyofIBMmainframesand

9600bpsleasedlines.BITNETisnowapartofCREN.SeealsoCREN.
BITNETIII
DialupserviceprovidingconnectivityformembersofCREN.
BitorientedProtocol
Classofdatalinklayercommunicationprotocolsthatcantransmitframesregardlessofframecontent.Comparedwithbyte
orientedprotocols,bitorientedprotocolsprovidefullduplexoperationandaremoreefficientandreliable.Comparewithbyte
orientedprotocol.
Bitpattern
Asequenceofbitsthathasaspecificpurposeormeaning.
Bitrate
Therateatwhichbitsaretransmittedorreceivedduringcommunication,expressedasthenumberbitsinagivenamountof
time,usuallyonesecond.
Bitmap
Adatastructurethatusesbitstorepresenttheattributesofanobjectthatisnotcharacterbased.
BlackBox
Adevicethatperformsafunctionusingmechanismsthatareunimportantorimpossibletounderstand.
BlackHole
Routingtermforanareaoftheinternetworkwherepacketsenter,butdonotemerge,duetoadverseconditionsorpoor
systemconfigurationwithinaportionofthenetwork.
Block
Thebasicunitofstorageonacomputerdisk.
Blocking
Inaswitchingsystem,aconditioninwhichnopathsareavailabletocompleteacircuit.Thetermisalsousedtodescribea
situationinwhichoneactivitycannotbeginuntilanotherhasbeencompleted.
BlockMultiplexerIChannel
BMstylechannelthatimplementstheFIPS60channel,AUS.Channelstandard.ThischannelisalsoreferredtoasOEMI
channeland370blockmuxchannel.
BNC
Bayonet"N"Connector.1.Thelockingconnectortypeusedin10Base2(ThinEthernet).2.Anyconnectorsimilartothetype
usedby10Base2forCATV,andotherelectronicuses.
BNN
Boundarynetworknode.InSNAterminology,asubareanodethatprovidesboundaryfunctionsupportforadjacentperipheral
nodes.Thissupportincludessequencing,pacing,andaddresstranslation.
Board
Aprintedcircuitandthesubstrateonwhichitlies.
BOC
Belloperatingcompany.SeeRBOC.
Boot
Acomputer'sstartupoperation.
BootDrive
Thediskthatcontainsacomputers'startupinstructions.
BOOTP
BootstrapProtocol.AnIPprotocolusedbydisklessworkstationstoreceivebootinformationfromabootserver.
BootPROM
Bootprogrammablereadonlymemory.Chipmountedonaprintedcircuitboardusedtoprovideexecutablebootinstructionto
acomputerdevice.
BorderGateway
Routerthatcommunicateswithroutersinotherautonomoussystems.
BoundaryFunction
CapabilityofSNAsubareanodestoprovideprotocolsupportforattachedperipheralnodes.TypicallyfoundinIBM3745
devices.
BPDU
Bridgeprotocoldataunit.SpanningTreeProtocolhellopacketthatissentoutatconfigurableintervalstoexchange
informationamongbridgesinthenetwork.
BPS

BitsPerSecond.Acommonlyusedmeasureoftherateofdatatransmissionthatspecifiesthenumberofbitsthatare
transmittedinonesecond.MaybeprefixedwithmultiplierssuchasK,M,andGwhichindicateratesofthousands,millions
andbillionsofbitspersecond.
BRI
BasicRateInterface.anISDNservicewithtwobearerchannelsat64KBPSplusa"DataLink"orcontrolchannelat16KBPS.
Bridge
ADataLinkLayerdevicethatlimitstrafficbetweentwonetworksegmentsbyfilteringthedatabetweenthembasedon
hardwareaddresses.
BridgeForwarding
ProcessthatusesentriesinafilteringdatabasetodeterminewhetherframeswithagivenMACdestinationaddresscanbe
forwardedtoagivenportorports.DescribedintheIEEE802.1standard.SeealsoIEEE802.1.
BridgeNumber
NumberthatidentifieseachbridgeinanSRBLAN.Parallelbridgesmusthavedifferentbridgenumbers.
BridgeStaticFiltering
Processinwhichabridgemaintainsafilteringdatabaseconsistingofstaticentries.EachstaticentryequatesaMAC
destinationaddresswithaportthatcanreceiveframeswiththisMACdestinationaddressandasetofportsonwhichthe
framescanbetransmitted.DefinedintheIEEE802.1standard.
Broadband
Atransmissionsystemcapableofcarryingmanychannelsofcommunicationsimultaneouslybymodulatingthemononeof
severalcarrierfrequencies.
Broadcast
Aninformationtransmissionthatisintendedtobeinterpretedbyallentitiescapableofreceivingit.
BroadcastAddress
Specialaddressreservedforsendingamessagetoallstations.Generally,abroadcastaddressisaMACdestinationaddress
ofallones.Comparewithmulticastaddressandunicastaddress.
BroadcastDomain
Thesetofalldevicesthatwillreceivebroadcastframesoriginatingfromanydevicewithintheset.Broadcastdomainsare
typicallyboundedbyroutersbecauseroutersdonotforwardbroadcastframes.
BroadcastSearch
Propagationofasearchrequesttoallnetworknodesifthelocationofaresourceisunknowntotherequester.
BroadcastStorm
Undesirablenetworkeventinwhichmanybroadcastsaresentsimultaneouslyacrossallnetworksegments.Abroadcast
stormusessubstantialnetworkbandwidthand,typically,causesnetworktimeouts.
Brouter
Adevicethatincorporatesthefunctionalityofabridgeandarouterinasingleunit.
BSC
Binarysynchronouscommunication.Characterorienteddatalinklayerprotocolforhalfduplexapplications.Oftenreferredto
simplyasbisync.
BSD
BerkeleySoftwareDistribution.UCBerkeley'sdistributionoftheUnixoperatingsystem.
BT
Bursttolerance.ParameterdefinedbytheATMForumforATMtrafficmanagement.ForVBRconnections,BTdeterminesthe
sizeofthemaximumburstofcontiguouscellsthatcanbetransmitted.
Buffer
Atemporarymemorystorageareaforinformation.
Bug
Aflawinasoftwareprogram.
Bundled
Referstothepracticeofautomaticallyincludinganadditionalapplicationorcapabilityinthesaleordeliveryofacomputing
componentthatisnotordinarilyassociatedwiththatcomponent.
BUS
Broadcastandunknownserver.MulticastserverusedinELANsthatisusedtofloodtrafficaddressedtoanunknown
destination,andtoforwardmulticastandbroadcasttraffictotheappropriateclients.
Bus
Atypeofnetworktopologyinwhichnodesareconnectedalongacontinuouspaththatisnotaclosedcircuit.Alsorefersto
acommunicationschannelusedbyasinglecomputersuchasNubus,SCSI,etc.
BusandTagChannel

IBMchannel,developedinthe1960s,incorporatingcoppermultiwiretechnology.ReplacedbytheEXCONchannel.Seealso
ESCONchannelandparallelchannel.
BusTopology
LinearLANarchitectureinwhichtransmissionsfromnetworkstationspropagatethelengthofthemediumandarereceivedby
allotherstations.Comparewithringtopology,startopology,andtreetopology.
BypassMode
OperatingmodeonFDDIandTokenRingnetworksinwhichaninterfacehasbeenremovedfromthering.
BypassRelay
AllowsaparticularTokenRinginterfacetobeshutdownandthuseffectivelyremovedfromthering.
Byte
Agroupof8bits.
ByteorientedProtocol
Classofdatalinkcommunicationsprotocolsthatuseaspecificcharacterfromtheusercharactersettodelimitframes.These
protocolshavelargelybeenreplacedbybitorientedprotocols.Comparewithbitorientedprotocol.
ByteReversal
Processofstoringnumericdatawiththeleastsignificantbytefirst.UsedforintegersandaddressesondeviceswithIntel
microprocessors.
Byte
Agroupof8bits.
Cable
Thetransmissionmediaofanetwork.
CableRange
RangeofnetworknumbersthatisvalidforusebynodesonanextendedAppleTalknetwork.Thecablerangevaluecanbea
singlenetworknumberoracontiguoussequenceofseveralnetworknumbers.Nodeaddressesareassignedbasedonthe
cablerangevalue.
Cache
Agroupofmemorylocationssetasidefortemporarystorageofdata,especiallyfrequentlyuseddataordataneedinghigh
speedretrievalbytheCPU.
CallAdmissionControl
TrafficmanagementmechanismusedinATMnetworksthatdetermineswhetherthenetworkcanofferapathwithsufficient
bandwidthforarequestedVCC.
CallPriority
Priorityassignedtoeachoriginationportincircuitswitchedsystems.Thisprioritydefinestheorderinwhichcallsare
reconnected.Callpriorityalsodefineswhichcallscanorcannotbeplacedduringabandwidthreservation.
CallSetupTime
ThetimerequiredtoestablishaswitchedcallbetweenDTEdevices.
CAM
Contentaddressablememory.Seeassociativememory.
Card
Acircuitboardthatplugsintoacomputer'sbustoextendthecomputer'scapability.
Carrier
Electromagneticwaveoralternatingcurrentofasinglefrequency,suitableformodulationbyanother,databearingsignal.
CaseInsensitive
Referringtoasysteminwhichuppercaselettersarenotdifferentiatedfromtheirlowercaseform.
CaseSensitive
Referringtoasysteminwhichuppercaselettersaredifferentiatedfromtheirlowercaseform.
Category1Cabling
OneoffivegradesofUTPcablingdescribedintheEIA/TIA586standard.Category1cablingisusedfortelephone
communicationsandisnotsuitablefortransmittingdata.ComparewithCategory2cabling,Category3cabling,Category4
cabling,andCategory5cabling.SeealsoEIA/TIA586andUTP.
Category2Cabling
OneoffivegradesofUTPcablingdescribedintheEIA/TIA586standard.Category2cablingiscapableoftransmittingdataat
speedsupto4Mbps.ComparewithCategory1cabling,Category3cabling,Category4cabling,andCategory5cabling.See
alsoEIA/TIA586andUTP.
Category3cabling
OneoffivegradesofUTPcablingdescribedintheEIA/TIA586standard.Category3cablingisusedin10BaseTnetworks

andcantransmitdataatspeedsupto10Mbps.ComparewithCategory1cabling,Category2cabling,Category4cabling,
andCategory5cabling.SeealsoEIA/TIA586andUTP.
Category4cabling
OneoffivegradesofUTPcablingdescribedintheEIA/TIA586standard.Category4cablingisusedinTokenRingnetworks
andcantransmitdataatspeedsupto16Mbps.ComparewithCategory1cabling,Category2cabling,Category3cabling,
andCategory5cabling.SeealsoEIA/TIA586andUTP.
Category5cabling
OneoffivegradesofUTPcablingdescribedintheEIA/TIA586standard.Category5cablingisusedforrunningCDDIand
cantransmitdataatspeedsupto100MbpsComparewithCategory1cabling,Category2cabling,Category3cabling,and
Category4cabling.SeealsoEIA/TIA586andUTP.
Catenet
Networkinwhichhostsareconnectedtodiversenetworks,whichthemselvesareconnectedwithrouters.TheInternetisa
prominentexampleofacatenet.
CATV
Cabletelevision.Communicationsystemwheremultiplechannelsofprogrammingmaterialaretransmittedtohomesusing
broadbandcoaxialcable.FormerlycalledCommunityAntennaTelevision.
CBDS
ConnectionlessBroadbandDataService.Europeanhighspeed,packetswitched,datagrambasedWANnetworking
technology.SimilartoSMDS.
CBR
Constantbitrate.QOSclassdefinedbytheATMForumforATMnetworks.CBRisusedforconnectionsthatdependon
preciseclockingtoensureundistorteddelivery.
CCITT
ConsultativeCommitteeforInternationalTelegraphandTelevisionandTelephone.Internationalorganizationresponsiblefor
thedevelopmentofcommunicationsstandards.NowcalledtheITUT.
CCS
CommonChannelSignaling.Signalingsystemusedintelephonenetworksthatseparatessignalinginformationfromuser
data.Aspecifiedchannelisexclusivelydesignatedtocarrysignalinginformationforallotherchannelsinthesystem.
CD
CarrierDetect.Signalthatindicateswhetheraninterfaceisactive.Also,asignalgeneratedbyamodemindicatingthatacall
hasbeenconnected.
CDDI
CopperDistributedDataInterface.ImplementationofFDDIprotocolsoverSTPandUTPcabling.CDDItransmitsover
relativelyshortdistance(about100meters),providingdataratesof100Mbpsusingadualringarchitecturetoprovide
redundancy.BasedontheANSITwistedPairPhysicalMediumDependent(TPPMD)standard.
CDEV
ThedesignationofaControlPanelDeviceinMacintoshSystem6andearlier(obsolete).
CDPD
CellularDigitalPacketData.Openstandardfortwowaywirelessdatacommunicationoverhighfrequencycellulartelephone
channels.AllowsdatatransmissionsbetweenaremotecellularlinkandaNAP.Operatesat19.2Kbps.
CDVT
Celldelayvariationtolerance.ParameterdefinedbytheATMForumforATMtrafficmanagement.InCBRtransmissions,
determinesthelevelofjitterthatistolerableforthedatasamplestakenbythePCR.
CEDI
CaymanEncapsulatedDDPinIP.AnAppleTalktunnelingprotocoldevelopedbyCayman.
Cell
ThebasicunitforATMSwitchingandmultiplexing.Cellscontainidentifiersthatspecifythedatastreamtowhichtheybelong.
Eachcellconsistsofa5byteheaderand48bytesofpayload.Seealsocellrelay.
CellLossPriority
SeeCLP.
CellRelay
Networktechnologybasedontheuseofsmall,fixedsizepackets,orcells.Becausecellsarefixedlength,theycanbe
processedandswitchedinhardwareathighspeeds.Cellrelayisthebasisformanyhighspeednetworkprotocolsincluding
ATM,IEEE802.6,andSMDS.
CellsPerSecond
Abbreviatedcps.
CellularRadio
Technologythatusesradiotransmissionstoaccesstelephonecompanynetworks.Serviceisprovidedinaparticularareaby
alowpowertransmitter.

Centrex
AT&TPBXthatprovidesdirectinwarddialingandautomaticnumberingidentificationofthecallingPBX.
CEPT
ConfrenceEuropennedesPostesetdesTlcommunications.Associationofthe26EuropeanPTTsthatrecommends
communicationspecificationstotheITUT.
CERTnet
CaliforniaEducationandResearchFederationNetwork.TCP/IPnetwork,basedinSouthernCalifornia,thatconnects
hundredsofhighereducationcentersinternationallywhilealsoprovidingInternetaccesstosubscribers.CERFnetwas
foundedin1988bytheSanDiegoSupercomputerCenterandGeneralAutomicsandisfundedbytheNSF.
Chaining
SNAconceptinwhichRUsaregroupedtogetherfortheproposeoferrorrecovery.
Channel
1.Acommunicationpath.Multiplechannelscanbemultiplexedoverasinglecableincertainenvironments.2.InIBM,the
specificpathbetweenlargecomputers(suchasmainframes)andattachedperipheraldevices.
Channelattached
Pertainingtoattachmentofdevicesdirectlybydatachannels(input/outputchannels)toacomputer.
ChannelizedE1
Accesslinkoperatingat2.048Mbpsthatissubdividedinto30Bchannelsand1Dchannel,SupportsDDR,FrameRelay,and
X.25.ComparewithchannelizedT1.
ChannelizedT1
Accesslinkoperatingat1.544Mbpsthatissubdividedinto24channels(23Bchannelsand1Dchannel)of64Kbpseach.
Theindividualchannelsorgroupsofchannelsconnecttodifferentdestinations.SupportsDDR,FrameRelay,andX.25.Also
referredtoasfractionalT1.ComparewithchannelizedE1.
ChannelServiceUnit
SeeCSU.
CHAP
ChallengeHandshakeAuthenticationProtocol.SecurityfeaturesupportedonlinesusingPPPencapsulationthatprevents
unauthorizedaccess.CHAPdoesnotitselfpreventunauthorizedaccess,itmerelyidentifiestheremoteend.Therouteror
accessserverthandetermineswhetherthatuserisallowedaccess.ComparetoPAP.
Character
1.Asymbolsuchasaletter,numberorpunctuationmarkthatcanbearrangedtorepresenthigherunitsofmeaning,suchas
wordsandsentences.2.Thegroupofbitsthatrepresentssuchasymbol.
ChatScript
Stringoftextthatdefinesthelogin"conversation"thatoccursbetweentwosystems.Consistofexpectsendpairsthatdefine
thestringthatthelocalsystemexpectstoreceivefromtheremotesystemandwhatthelocalsystemshouldsendasareply.
Cheapernet
IndustrytermusedtorefertotheIEEE802.310Base2standardorthecablespecifiedinthatstandard.ComparewithThinnet.
Seealso10Base2,Ethernet,andIEEE802.3.
Checksum
Theresultofamathematicaloperationthatusesthebinaryrepresentationofagroupofdataasitsbasis,usuallytocheckthe
integrityofthedata.
ChokePacket
Packetsenttoatransmittertotellitthatcongestionexistsandthatitshouldreduceitssendingrate.
CIA
SeeclassicIPoverATM.
CICNet
Regionalnetworkthatconnectsacademic,reserach,nonprofit,andcommercialorganizationsintheMidwesternUnited
States.Foundedin1988,CICNetwasapartoftheNSFNETandwasfundedbytheNSFuntiltheNSFNETdissolvedin
1995.SeealsoNSFNET.
CICS
CustomerInformationControlSystem.IBMapplicationsubsystemallowingtransactionsenteredatremoteterminalstobe
processedconcurrentlybyuserapplications.
CIDR
Classlessinterdomainrouting.TechniquesupportedbyBGP4andbasedonrouteaggregation.CIDRallowsrouterstogroup
routestogetherinordertocutdownonthequantityofroutinginformationcarriedbythecorerouters.WithCIDR,severalIP
networksappeartonetworksoutsidethegroupasasingle,largerentity.
CIR
Committedinformationrate.TherateatwhichaFrameRelaynetworkagreestotransferinformationundernormalconditions,
averagedoveraminimumincrementoftime.CIR,measuredinbitspersecond,isoneofthekeynegotiatedtariffmetrics.

Circuit
1.Anyelectricalpathway.2.Anarrangementofelectricalandelectronicdevicesandtheconductivepathsbetweenthem.
CircuitGroup
Groupingofassociatedseriallinesthatlinktwobridges.Ifoneoftheseriallinksinacircuitgroupisinthespanningtreefora
network,anyoftheseriallinksinthecircuitgroupcanbeusedforloadbalancing.Thisloadbalancingstrategyavoidsdata
orderingproblemsbyassigningeachdestinationaddresstoaparticularseriallink.
CircuitSwitching
Switchingsysteminwhichadedicatedphysicalcircuitpathmustexistbetweensenderandreceiverforthedurationofthe
"call."Usedheavilyinthetelephonecompanynetwork.Circuitswitchingcanbecontrastedwithcontentionandtokenpassing
asachannelaccessmethod,andwithmessageswitchingandpacketswitchingasaswitchingtechnique.
ClassicIPOverATM
SpecificationforrunningIPoverATMinamannerthattakesfulladvantageofthefeaturesofATM.DefinedinRFC1577.
SometimescalledCIA.
CLAW
CommonLinkAccessforWorkstations.DatalinklayerprotocolusedbychannelattachedRISCSystem/6000seriessystems
andbyIBM3172devicesrunningTCP/IPoffload.CLAWimprovesefficiencyofchanneluseandallowstheCIPtoprovide
thefunctionalityofa3172inTCP/IPenvironmentsandsupportdirectchannelattachment.TheoutputfromTCP/IPmainframe
processingisaseriesofIPdatagramsthattheroutercanswitchwithoutmodifications.
ClearToSend
SeeCTS.
Client
Nodeorsoftwareprogram(frontenddevice)thatrequestsservicesfromaserver.Seealsobackend,frontendandserver.
Client/Server
Atypeofrelationshipbetweentwocomputerswherethetwohavedifferentrolesintherelationship.Typically,theclient
computerdrivestherelationshipandusesaresourceoftheservercomputer.
CLNP
ConnectionlessNetworkProtocol.OSInetworklayerprotocolthatdoesnotrequireacircuittobeestablishedbeforedatais
transmitted.SeealsoCLNS.
CLNS
ConnectionlessNetworkService.OSInetworklayerservicethatdoesnotrequireacircuittobeestablishedbeforedatais
transmitted.CLNSroutesmessagestotheirdestinationsindependentlyofanyothermessages.SeealsoCLNP.
CLP
Celllosspriority.FieldintheATMcellheaderthatdeterminestheprobabilityofacellbeingdroppedifthenetworkbecomes
congested.CellwithCLP=0areinsuredtraffic,whichisunlikelytobedropped.CellswithCLP=1arebestefforttraffic,
whichmightbedroppedincongestedconditionsinordertofreeupresourcestohandleinsuredtraffic.
Clock
1.Acomponentinacomputerthatprovidesatimingpulseforothercomponents.2.Thetimingpulseofanetwork
transmission.
Clustercontroller
1.Generally,anintelligentdevicethatprovidestheconnectionsforaclusterofterminalstobedatalink.2.InSNA,a
programmabledevicethatcontrolstheinput/outputoperationsofattacheddevices.Typically,anIBM3174or3274device.
CMI
Codedmarkinversion.ITUTlinecodingtechniquespecifiedforSTS3ctransmissions.AlsousedinDS1systems.
CMIP
CommonManagementInformationProtocol.
CMIS
CommonManagementInformationServices.OSInetworkmanagementserviceinterfacecreatedandstandardizedbyISOfor
themonitoringandcontrolofheterogeneousnetworks.SeealsoCMIP.
CMNS
ConnectionModeNetworkService.ExtendslocalX.25switchingtoavarietyofmedia(Ethernet,FDDI,TokenRing).Seealso
.
CMT
Connectionmanagement.FDDIprocessthathandlesthetransitionoftheringthroughitsvariousstates(off,active,connect,
andsoon),asdefinedbytheANSIX3T9.5specification.
CO
Centraloffice.Localtelephonecompanyofficetowhichalllocalloopsinagivenareaconnectandinwhichcircuitswitchingof
subscriberlinesoccurs.
Coaxialcable
Anelectricalcableinwhichtheconductorsshareacommonaxis.

CODEC
Coderdecoder.DevicethattypicallyusesPCMtotransformanalogsignalsintoadigitalbitstreamanddigitalsignalsback
intoanalog.
Coding
Electricaltechniquesusedtoconveybinarysignals.
CollapsedBackbone
Nondistributedbackboneinwhichallnetworksegmentsareinterconnectedbywayofaninternetworkingdevice.Acollapsed
backbonemightbeavirtualnetworksegmentexistinginadevicesuchasahub,arouter,oraswitch.
Collision
InEthernet,theresultoftwonodestransmittingsimultaneously.Theframesfromeachdeviceimpactandaredamagedwhen
theymeetonthephysicalmedia.SeealsoCollisiondomain.
CollisionAvoidance
AMediaAccessControl(MAC)methodinwhichanynodemaytakecontrolofthenetworkaftertakingcertainstepstoinsure
thatthecableisnotinuseorabouttobeusedbyanothernode.
CollisionDetection
AMACmethodinwhichanynodemaytakecontrolofthenetworkwhenitisnotinusebyanothernode.Whiletransmitting,
stationscontinuetolistenforincomingsignals(collisions)andemitajammingsignaltonotifyallotherstationsofthecollision.
CollisionDomain
InEthernet,thenetworkareawithinwhichframesthathavecollidedarepropagated.Repeatersandhubspropagate
collisionsLANswitches,bridgesandroutersdonot.Seealsocollision.
CommonCarrier
Licensed,privateutilitycompanythatsuppliescommunicationservicestothepublicatregulatedprices.
Communication
Transmissionofinformation.
CommunicationController
InSNA,asubareanode(suchasanIBM3745device)thatcontainsanNCP.
CommunicationServer
CommunicationsprocessorthatconnectsasynchronousdevicestoaLANorWANthroughnetworkandterminalemulation
software.PerformsonlyasynchronousroutingofIPandIPX.Comparewithaccessserver.
CommunicationsLine
Thephysicallink(suchaswireoratelephonecircuit)thatconnectsoneormoredevicestooneormoreotherdevices.
Community
InSNMP,alogicalgroupofmanageddevicesandNMSsinthesameadministrativedomain.
CommunityString
Textstringthatactsasapasswordandisusedtoauthenticatemessagessentbetweenamanagementstationandarouter
containingaSNMPagent.Thecommunitystringissentineverypacketbetweenthemanagerandtheagent.
Companding
Contractionderivedfromtheoppositeprocessesofcompressionandexpansion.PartofthePCMprocesswherebyanalog
signalvaluesarelogicallyroundedtodiscretescalestepvaluesonanonlinearscale.Thedecimalstepnumberisthencoded
initsbinaryequivalentpriortotransmission.Theprocessisreversedatthereceivingterminalusingthesamenonlinearscale.
Comparewithcompressionandexpansion.Seealsoalawandmulaw.
Component
Anindivisibleunitoffunctionality,usuallyembodiedinhardware.
Compression
Analterationperformedonaunitofinformationintendedtoincreaseitdensityduringstorageoftransmission.
Concentrator
Asynonymforamultiportrepeaterthatmayalsoperformbridgingandroutingfunctions.
Conductor
Thecurrentcarryingcomponentofatransmissioncable,typicallyacopperwire.
ConfigurationManagement
OneoffivecategoriesofnetworkmanagementofOSInetworks.Configurationmanagementsubsysemsareresponsiblefor
detectinganddeterminingthestateofanetwork.Seealsoaccountmanagement,faultmanagement,performance
management,andsecuritymanagement.
Congestion
Trafficinexcessofnetworkcapacity.
ConnectionOriented

Indatanetworks,atypeofcomputerrelationshipinwhichthenetworkequipmentconstructsacircuitbetweenthetwodevices
forthedurationoftheirrelationship.Oncethecircuitisestablished,thedevicespassinformationbackandforththroughthe
circuitwithoutregardtotheirphysicaladdresses.Thecircuitmaybephysicalorvirtual.
Connectionless
Atypeofrelationshipbetweentwodeviceswhereeachinformationpacketmustcontaintheaddressofthepartnerdevice.
Connectionlesscommunicationallowsamessagetobesentfromoneendpointtoanotherwithoutpriorarrangement,and
hasverylowoverhead,butcannotguaranteethattherewillbenoloss,errorinsertion,misdelivery,duplication,oroutof
sequencedeliveryofthepackets.
Connectivity
Atermreferringtotheabilityofadevicetotradedataandshareresourceswithotherdevicesofasimilaranddissimilar
typethroughelectronicmeansincludingserialandparallelconnections,networkingandtelecommunications.
Connector
Adevicethatestablishesaphysicalconnectionbetweenoneconductororcircuitandanother.
CONP
ConnectionOrientedNetworkProtocol,OSIprotocolprovidingconnectionorientedoperationtoupperlayerprotocols.
Console
InSNMP(SimpleNetworkManagementProtocol),asoftwareprogramthathasthecapabilityofinteractingwithanagent,
includingexaminingorchangingthevaluesofthedataobjectsintheagent'sManagementInformationBase(MIB).
Contention
Anetworkaccessmethodwhereallthedevicesonthenetworkhaveequalchangesofgainingcontrolofthenetworkatany
time.Includesavoidance(CSMA/CA)accessmethods.
ControlPanel
IntheMacintosh,asoftwareapplicationthathastheabilitytocontrolanaspectofsystemconfiguration,suchasthepixel
depthofthemonitor(Monitors),thechoiceofnetworktype(Network),etc.
Convergence
Thespeedandabilityofagroupofinternetworkingdevicesrunningaspecificroutingprotocoltoagreeonthetopologyofan
internetworkafterachangeinthattopology.
ConvergenceSublayer
SeeCS.
Conversation
InSNA,anLU6.2sessionbetweentwotransactionprograms.
CopperDistributedDataInterface
SeeCDDI.
CoreGateway
TheprimaryroutersintheInternet.
CoreRouter
Inapacketswitchedstartopology,arouterthatispartofthebackboneandthatservesasthesinglepipethroughwhichall
trafficfromperipheralnetworksmustpassonitswaytootherperipheralnetworks.
COS
1.Classofservice.Indicationofhowanupperlayerprotocolrequiresthatalowerlayerprotocoltreatitsmessages.InSNA
subarearouting,COSdefinitionsareusedbysubareanodestodeterminetheoptimalroutetoestablishtogivensession.A
COSdefinitioncomprisesavirtualroutenumberandatransmissionpriorityfield.AlsocalledTOS(typeofservice).2.
CorporationforOpenSystems.OrganizationthatpromulgatestheuseofOSIprotocolsthroughconformancetesting,
certification,andrelatedactivities.
COSINE
CooperationforOpenSystemsInterconnectionNetworkinginEurope.EuropeanprojectfinancedbytheEuropean
Community(EC)tobuildacommunicationnetworkbetweenscientificandindustrialentitiesinEurope.Theprojectendedin
1994.
Cost
Arbitraryvalue,typicallybasedonhopcount,mediabandwidth,orothermeasures,thatisassignedbyanetwork
administratorandusedtocomparevariouspathsthroughaninternetworkenvironment.Costvaluesareusedbyrouting
protocolstodeterminethemostfavorablepathtoaparticulardestination:thelowerthecost,thebetterthepath.Sometimes
calledpathcost.Seealsoroutingmetric.
CounttoInfinity
Problemthatcanoccurinroutingalgorithmsthatareslowtoconverge,inwhichrouterscontinuouslyincrementthehopcount
toparticularnetworks.Typically,somearbitraryhopcountlimitisimposedtopreventthisproblem.
CP
Controlpoint.InSNAnetworks,elementthatidentifiestheAPPNnetworkingcomponentsofaPU2.1node,managesdevice
rresources,andcanprovideservicestootherdevices.InAPPN,CPsareabletocommunicatewithlogicallyadjacentCPsby
wayofCPtoCPsessions.SeealsoENandNN.

CPCS
Commonpartconvergencesublayer.OneofthetwosublayersofanyAAL.TheCPCSisserviceindependentandisfurther
dividedintotheCSandtheSARsublayers.TheCPCSisresponsibleforpreparingdatafortransportacrosstheATMnetwork,
includingthecreationofthe48bytepayloadcellsthatarepassedtotheATMlayer.SeealsoAAL,ATMlayer,CS,SAR,and
SSCS.
CPE
Customerpremisesequipment.Terminatingequipment,suchasterminals,telephones,andmodems,suppliedbythe
telephonecompany,installedatcustomersites,andconnectedtothetelephonecompanynetwork.
CPIC
CommonProgrammingInterfaceforCommunications.PlatformindependentAPIdevelopedbyIBMandusedtoprovide
portabilityinAPPCapplications.SeealsoAPPC.
CPS
Cellspersecond.
CPU
CentralProcessingUnit.Themainprocessorinthecomputer'sconfigurationthathandlesprocessingtasksordirects
auxiliaryprocessors(coprocessors)toperformthem.
CPUbound
AcomputingactivityornetworkinteractionwhosespeedislimitedbythespeedatwhichtheCPUcanperformthenecessary
computingtasks.
Crash
Anabruptterminationorcomputingactivitycausedbyanerror.Inmanyinstances,thecomputerbecomescompletely
unusableandmustberestartedbeforeactivitycanresume.
CRC
CyclicRedundancyCheck.Amethodofinsuringdataintegritywhereacalculationisperformedusingthebinary
representationofthedataitselfasthebasisofthecalculation.TheCRCisthenumericalresultofthiscalculationandisheld
separatelyfromthedata.TheintegrityofthedataischeckedbycalculatinganewCRC.IfthetwoCRC'smatch,thenthereisa
highdegreeofconfidencethatthedatahasnotchanged.
CREN
CorporationforResearchandEducationalNetworking.TheresultofamergerofBITNETandCSNET.CRENisdevotedto
providingInternetconnectivitytoitsmembers,whichincludethealumni,students,faculty,andotheraffiliatesofparticipating
educationalandresearchinstitutions,viaBITNETIII.SeealsoBITNET,BITNETIII,andCSNET.
Crosstalk
Inelectronicsignaling,anerrorconditioncausedwhenthesignalfromonecircuitcausesadisturbancetothesignalof
thenearbycircuit..
CS
Convergencesublayer.OneofthetwosublayersoftheAALCPCS,responsibleforpaddinganderrorchecking.PDUspassed
fromtheSSCSandappendedwitha8bytetrailer(forerrorcheckingandothercontrolinformation)andpadded,ifnecessary,
sothatthelengthoftheresultingPDUisdivisibleby48.ThesePDUsarethenpassedtotheSARsublayeroftheCPCSfor
furtherprocessing.SeealsoAAL,CPCS,SAR,andSSCS.
CSA
CanadianStandardsAssociation.AgencywithinCanadathatcertifiesproductsthatconformtoCanadiannationalsafety
standards.
CSLIP
CompressedSerialLinkInternetProtocol.ExtensionofSLIPthat,whenappropriate,allowsjustheaderinformationtobesent
acrossaSLIPconnection,reducingoverheadandincreasingpacketthroughputonSLIPlines.SeealsoSLIP.
CSMA/CD
Carriersensemultipleaccesscollisiondetect.Mediaaccessmechanismwhereindevicesreadytotransmitdatafirstcheck
thechannelforacarrier.Ifnocarrierissensedforaspecificperiodoftime,adevicecantransmit.Iftwodevicestransmitat
once,acollisionoccursandisdetectedbyallcollidingdevices.Thiscollisionsubsequentlydelaysretransmissionsfromthose
devicesforsomerandomlengthoftime.CSMA/CDaccessisusedbyEthernetandIEEE802.3.
CSNET
ComputerScienceNetwork.Largeinternetworkconsistingprimarilyofuniversities,researchinstitutions,andcommercial
concerns.CSNETmergedwithBITNETtoformCREN.
CSNP
CompletesequencenumberPDU.PDUsentbythedesignatedrouterinanOSPFnetworktomaintaindatabase
synchronization.
CSU
Channelserviceunit.Digitalinterfacedevicethatconnectsenduserequipmenttothelocaldigitaltelephoneloop.Often
referredtotogetherwithDSU,asCSU/DSU.SeealsoDSU.
CTS
1.ClearToSend.CircuitintheEIA/TIA232specificationthatisactivatedwhenDCEisreadytoacceptdatafromDTE.2.
Commontransportsemantic.CornerstoneoftheIBMstrategytoreducethenumberofprotocolsonnetworks.CTSprovidesa

singleAPIfordevelopersofnetworksoftwareandenablesapplicationstorunoverAPPN,OSI,orTCP/IP.
CUT
ControlUnitTerminal.
CutthroughPacketSwitching
Packetswitchingapproachthatstreamsdatathroughaswitchsothattheleadingedgeofapacketexitstheswitchatthe
outputportbeforethepacketfinishesenteringtheinputport.Adeviceusingcutthroughpacketswitchingreads,processes,
andforwardspacketsassoonasthedestinationaddressislookedup,andtheoutgoingportdetermined.Alsoknownason
theflypacketswitching.Contrastwithstoreandforwardpacketswitching.
DAC
Dualattachedconcentrator.FDDIorCDDIconcentratorcapableofattachingtobothringsofanFDDIorCDDInetwork.Itcan
alsobedualhomedfromthemasterportsofotherFDDIorCDDiconcentrators.
Daemon
IntheUNIXoperatingsystem,acomputingprocessthat,oncestarted,isnotunderusercontrol,butcontinuestoruninthe
background.Daemonsusuallyperformaparticularpurposeondemand,suchassupplyinginformationtoanotherprocessor.
AnexampleinAppleTalknetworkingistheatalkaddaemon,whichsuppliesAppleTalktunnelinginformationtorouterson
request.
DaisyChain
InLocalTalk,adaisychainismadebylinkingLocalTalkconnectorstogetherwithpatchcord.Intelephony,adaisychainrefers
tothemethodoflinkingaseriesofwalloutletstogetherwithtwistedpaircablingratherthanthenormalpracticeofconnecting
thewalloutletstoacentrallocation(homerun).Intelephony,"daisychaining"isequivalenttothe"backbone"methodof
LocalTalkconstruction.
DAL
DataAccessLanguage.AdatabasemetalanguagedesignedbyApple.AsupersetofSQL.
DARPA
DefenseAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency.US.governmentagencythatfundedresearchforandexperimentationwiththe
Internet.EvolvedfromARPA,andthen,from1994,backtoARPA.
DARPAInternet
ObsoletetermreferringtotheInternet.SeeInternet.
DAS
Dualattachmentstation.DeviceattachedtoboththeprimaryandthesecondaryFDDIrings.Dualattachmentprovides
redundancyfortheFDDIringiftheprimaryringfails,thestationcanwraptheprimaryringtothesecondaryring,isolatingthe
failureandretainingringintegrity.AlsoknownasaClassAstation.
DAT
DigitalAudioTape.Atypeofstoragemediausedforthebackupofcomputingdata.
Data
Informationrepresentedinaformatreadablebyacomputer.
DataBase
AcollectionofdatathatcanbeselectivelyretrievedbyatypeofapplicationknowsasaDataBaseManagementSystem.
DataFlowControlLayer
Layer5oftheSNAarchitecturalmodel.Thislayerdeterminesandmanagesinteractionsbetweensessionpartners,
particularlydataflow.CorrespondstothesessionlayeroftheOSImodel.Seealsodatalinkcontrollayer,pathcontrollayer,
physicalcontrolllayer,presentationserviceslayer,transactionserviceslayer,andtransmissioncontrollayer.
Datagram
Logicalgroupingofinformationsentasanetworklayerunitoveratransmissionmediumwithoutpriorestablishmentofa
virtualcircuit.IPdatagramsaretheprimaryinformationunitsintheInternet.Thetermsframe,message,packet,andsegment
arealsousedtodescribelogicalinformationgroupingatvariouslayersoftheOSIreferencemodelandinvarioustechnology
circles.
DataLink
ThephysicalconnectionbetweentwodevicessuchasEthernet,LocalTalkorTokenRingthatiscapableofcarrying
informationintheserviceornetworkingprotocolssuchasAppleTalk,TCP/IPorXNS.
DataLinkLayer
Layer2oftheOSIreferencemodel.Thislayerprovidesreliabletransitofdataacrossaphysicallink.Thedatalinklayeris
concernedwithphysicaladdressing,networktopology,linediscipline,errornotification,ordereddeliveryofframes,andflow
control.TheIEEEhasdividedthislayerintotwosublayers:TheMACsublayerandtheLLCsublayer.Sometimessimply
calledlinklayer.RoughlycorrespondstothedatalinkcontrollayeroftheSNAmodel.Seealsoapplicationlayer,LLC,MAC,
networklayer,physicallayer,presentationlayer,sessionlayer,andtransportlayer.
DataLinkProtocol
Theprotocolthatcontrolsthenetworksignalingandreceivinghardware,performingdataintegritychecksandformatting
informationaccordingtotherulesofthedatalink.
DataSink
Networkequipmentthatacceptsdatatransmissions.

DataStream
Alldatatransmittedthroughacommunicationslineinasinglereadorwriteoperation.
dB
Decibels.
DBConnector
Databasebusconnector.Typeofconnectorusedtoconnectserialandparallelcablestoadatabus.DBconnectornamesare
oftheformatDBx,wherexrepresentsthenumberof(wires)withintheconnector.Eachlineisconnectedtoapinonthe
connector,butinmanycases,notallpinsareassignedafunction.DBconnectorsaredefinedbyvariousEIA/TIAstandards.
DCA
DefenseCommunicationsAgency.US.governmentorganizationresponsibleforDDNnetworkssuchasMILNET.Nowcalled
DISA.
DCC
DataCountryCode.OneoftwoATMAddressformatsdevelopedbytheATMForumforusebyprivatenetworks.Adapted
fromthesubnetworkmodelofaddressinginwhichtheATMlayerisresponsibleformappingnetworklayeraddressestoATM
Addresses.SeealsoICD.
DCE
DistributedComputingEnvironment.
DChannel
1.Datachannel.Fullduplex,16kbps(BRI)or64kbps(PRI)ISDNchannel.ComparetoBchannel,Echannel,andH
channel.2.InSNA,adevicethatconnectsaprocessorandmainstoragewithperipherals.
DDM
DistributedDataManagement.SoftwareinanIBMSNAenvironmentthatprovidespeertopeercommunicationandfile
sharing.OneofthreeSNAtransactionservices.SeealsoDIAandSNADS.
DDN
DefenseDataNetwork.US.militarynetworkcomposedofanunclassifiednetwork(MILNET)andvarioussecretandtop
secretnetworks.DDNisoperatedandmaintainedbyDISA.SeealsoDISAandMILNET.
DDP
DatagramDeliveryProtocol.AppleComputernetworklayerprotocolthatisresponsibleforthesockettosocketdeliveryof
datagramsoveranAppleTalkinternetwork.
DDR
Dialondemandrouting.TechniquewherebyaCiscoroutercanautomaticallyinitiateandcloseacircuitswitchedsessionas
transmittingstationsdemand.Therouterspoofskeepalivessothatendstationstreatthesessionasactive.DDRpermits
routingoverISDNortelephonelinesusinganexternalISDNterminaladapterormodem.
DE
Discardeligible.Seetaggedtraffic.
Deadlock
1.Unresolvedcontentionfortheuseofaresource.2.InAPPN,whentwoelementsofaprocesseachwaitforactionbyora
responsefromtheotherbeforetheyresumetheprocess.
Decay
Alossintheclarityorreadabilityofanelectronicsignalcausedbytheinteractionofthesignalwithitscarrierandelectrical
environment.
Decibel
Ameasurementthatreferstotheratioofthestrengthofonesignaltoanother.Decibelsarecommonlyusedtoexpresssignal
lossortherelationshipofthesignalstrengthtoambientnoise.
DECnet
Groupofcommunicationsproducts(includingaprotocolsuite)developedandsupportedbyDigitalEquipmentCorporation.
DECnet/OSI(alsocalledDECnetPhaseV)isthemostrecentiterationandsupportsbothOSIprotocolsandproprietaryDigital
protocols.PhaseIVPrimesupportsinherentMACaddressesthatallowDECnetnodestocoexistwithsystemsrunningother
thathaveMACaddressrestrictions.SeealsoDNA.
DECnetRouting
ProprietaryroutingschemeintroducedbyDigitalEquipmentCorporationinDECnetPhaseIII.InDECnetPhaseV,DECnet
completeditstransitiontoOSIroutingprotocols(ESISandISIS).
Decryption
Thereverseapplicationofanencryptionalgorithmtoencrypteddata,therebyrestoringthatdatatoitsoriginal,unencrypted
state.Seealsoencryption.
DedicatedLAN
Networksegmentallocatedtoasingledevice.UsedinLANswitchednetworktopologies.
DedicatedLine
Communicationslinethatisindefinitelyreservedfortransmissions,ratherthanswitchedastransmissionisrequired.Seealso

leasedline.
DeFactoStandard
Standardthatexistsbynatureofitswidespreaduse.Comparewithdejurestandard.Seealsostandard.
DefaultRoute
Routingtableentrythatisusedtodirectframesforwhichanexthopisnotexplicitlylistedintheroutingtable.
DeJureStandard
Standardthatexistbecauseofitsapprovalbyanofficialstandardsbody.Comparewithdefactostandard.Seealsostandard.
Delay
Thetimebetweentheinitiationofatransactionbyasenderandthefirstresponsereceivedbythesender.Also,thetime
requiredtomoveapacketfromsourcetodestinationoveragivenpath.
DemandPriority
Mediaaccessmethodusedin100VGAnyLANthatusesahubthatcanhandlemultipletransmissionrequestsandcan
processtrafficaccordingtopriority,makingitusefulforservicingtimesensitivetrafficsuchasmultimediaandvideo.Demand
priorityeliminatestheoverheadofpacketcollisions,collisionrecovery,andbroadcasttraffictypicalinEthernetnetworks.See
also100VGAnyLAN.
Demarc
DemarcationpointbetweencarrierequipmentandCPE.
Demodulation
Processofreturningamodulatedsignaltoitsoriginalform.Modemsperformdemodulationbytakingananalogsignaland
returningittoitsoriginal(digital)form.Seealsomodulation.
Demultiplexing
Theseparatingofmultipleinputstreamsthathavebeenmultiplexedintoacommonphysicalsignalbackintomultipleoutput
streams.Seealsomultiplexing.
DenseModePIM
SeePIMdensemode.
DES
DataEncryptionStandard.StandardcryptographicalgorithmdevelopedbytheUS.
DesignatedBridge
Thebridgethatincursthelowestpathcostwhenforwardingaframefromasegmenttotheroutebridge.
DesignatedRouter
OSPFrouterthatgeneratesLSAsforamultiaccessnetworkandhasotherspecialresponsibilitiesinrunningOSPF.Each
multiaccessOSPFnetworkthathasatleasttwoattachedroutershasadesignatedrouterthatiselectedbytheOSPFHello
protocol.Thedesignatedrouterenablesareductioninthenumberofadjacenciesrequiredonamultiaccessnetwork,whichin
turnreducestheamountorroutingprotocoltrafficandthesizeofthetopologicaldatabase.
Desktop
IntheMacintoshuserinterface,thebackgroundimageoftheFinderonwhichtheiconsforapplications,directoriesand
datafilesaredisplayed.
DestinationAddress
Addressofanetworkdevicethatisreceivingdata.Seealsosourceaddress.
DeterministicLoadDistribution
Techniquefordistributingtrafficbetweentwobridgesacrossacircuitgroup.Guaranteespacketorderingbetweensource
destinationpairsandalwaysforwardstrafficforasourcedestinationpaironthesamesegmentinacircuitgroupforagiven
circuitgroupconfiguration.
Device
Seenode.
DeviceDriver
SoftwarethatactsasanintermediarybetweenaCPUandaperipheraldevice.TheCPUsendsacommandtothe
devicedriver,whichtranslatesthatcommandintoacommandmeaningfultotheperipheraldevice.
DFT
DistributedFunctionTerminal.
DIA
DocumentInterchangeArchitecture.Definestheprotocolsanddataformatsneededforthetransparentinterchangeof
documentsinanSNAnetwork.OneofthreeSNAtransactionservices.SeealsoDDMandSNADS.
Diagnostic
Atestorthedatafromatestwhichindicatestheconditionofthestateofacomputerornetwork'shealth.
DialupLine

Communicationscircuitthatisestablishedbyaswitchedcircuitconnectionusingthetelephonecompanynetwork.
DifferentialEncoding
Digitalencodingtechniquewherebyabinaryvalueisdenotedbyasignalchangeratherthanaparticularsignallevel.
DifferentialManchesterEncoding
Digitalcodingschemewhereamidbittimetransitionisusedforclocking,andatransitionatthebeginningofeachbittime
denotesazero.ThecodingschemeusedbyIEEE802.5andTokenRingnetworks.
Dijkstra'salgorithm
SeeSPF.
DIN
DeutscheIndustrieNorm.Germannationalstandardsorganization.
DINConnector
DeutscheIndustrieNormconnector.MultipinconnectorusedinsomeMacintoshandIBMPCcompatiblecomputers,andon
somenetworkprocessorpanels.
DirectedSearch
Searchrequestsenttoaspecificnodeknowntocontainaresource.Adirectedsearchisusedtodeterminethecontinued
existenceoftheresourceandtoobtainroutinginformationspecifictothenode.Seealsobroadcastsearch.
DirectMemoryAccess
SeeDMA.
DirectoryServices
Servicesthathelpnetworkdeviceslocateserviceproviders.
DISA
DefenseInformationSystemsAgency.US.militaryorganizationresponsibleforimplementingandoperatingmilitary
informationsystems,includingtheDDN.SeealsoDDN.
DiscoveryArchitecture
APPNsoftwarethatenablesamachineconfiguredasanAPPNENtoautomaticallyfineprimaryandbackupNNswhenthe
machineisbroughtontoanAPPNnetwork.
DiscoveryMode
MethodbywhichanAppleTalkinterfaceacquiresinformationaboutanattachednetworkfromanoperationalnodeandthen
usesthisinformationtoconfigureitself.Alsocalleddynamicconfiguration.
DistanceVectorRoutingAlgorithm
Classofroutingalgorithmsthatiterateonthenumberofhopsinaroutetofindashortestpathspanningtree.Distancevector
routingalgorithmscallforeachroutertosenditsentireroutingtableineachupdate,butonlytoitsneighbors.Distancevector
routingalgorithmscanbepronetoroutingloops,butarecomputationallysimplerthanlinkstateroutingalgorithms.Alsocalled
BellmanFordroutingalgorithm.SeealsolinkstateroutingalgorithmandSPF.
Distortion
Achangeinaelectronicsignalthatoccurswhendifferentfrequencycomponentsofthesignaldecayatdifferentrates.Ina
signalmadeupofmanyfrequencycomponents(suchasasquarewave),thehigherfrequencycomponentsofasignal
typicallydecayfasterthanthelowerfrequencycomponents.
DistortionDelay
Problemwithacommunicationsignalresultingfromnonuniformtransmissionspeedsofthecomponentsofasignalthrougha
transmissionmedium.Alsocalledgroupdelay.
DLCI
Datalinkconnectionidentifier.ValuethatspecifiesaPVCorSVCinaFrameRelaynetwork.InthebasicFrameRelay
specification,DLCIsarelocallysignificant(connecteddevicesmightusedifferentvaluestospecifythesameconnection).In
theLMIextendedspecification,DLCIsaregloballysignificant(DLCIsspecifyindividualenddevices).SeealsoLMI.
DLL
DynamicallyLinkedLibraries.AcomponentofMicrosoft'sOLE.
DLSw
Datalinkswitching.Interoperabilitystandard,describedinRFC1434,thatprovidesamethodforforwardingSNAand
NetBIOStrafficoverTCP/IPnetworksusingdatalinklayerswitchingandencapsulation.DLSwusesSSP(SwitchtoSwitch
Protocol)insteadofSRB,eliminatingthemajorlimitationsofSRB,includinghopcountlimits,broadcastandunnecessary
traffic,timeouts,lackofflowcontrol,andlackofprioritizationschemes.SeealsoSRB,andSSP(SwitchtoSwitchProtocol).
DLU
DependentLU.AnLUthatdependsontheSSCPtoprovideservicesforestablishingsessionwithotherLUs.SeealsoLUand
SSCP.
DLUR
DependentLURequester.TheclienthalfoftheDependentLURequester/ServerenhancementtoAPPN.TheDLUR
componentresidesinAPPNENsandNNsthatsupportadjacentDLUsbysecuringservicesfromtheDLUS.SeealsoAPPN,
DLU,andDLUS.

DLURNode
InAPPNnetworks,anENorNNthatimplementstheDLURcomponent.SeealsoDLUR.
DLUS
DependentLUServer.TheserverhalfoftheDependentLURequester/ServerenhancementtoAPPN.TheDLUScomponent
providesSSCPservicestoDLURnodesoveranAPPNnetwork.SeealsoAPPN,DLU,AndDLUR.
DLUSNode
InAPPNnetworks,anNNthatimplementstheDLUScomponent.SeealsoDLUS.
DMA
Directmemoryaccess.Thetransferofdatafromaperipheraldevice,suchasaharddiskdrive,intomemorywithoutthatdata
passingthroughthemicroprocessor.DMAtransfersdataintomemoryathighspeedswithnoprocessoroverhead.
DMAC
DestinationMAC.TheMACaddressspecifiedintheDestinationAddressfieldofapacket.ComparewithSMAC.Seealso
MACaddress.
DNA
DigitalNetworkArchitecture.NetworkarchitecturedevelopedbyDigitalEquipmentCorporation.Theproductsthatembody
DNA(includingcommunicationsprotocols)arecollectivelyreferredtoasDECnet.SeealsoDECnet.
DNIC
DataNetworkIdentificationCode.PartofanX.121address.DNICsaredividedintotwoparts:thefirstspecifyingthecountry
inwhichtheaddressedPSNislocatedandthesecondspecifyingthePSNitself.SeealsoX.121.
DNS
DomainNameService
DNSIX
DepartmentofDefenseIntelligenceInformationSystemNetworkSecurityforInformationExchange.Collectionofsecurity
requirementsfornetworkingdefinedbytheUS.DefenseIntelligenceAgency.
DoD
DepartmentofDefense.US.governmentorganizationthatisresponsiblefornationaldefense.TheDoDhasfrequentlyfunded
communicationprotocoldevelopment.
domain
1.IntheInternet,aportionofthespanninghierarchytreethatreferstogeneralgroupingsofnetworksbasedonorganization
typeorgeography.2.InSNA,anSSCPandtheresourcesitcontrols.3.InISIS,alogicalsetofnetworks.
Domain
NetworkingsystemdevelopedbyApolloComputer(nowpartofHewlettPackard)foruseinitsengineeringworkstations.
DOS
TheoperatingsystemofIBMcompatiblepersonalcomputers.
DotAddress
ReferstothecommonnotationforIPaddressesintheform<n.n.n.n>whereeachnumbernrepresents,indecimal,1byteof
the4byteIPaddress.Alsocalleddottednotationorfourpartdottednotation.
DottedNotation
Seedotaddress.
DownlinkStation
Seegroundstation.
Download
Thetransferofafilefromaremotecomputertoalocalcomputer.
Downsizing
Thetransferofcomputingtaskspreviouslyperformedbymainframeorminicomputerstopersonalcomputers.
Downtime
1.Atemporaryinterruptionintheusabilityofacomputersystem.2.Aworkstoppagecausedbythetemporarylackofusability
ofacomputersystem.
DQDB
DistributedQueueDualBus.Datalinklayercommunicationprotocol,specifiedintheIEEE802.6standard,designedforusein
MANs.DQDB,whichpermitsmultiplesystemstointerconnectusingtwounidirectionallogicalbuses,isanopenstandardthat
isdesignedforcompatibilitywithcarriertransmissionstandardsandisalignedwithemergingstandardsforBISDN.SIP
(SMDSInterfaceProtocol)isbasedonDQDB.SeealsoMAN.
DRAM
Dynamicrandomaccessmemory.RAMthatstoresinformationincapacitorsthatmustbeperiodicallyrefreshed.Delayscan
occurbecauseDRAMsareinaccessibletotheprocessorwhenrefreshingtheircontents.However,DRAMsarelesscomplex
andhavegreatercapacitythanSRAMs.SeealsoSRAM.

Drive
Adatastoragedevice.
Drop
Pointonamultipointchannelwhereaconnectiontoanetworkeddeviceismade.
DropCable
Generally,acablethatconnectsanetworkdevice(suchasacomputer)toaphysicalmedium.AtypeofAUI.SeealsoAUI.
DS0
Digitalsignallevel0.Framingspecificationusedintransmittingdigitalsignalsoverasinglechannelat64kbpsonaT1facility.
ComparewithDS1andDS3.
DS1
Digitalsignallevel1.Framingspecificationusedintransmittingdigitalsignalsat1.544MbpsonaT1facility(intheUnited
States)orat2.108MbpsonanE1facility(inEurope).ComparewithDS0andDS3.
DS1/DTI
DS1domestictrunkinterface.InterfacecircuitusedforDS1applicationswith24trunks.
DS3
Digitalsignallevel3.Framingspecificationusedfortransmittingdigitalsignalsat44.736MbpsonaT3facility.Comparewith
DS0andDS1.SeealsoE3andT3.
DSAP
Destinationserviceaccesspoint.TheSAPofthenetworknodedesignatedintheDestinationfieldofapacket.Compareto
SSAP.SeealsoSAP(serviceaccesspoint).
DSP
Domainspecificpart.ThepartofaCLNSaddressthatcontainsanareaidentifier,astationidentifier,andaselectorbyte.
DSPU
Downstreamphysicalunit.InSNA,aPUthatislocateddownstreamfromthehost.
DSPUConcentration
SeeDSPUandPU.
DSR
Datasetready.EIA/TIA232interfacecircuitthatisactivatedwhenDCEispoweredupandreadyforuse.
DSU
Dataserviceunit.DeviceusedindigitaltransmissionthatadaptsthephysicalinterfaceonaDTEdevicetoatransmission
facilitysuchasT1orE1.TheDSUisalsoresponsibleforfunctionssuchassignaltiming.OftenreferredtotogetherwithCSU,
asCSU/DSU.SeealsoCSU.
DSX1
CrossconnectionpointforDS1signals.
DTE
DataTerminalEquipment.TheX.25termforanendnode.Deviceattheuserendofausernetworkinterfacethatservesasa
datasource,destination,orboth.DTEconnectstoadatanetworkthroughaDCEdevice(forexample,amodem)andtypically
usesclockingsignalsgeneratedbytheDCE.CTEincludesdevicessuchascomputers,protocoltranslators,andmultiplexers.
ComparewithDCE.
DTMF
Dualtonemultifrequency.Useoftwosimultaneousvoicebandtonesfordialing(suchastouchtone).
DTR
Dataterminalready.EIA/TIA232circuitthatisactivatedtolettheDCEknowwhentheDTEisreadytosendandreceivedata.
DTS
DistributedTimeService.
DUAL
DiffusingUpdateAlgorithm.ConvergencealgorithmusedinEnhancedIGRPthatprovidesloopfreeoperationateveryinstant
throughoutaroutecomputation.Allowsroutersinvolvedinatopologychangetosynchronizeatthesametime,whilenot
involvingroutersthatareunaffectedbythechange.SeealsoEnhancedIGRP.
DualCounterrotationRing
Networktopologyinwhichtwosignalpaths,whosedirectionsareoppositeoneanother,existinatokenpassingnetwork.
FDDIandCDDIarebasedonthisconcept.
DualhomedStation
DeviceattachedtomultipleFDDIringstoprovideredundancy.
DualHoming

Networktopologyinwhichadeviceisconnectedtothenetworkbywayoftwoindependentaccesspoints(pointsof
attachment).Oneaccesspointistheprimaryconnection,andtheotherisastandbyconnectionthatisactivatedintheevent
ofafailureoftheprimaryconnection.
DualISIS
SeeIntegratedISIS.
DVMRP
DistanceVectorMulticastRoutingProtocol.Internetworkgatewayprotocol,largelybasedonRIP,thatimplementsatypical
densemodeIPmulticastscheme.DVMRPusesIGMPtoexchangeroutingdatagramswithitsneighbors.SeealsoIGMP.
DXI
DataExchangeInterface.ATMForumspecification,describedinRFC1483,thatdefineshowanetworkdevicesuchasa
bridge,router,orhubcaneffectivelyactasanFEPtoanATMnetworkbyinterfacingwithaspecialDSUthatperformspacket
segmentationandreassembly.
DynamicAddressResolution
Useofanaddressresolutionprotocoltodetermineandstoreaddressinformationondemand.
DynamicAddressing
Asystemofaddressinginwhichthecomputerselectsitsownaddresswithouttheuser'sintervention.
DynamicConfiguration
Seediscoverymode.
DynamicRouting
Routingthatadjustsautomaticallytonetworktopologyortrafficchanges.Alsocalledadaptiverouting.
E1
WideareadigitaltransmissionschemeusedpredominantlyinEuropethatcarriesdataatarateof2.048Mbps.E1linescan
beleasedforprivateusefromcommoncarriers.ComparewithT1.SeealsoDS1.
E.164
ITUTrecommendationforinternationaltelecommunicationnumbering,especiallyinISDN,BISDN,andSMDS.Anevolution
ofstationtelephonenumbers.
E3
Wideareadigitaltransmissionscheme,usedpredominantlyinEurope,thatcarriesdataatarateof34.368Mbps.E3lines
canbeleasedforprivateusefromcommoncarrier.ComparewithT3.SeealsoDS3.
Email
ElectronicMail.Anetworkapplicationthatcandelivermessagesfromonecomputerusertoanother.
EarlyTokenRelease
TechniqueusedinTokenRingnetworksthatallowsastationtoreleaseanewtokenontotheringimmediatelyafter
transmitting,insteadofwaitingforthefirstframetoreturn.Thisfeaturecanincreasethetotalbandwidthonthering.Seealso
TokenRing.
EARN
EuropeanAcademicResearchNetwork.Europeannetworkconnectinguniversitiesandresearchinstitutes.EARNmerged
withRAREtoformTERENA.SeealsoRAREandTERENA.
EBCDIC
Extendedbinarycodedecimalinterchangecode.AnyofanumberofcodedcharactersetsdevelopedbyIBMconsistingof8
bitcodedcharacters.ThischaractercodeisusedbyolderIBMsystemsandtelexmachines.ComparewithASCII.
EChannel
Echochannel.64KbpsISDNcircuitswitchingcontrolchannel.TheEchannelwasdefinedinthe1984ITUTISDN
specification,butwasdroppedinthe1988specification.ComparewithBchannel,Dchannel,andHchannel.
Echo
1.Inelectronicsignaling,thereflectionofasignalcausedbyasuddenchangeintheimpedanceofthecarrier.2.A
networkcontinuitytestwherepacketsaresenttoadistantnodethatisobligatedtoimmediatelysendthepacketsback.
EchoChannel
SeeEchannel.
Echoplex
Modeinwhichkeyboardcharactersareechoedonaterminalscreenuponreturnofasignalfromtheotherendoftheline
indicatingthatthecharacterswerereceivedcorrectly.
EchoProtocol
IntheAppleTalkprotocolfamily,aprotocolthatallowsacomputertoreturntestpackets.ThepurposeofEchoProtocolist
testthedeliveryconditionstoaremotenode,includingreachability,reliabilityandroundtriptime.
EchoTest
Adiagnostictestinwhichpacketsaresentbyonenodetoanothernode,whichimmediatelyreturnsthemtotheoriginalnode.
Thedatarecordedbytheechotestincludesthesuccessrateofthereturnaswellasthetimeneededtocompletetheround

trip.
ECMA
EuropeanComputerManufacturersAssociation.GroupofEuropeancomputervendorswhohavedonesubstantialOSI
standardizationwork.
EDI
ElectronicDocument(orData)Interchange.ThetermEDIusuallyconnotesasystemwhereauthenticationandsecurity
methodsguaranteetheintegrityandoriginoftheinformation.
EDIFACT
ElectronicDataInterchangeforAdministration,Commerce,andTransport.Dataexchangestandardadministeredbythe
UnitedNationstobeamultiindustryEDIstandard.
EEPROM
Electricallyerasableprogrammablereadonlymemory.EPROMthatcanbeerasedusingelectricalsignalsappliedtospecific
pins.SeealsoEPROM.
EGP
ExteriorGatewayProtocol.Internetprotocolforexchangingroutinginformationbetweenautonomoussystems.Documented
inRFC904.Nottobeconfusedwiththegeneraltermexteriorgatewayprotocol.EGPisanobsoleteprotocolthathasbeen
replacedbyBGP.SeealsoBGP.
EIA
ElectronicIndustriesAssociation.Groupthatspecifieselectricaltransmissionstandards.TheEIAandTIAhavedeveloped
numerouswellknowncommunicationsstandards,includingEIA/TIA232andEIA/TIA449.SeealsoTIA.
EIA530
ReferstotwoelectricalimplementationsofEIA/TIA449:RS422(forbalancedtransmission)andRS423(forunbalanced
transmission).Seealso422,RS423,andEIA/TIA449.
EIA/TIA232
CommonphysicallayerinterfacestandarddevelopedbyEIAandTIA,thatsupportsunbalancedcircuitsatsignalspeedsofup
to64kbps.CloselyresemblestheV.24specification.FormerlyknownasRS232.
EIA/TIA449
PopularphysicallayerinterfacedevelopedbyEIAandTIA.Essentially,afaster(upto2Mbps)versionofEIA/TIA232capable
oflongercableruns.FormerlycalledRS449.SeealsoEIA530.
EIA/TIA586
StandardthatdescribesthecharacteristicsandapplicationsforvariousgradesofUTPcabling.SeealsoCategory1cabling,
Category2cabling,Category3cabling,Category4cabling,Category5cabling,andUTP.
EIGRP
SeeEnhancedIGRP.
EISA
ExtendedIndustryStandardArchitecture.32bitbusinterfaceusedinPCs,PCbasedservers,andsomeUnixworkstations
andservers.SeealsoISA.
ELAN
EmulatedLAN.ATMnetworkinwhichanEthernetorTokenRingLANisemulatedusingaclientservermodel.ELANsare
composedofanLEC,anLES,aBUS,andanLECS.MultipleELANscanexistsimultaneouslyonasingleATMnetwork.
ELANsaredefinedbytheLANEspecification.SeealsoBUS,LANE,LEC,LECS,andLES.
Electromagnetic
Interferenceintheintegrityofasignalcausedbyradiation.An
Interference(EMI)
exampleistheradiationfromafluorescentlight,whichemitsabroadspectrumofelectromagneticradiation,including
radiationthatmaybeharmfultoasignalnotprotectedbyeithershieldingoradequatetwisting.
ElectronicMail
Widelyusednetworkapplicationinwhichmailmessagesaretransmittedelectronicallybetweenendusersovervarioustypes
ofnetworksusingvariousnetworkprotocols.Oftencalledemail.
EMA
1.EnterpriseManagementArchitecture.DigitalEquipmentCorporationnetworkmanagementarchitecture,basedontheOSI
networkmanagementmodel.
Email
Seeelectronicmail.
EMI
Electromagneticinterference.Interferencebyelectromagneticsignalsthatcancausereduceddataintegrityandincreased
errorratesontransmissionchannels.
EMIF

ESCONMultipleImageFacility.MainframeI/OsoftwarefunctionthatallowsoneESCONchanneltobesharedamong
multiplelogicalpartitionsonthesamemainframe.SeealsoESCON.
EMP
Electromagneticpulse.Causedbylightningandotherhighenergyphenomena.Capableofcouplingenoughenergyinto
unshieldedconductorstodestroyelectronicdevices.SeealsoTempest.
EmulatedLAN
SeeELAN.
Emulation
Anetworkactivityinwhichacomputeractsasifitisanotherkindofcomputerorterminal.AnexampleiswhenaMacintosh
useropensaremoteterminalsessiontoaVAX,itmayrunaprogramthatemulatesaDECVT240terminal.
EmulationMode
FunctionofanNCPthatenablesittoperformactivitiesequivalenttothoseperformedbyatransmissioncontrolunit.
EN
Endnode.APPNendsystemthatimplementsthePU2.1,providesenduserservices,andsupportssessionsbetweenlocal
andremoteCPs.ENsarenotcapableofroutingtrafficandrelyonanadjacentNNforAPPNservices.ComparewithNN.See
alsoCP.
Encapsulation
Theprocessofplacingoneprotocolinsideofanother.Usuallyimpliesthattheencapsulatedprotocolwasnotoriginally
intendedbyitsdesignerstobecarriedbytheencapsulatingprotocol.
EncapsulationBridging
CarriesEthernetframesfromoneroutertoanotheracrossdisparatemedia,suchasserialandFDDIlines.Contrastwith
translationalbridging.
Encoder
Devicethatmodifiesinformationintotherequiredtransmissionformat.
Encryption
Theapplicationofaspecificalgorithmtodatasoastoaltertheappearanceofthedatamakingitincomprehensibletothose
whoarenotauthorizedtoseetheinformation.Seealsodecryption.
EnhancedIGRP
EnhancedInteriorGatewayRoutingProtocol.AdvancedversionofIGRPdevelopedbyCisco.Providessuperiorconvergence
propertiesandoperatingefficiency,andcombinestheadvantagesoflinkstateprotocolswiththoseofdistancevector
protocols.ComparewithIGRP.SeealsoIGP,OSPF,andRIP.
Enterprisenetwork
Anetworkingsystemthatallowscommunicationandresourcesharingamongallofacompany'sbusinessfunctions
andworkers.Insomecircles,thiswouldevenincludethecompany'sbusinessincludingitssuppliersanddistributors.
Entity
Ahardware(orfirmware)deviceorsoftwareprocesscapableofinitiatingorrespondingtocommunication.Entities
typicallypossessauniqueaddress.
Entropy
1.Ameasureofthedisorderofasystem.2.Thethermodynamictendencyofasystemtoreduceitsoverallenergystateby
increasingitsdisorder.Theoretically,anequilibriumisreachedwheretheenergyreductionthatcanbegainedbyafurther
increaseinentropyisoffsetbytheenergynecessarytocontainthatincrease.
EOT
EndofTransmission.Generally,acharacterthatsignifiestheendofalogicalgroupofcharactersorbits.
EPROM
Erasableprogrammablereadonlymemory.Nonvolatilememorychipsthatareprogrammedaftertheyaremanufacturedand,
ifnecessary,canbeerasedbysomemeansandreprogrammed.ComparewithEEPROMandPROM.
Equalization
Techniqueusedtocompensateforcommunicationschanneldistortions.
Errorchecking
Indatatransmission,anactionwheretheintegrityofdataisverified.
ErrorControl
Techniquefordetectingandcorrectingerrorsindatatransmissions.
ErrorcorrectingCode
Codehavingsufficientintelligenceandincorporatingsufficientsignalinginformationtoenablethedetectionandcorrectionof
manyerrorsatthereceiver.
ErrordetectingCode
Codethatcandetecttransmissionerrorsthroughanalysisofreceiveddatabasedontheadherenceofthedatatoappropriate
structuralguidelines.

ES
1.Endsystem.Generally,anenduserdeviceonanetwork.2.Endsystem.NonroutinghostornodeinanOSInetwork.
ESCON
EnterpriseSystemConnection.IBMchannelarchitecturethatspecifiesapairoffiberopticcables,witheitherLEDsorlasers
astransmittersandasignalingrateof200Mbps.
ESCONChannel
IBMchannelforattachingmainframestoperipheralssuchasstoragedevices,backupunits,andnetworkinterfaces.This
channelincorporatesfiberchanneltechnology.TheESCONchannelreplacesthebusandtagchannel.Comparewithparallel
channel.Seealsobusandtagchannel.
ESD
Electrostaticdischarge.Dischargeofstoredstaticelectricitythatcandamageelectronicequipmentandimpairelectrical
circuitry,resultingincompleteorintermittentfailures.
ESF
ExtendedSuperframeFormat.FramingtypeusedonT1circuitsthatconsistsof24framesof192bitseach,withthe193rdbit
providingtimingandotherfunctions.ESFisanenhancedversionofSF.SeealsoSF.
ESIS
EndSystemtoIntermediateSystem.OSIprotocolthatdefineshowendsystems(hosts)announcethemselvestointermediate
systems(routers).SeealsoISIS.
ESnet
EnergySciencesNetwork.DatacommunicationsnetworkmanagedandfundedbytheU.S.DepartmentofEnergyOfficeof
EnergyResearch(DOE/OER).InterconnectstheDOEtoeducationalinstitutionsandotherresearchfacilities.
Ethernet
AspecificationforatransmissionsystemincludingLayers1and2oftheOSI7layermodelusingtheCSMA/CDaccess
method.Incommonusage,"Ethernet"referstoboththeDIX(DECIntelXerox)versionofthisspecificationortotheIEEE
version,moreformallyknownas"802.3".TheDIXversionisdistinguishedbythereference"EthernetV.2".
EtherTalk
1.EtherTalkLinkAccessProtocol(ELAP),theprotocolthatplacesAppleTalk'sDDPformattedpacketsinEthernetframes.2.
TheimplementationofAppleTalkusingEthernetasadeliverysystem.InAppleTalkPhase1,EthernetV.2isusedinPhase2,
802.3isused.
Extension
AsystemsoftwareadditiontotheMacintoshOSthatextendsitfunctionality.
ETSI
EuropeanTelecommunicationStandardsInstitute.OrganizationcreatedbytheEuropeanPTTsandtheEuropeanCommunity
(EC)toproposetelecommunicationsstandardsforEurope.
EUnet
EuropeanInternet.EuropeancommercialInternetserviceprovider.EUnetisdesignedtoprovideelectronicmail,newsand
otherInternetservicestoEuropeanmarkets.
Event
Networkmessageindicatingoperationalirregularitiesinphysicalelementsofanetworkoraresponsetotheoccurrenceofa
significanttask,typicallythecompletionofarequestforinformation.Seealsoalarmandtraps.
ExcessBurst
SeeBe.
ExcessRate
Trafficinexcessoftheinsuredrateforagivenconnection.Specifically,theexcessrateequalsthemaximumrateminusthe
insuredrate.Excesstrafficisdeliveredonlyifnetworkresourcesareavailableandcanbediscardedduringperiodsof
congestion.Comparewithinsuredrateandmaximumrate.
EXEC
TheinteractivecommandprocessoftheCiscoIOSsoftware.
Expansion
Theprocessofrunningacompresseddatasetthroughanalgorithmthatrestoresthedatasettoitsoriginalsize.Compare
withcompandingandcompression.
ExpeditedDelivery
Optionsetbyaspecificprotocollayertellingotherprotocollayers,orthesameprotocollayerinanotherdevice,tohandle
specificdatamorerapidly.
ExplicitRoute
InSNA,aroutefromasourcesubareatoadestinationsubarea,asspecifiedbyalistofsubareanodesandtransmission
groupsthatconnectthetwo.
ExplorerFrame
FramesentoutbyanetworkeddeviceinaSRBenvironmenttodeterminetheoptimalroutetoanothernetworkeddevice.

ExplorerPacket
GeneratedbyanendstationtryingtofinditswaythroughaSRBnetwork.Gathersahopbyhopdescriptionofapaththrough
thenetworkbybeingmarked(updated)byeachbridgethatittraverses,therebycreatingacompletetopologicalmap.See
alsoallroutesexplorerpacket,localexplorerpacket,andspanningexplorerpacket.
exteriorgatewayprotocol
Anyinternetworkprotocolusedtoexchangeroutinginformationbetweenautonomoussystems.Nottobeconfusedwith
ExteriorGatewayProtocolEGP),whichisaparticularinstanceofanexteriorgatewayprotocol.
Exteriorrouter
RouterconnectedtoanAURPtunnel,responsiblefortheencapsulationanddeencapsulationofAppleTalkpacketsina
foreignprotocolheader(forexample,IP).SeealsoAURPandAURPtunnel.
FailureDomain
AreainwhichafailurehasoccurredinaTokenRing,definedbytheinformationcontainedinabeacon.Whenastation
detectsaseriousproblemwiththenetwork(suchasacablebreak),itsendsabeaconframethatincludesthestation
reportingthefailure,itsNAUN,andeverythinginbetween.Beaconinginturnintitiatesaprocesscalledautoreconfiguration.
Seealsoautoreconfiguration,beacon,andNAUN.
FanoutUnit
Devicethatallowsmultipledevicesonanetworktocommunicateusingasinglenetworkattachment.
FastEthernet
A100MBnetworkusing4twistedpairs.
FastSwitching
Ciscofeaturewherebyaroutecacheisusedtoexpeditepacketswitchingthrougharouter.Contrastwithslowswitching.
FaultManagement
OneoffivecategoriesofnetworkmanagementdefinedbyISOformanagementofOSInetworks.Faultmanagementattempts
toensurethatnetworkfaultsaredetectedandcontrolled.Seealsoaccountingmanagement,configurationmanagement,
performance,andsecuritymanagement.
FCC
FederalCommunicationsCommission.TheUnitedStatesgovernmentagencythatregulateselectroniccommunicationsand
thedomesticmanufactureandimportationofcommunicationequipment.
FDDI
FiberDataDistributedInterface.Aspecification(ANSIX3T9.5)for100MBits/sec.ondualcounterrotatingtokenpassing
ringimplementedonfiberopticcabling.
FDDIII
ANSIstandardthatenhancesFDDI.FDDIIIprovidesisochronoustransmissionforconnectionlessdatacircuitsand
connectionorientedvoiceandvideocircuits.ComparewithFDDI.
FDM
Frequencydivisionmultiplexing.Techniquewherebyinformationfrommultiplechannelscanbeallocatedbandwidthona
singlewirebasedonfrequency.ComparewithATDM,statisticalmultiplexing,andTDM.
FECN
Forwardexplicitcongestionnotification.BitsetbyaFrameRelaynetworktoinformDTEreceivingtheframethatcongestion
wasexperiencedinthepathfromsourcetodestination.DTEreceivingframeswiththeFENCbitsetcanrequestthathigher
levelprotocolstakeflowcontrolactionasappropriate.ComparewithBECN.
Femaleconnector
Alsocalled"jack".Aconnectorwhichjoinswithamaleconnectorbyprovidingrecessesintowhichthemaleconnectorinserts
itscontactpointsorpins.
FEP
Frontendprocessor.Deviceorboardthatprovidesnetworkinterfacecapabilitiesforanetworkeddevice.InSNA,typicallyan
IBM3745device.
Fiberoptic
Atransmissionmediathatusesalightwaveforsignaling.
FiberopticCable
Physicalmediumcapableofconductingmodulatedlighttransmission.Comparedwithothertransmissionmedia,fiberoptic
cableismoreexpensive,butisnotsusceptibletoelectromagneticinterferenceandiscapableofhigherdatarates.Sometimes
calledopticalfiber.
FID0
Formatindicator0.OneofseveralformatsthatanSNATHcanuse.AnFID0THisusedforcommunicationbetweenanSNA
nodeandanonSNAnode.SeealsoTH.
FID1
Formatindicator1.OneofseveralformatsthatanSNATHcanuse.AnFID1THencapsulatedmessagesbetweentwo
subareanodesthatdonotsupportvirtualandexplicitroutes.SeealsoTH.
FID2

Formatindicator2.OneofseveralformatsthatanSNATHcanuse.AnFID2THisusedfortransferringmessagesbetweena
subareanodeandaPU2,usinglocaladdresses.SeealsoTH.
FID3
Formatindicator3.OneofseveralformatsthatanSNATHcanuse.AnFID3THisusedfortransferringmessagesbetweena
subareanodeandaPU1,usinglocaladdresses.SeealsoTH.
FID4
Formatindicator4.OneofseveralformatsthatanSNATHcanuse.AnFID4THencapsulatesmessagesbetweentwo
subareanodesthatarecapableofsupportingvirtualandexplicitroutes.SeealsoTH.
Field
Inaninformationpacket,agroupofoneormorebytesthatperformsaspecificfunction,suchasdesignatingtherecipientof
thepacket,thelengthofthepacketorthetypeofprotocolencodedinthepacket.
Filesystem
Referstothecollectionofsystemsoftwareroutinesthatmanagesandaccessesfileslocatedonacomputer'sstorage
volumes.
FileTransfer
Popularnetworkapplicationthatallowsfilestobemovedfromonenetworkdevicetoanother.
Filter
Anetworkmanagerdefinedconditionaltestplacedonincomingpacketsinanetworkbridgeorprotocolanalyzer.Generally,if
thepacketmeetstheconditionsdefinedinthefiltercriteria,itundergoesfurtherprocessing.Ifthepacketdoesnotmeetthe
filtercriteria,itisrejected.
Finder
AsoftwareapplicationincludedwithMacintoshsystemsoftwarethatallowsuserstoperformbasicfileaccessand
managementfunctionsusingiconsandpulldownmenus.
Finger
AcollectionofsoftwareroutinesusedbycomputersrunningtheIPprotocolstack,whichallowsausertoreadpublic
informationaboutauseronthesame,oraremotemachine,oftenincluding:fullname,telephonenumberandextension,snail
mailaddress,timeandplaceoflastlogin,whetheruserhasanypendingunreadmail,andwitticismsselectedbytheuser.
Firewall
Routeroraccessserver,orseveralroutersoraccessservers,designatedasabufferbetweenanyconnectedpublicnetworks
andaprivatenetwork.Afirewallrouterusesaccesslistsandothermethodstoensurethesecurityoftheprivatenetwork.
FireWire
HighspeedexternaldatabusintendedtoreplacetheSCSIbusintheMacintoshsystemarchitecture,asthebusofchoicefor
theconnectionofstoragedevices,externalvideoandimageI/O,etc.
Firmware
Acollectionofprogrammedroutinesandinstructionsthatisimplementedinacomputerchiporsimilarhardwareform
insteadofasoftwareform.
Flag
Inapacket,abit(orsometimesagroupofbits)thatindicatesacondition.Forexample,theZIPGetNetInfoReplyincludesa1
bitflagthatindicateswhetherthezonenamespecifiedeitherisorisnotavalidhomezonenameforthenodethatrequested
theinformation.
FlagByte
InLocalTalksignaling,thebitpattern"01111110",whichsignalsthebeginningandendingofaLLAPframe.TheFlagBytes
precedingthepacketsestablishthesynchronizationoftheframesimilartothefunctionofanEthernetpreamble.
Flapping
Routingproblemwhereanadvertisedroutebetweentwonodesalternates(flaps)backandforthbetweentwopathsduetoa
networkproblemthatcausesintermittentinterfacefailures.
Flashmemory
TechnologydevelopedbyIntelandlicensedtoothersemiconductorcompanies.Flashmemoryisnonvolatilestoragethatcan
beelectricallyerasedandreprogrammed.Allowssoftwareimagestobestored,booted,andrewrittenasnecessary.
FlashUpdate
Routingupdatesentsynchronouslyinresponsetoachangeinthenetworktopology.Comparewithroutingupdate.
Flooding
Trafficpassingtechniqueusedbyswitchesandbridgesinwhichtrafficreceivedonaninterfaceissentoutalloftheinterfaces
ofthatdeviceexcepttheinterfaceonwhichtheinformationwasoriginallyreceived.
Flow
Streamofdatatravelingbetweentwoendpointsacrossanetwork(forexample,fromoneLANstationtoanother).Multiple
flowscanbetransmittedonasinglecircuit.
FlowControl
Techniqueforensuringthatatransmittingentity,suchasamodem,doesnotoverwhelmareceivingentitywithdata.Whenthe

buffersonthereceivingdevicearefull,amessageissenttothesendingdevicetosuspendthetransmissionuntilthedatain
thebuffershasbeenprocessed.InIBMnetworks,thistechniqueiscalledpacing.
FM
FrequencyModulation.Indatatransmission,asystemofsignalinginwhichthedataisencodedbyvaryingthefrequencyof
thesignal.
FNC
FederalNetworkingCouncil.GroupresponsibleforassessingandcoordinatingU.S.federalagencynetworkingpoliciesand
needs.
FOIRL
FiberOpticInterRepeaterLink.AnasynchronousfiberopticconnectionthatlinkstwoEthernetrepeaters(hubs)witha
maximumtransmissiondistanceof2kilometerswhenusedat10MBits/sec.
Format
Aspecificationforthearrangementofinformation.Examplesincludetheformatofdisk,fileorpacket.
FormatIndicator0
SeeFID0.
FormatIndicator1
SeeFID1.
FormatIndicator2
SeeFID2.
FormatIndicator3
SeeFID3.
FormatIndicator4
SeeFID4.
ForwardChannel
Communicationspathcarryinginformationfromthecallinitiatortothecalledparty.
ForwardDelayInterval
Amountoftimeaninterfacespendslisteningfortopologychangeinformationafterthatinterfacehasbeenactivatedfor
bridgingandbeforeforwardingactuallybegins.
Forwarding
Processofsendingaframetowarditsultimatedestinationbywayofaninternetworkingdevice.
FourierTransform
Techniqueusedtoevaluatetheimportanceofvariousfrequencycyclesinatimeseriespattern.
FourpartDottedNotation
Seedotaddress.
FQDN
FullyQualifiedDomainName.Includeshostname,aswellasallenclosingdomains,andisoftendistinguishedbytheuseof
aterminatingdot:(host.subdomain.domain.).
FractionalT1
SeechannelizedT1.
FRAD
FrameRelayaccessdevice.AnynetworkdevicethatprovidesaconnectionbetweenaLANandaFrameRelayWAN.
Fragment
Pieceofalargerpacketthathasbeenbrokendowntosmallerunits.
Fragmentation
Processofbreakingapacketintosmallerunitswhentransmittingoveranetworkmediumthatcannotsupportapacketofthe
originalsize.Seealsoreassembly.
Frame
Indatanetworks,theinformationpacketandalloftheprecedingandsucceedingsignalsnecessary(flagbytes,preambles,
framechecks,abortsequences,etc.)toconveyitalongthedatalink.
FrameCheckSequence
SeeFCS.
FrameRelay
Industrystandard,switcheddatalinklayerprotocolthathandlesmultiplevirtualcircuitsusingHDLCencapsulationbetween
connecteddevices.FramerelayismoreefficientthanX.25,theprotocolforwhichitisgenerallyconsideredareplacement.

SeealsoX.25.
FrameRelayBridging
Bridgingtechnique,describedinRFC1490,thatusesthesamespanningtreealgorithmasotherbridgingfunctions,but
allowspacketstobeencapsulatedfortransmissionacrossaFrameRelaynetwork.
FrameSwitch
SeeLANswitch.
FreetradeZone
PartofanAppleTalkinternetworkthatisaccessiblebytwootherpartsoftheinternetworkthatareunabletodirectlyaccess
oneanother.
Frequency
1.Ameasureoftherateofchangeofasignal.2.Inaperiodicsignal,thereciprocalofthetimenecessarytocomplete
oneperiod.
FrontEnd
Nodeorsoftwareprogramthatrequestsservicesofabackend.Seealsobackend,client,andserver.
FST
FastSequencedTransport.Connectionless,sequencedtransportprotocolthatrunsontopoftheIPprotocol.SRBtrafficis
encapsulatedinsideofIPdatagramsandispassedoveranFSTconnectionbetweentwonetworkdevices(suchasrouters).
Speedsupdatadelivery,reducesoverhead,andimprovestheresponsetimeofSRBtraffic.
FTAM
TheOSIstandardforFileTransfer,AccessandManagement.
FTP
FileTransferProtocol.LowestcommondenominatorprotocolforthepointtopointtransferoftextandbinaryfilesbetweenIP
connectedhosts.
Fullduplex
Acommunicationsystembetweentwoentitiesinwhicheitherentitycantransmitsimultaneously.
FullMesh
Termdescribinganetworkinwhichdevicesareorganizedinameshtopology,witheachnetworknodehavingeithera
physicalcircuitoravirtualcircuitconnectingittoeveryothernetworknode.Afullmeshprovidesagreatdealofredundancy,
butbecauseitcanbeprohibitivelyexpensivetoimplement,itisusuallyreservedfornetworkbackbones.Seealsomeshand
partialmesh.
Fuzzball
DigitalEquipmentCorporationLSI11computersystemrunningIPgatewaysoftware.TheNSFnetusedthesesystemsas
backbonepacketswitches.
G.703/G.704
ITUTelectricalandmechanicalspecificationsforconnectionsbetweentelephonecompanyequipmentandDTEusingBNC
connectorsandoperatingatE1datarates.
G.804
ITUTframingstandardthatdefinesthemappingofATMcellsintothephysicalmedium.
Gateway
1.AdevicethatperformsaprotocoltranslationattheSessionLayerorhigher.2.Archaic.ATCP/IProuterthatroutes
packetsbetweendifferentnetworknumbers.
GatewayHost
InSNA,ahostnodethatcontainsagatewaySSCP.
GatewayNCP
NCPthatconnectstwoormoreSNAnetworksandperformsaddresstranslationtoallowcrossnetworksessiontraffic.
GatewaytoGatewayProtocol
SeeDDP.
GB
Gigabyte
GBps
Gigabytespersecond.
Gb
Gigabit.
Gbps
Gigabitspersecond.

GDP
GatewayDiscoveryProtocol.Ciscoprotocolthatallowshoststodynamicallydetectthearrivalofnewroutersaswellas
determinewhenaroutergoesdown.BasedonUDP.SeealsoUDP.
GenericRoutingEncapsulation
SeeGRE.
Get
InSNMP,acommandgivenbytheConsoletoretrieveasingledatastructurefromaMIB.
GetNearestServer
SeeGNS.
GGP
GatewaytoGatewayProtocol.MILNETprotocolspecifyinghowcorerouters(gateways)shouldexchangereachabilityand
routinginformation.GGPusesadistributedshortestpathalgorithm.
GHz
Gigahertz.
Giga
Aprefixdenotingabillion.
GNS
GetNearestServer.RequestpacketsentbyaclientonanIPXnetworktolocatethenearestactiveserverofaparticulartype.
AnIPXnetworkclientissuesaGNSrequesttosoliciteitheradirectresponsefromaconnectedserveroraresponsefroma
routerthattellsitwhereontheinternetworktheservicecanbelocated.GNSispartoftheIPXSAP.SeealsoIPXandSAP
(ServiceAdvertisementProtocol).
GOSIP
GovernmentOSIProfile.USGovernmentprocurementstandardthatspecifiedinteroperabilitystandardsforcomputing
equipmentandsoftwarepurchased.
Grade
AlsoLevelorCategory.Inthespecificationofwiringfordatanetworks,astandarddesignationusedtodescribethe
electricalqualityofthewiringwithregardtoitssuitabilitytocarryhighspeedsignals.
GradeofService
Measureoftelephoneservicequalitybasedontheprobabilitythatacallwillencounterabusysignalduringthebusierhours
oftheday.
GRE
GenericRoutingEncapsulation.TunnelingprotocoldevelopedbyCiscothatcanencapsulateawidevarietyofprotocolpacket
typesinsideIPtunnels,creatingavirtualpointtopointlinktoCiscoroutersatremotepointsoveranIPinternetwork.By
connectingmultiprotocolsubnetworksinasingleprotocolbackboneenvironment,IPtunnelingusingGREallowsnetwork
expansionacrossasingleprotocolbackboneenvironment.
Ground
Anelectricalconductorthatisneithernegativelyorpositivelycharged.
GroundStation
Collectionofcommunicationsequipmentdesignedtoreceivesignalsfrom(andusuallytransmitsignalsto)satellites.Also
calledadownlinkstation.
GroupAddress
Seemulticastaddress.
GroupDelay
Seedistortiondelay.
GuardBand
Unusedfrequencybandbetweentwocommunicationschannelsthatprovidesseparationofthechannelstopreventmutual
interference.
GUI
GraphicalUserInterface.Userenvironmentthatusespictorialaswellastextualrepresentationsoftheinputandoutputof
applicationsandthehierarchicalorotherdatastructureinwhichinformationisstored.Conventionssuchasbuttons,icons,
andwindowsaretypical,andmanyactionsareperformedusingapointingdevice(suchasamouse).
Hacker
1.Anexpertcomputerprogrammer.2.Aknowledgeablebutdisruptivecomputeruser.
HalfDuplex
Capabilityfordatatransmissioninonlyonedirectionatatimebetweenasendingstationandareceivingstation.Compare
withfullduplexandsimplex.
Handshake

Sequenceofmessagesexchangedbetweentwoormorenetworkdevicestoensuretransmissionsynchronization.
HardwareAddress
Anaddress,fixedatthetimeofmanufacturing,thatidentifiesanetworkadaptersuchasanEthernetcard.
HBD3
LinecodetypeusedonE1circuits.
HChannel
Highspeedchannel.FullduplexISDNprimaryratechanneloperatingat384Kbps.ComparewithBchannel,Dchannel,and
Echannel.
HDLC
HighlevelDataLinkControl.AnISOstandardforencapsulationofdataonsynchronouslinks.
Headend
Theendpointofabroadbandnetwork.Allstationstransmittowardtheheadendtheheadendthentransmitstowardthe
destinationstation.
Header
Inanetworkpacketorframe,asectionofdatathatdescribesthedatathatimmediatelyfollows.
Heap
TheRAMmemoryallocatedbysystemsoftwareandsystemextensionstoholdfrequentlyusedinstructionsanddatanot
containedinROMorfirmware.
Heartbeat
SeeSQE.
HELLO
InteriorroutingprotocolusedprincipallybyNSFnetnodes.HELLOallowsparticularpacketswitchestodiscoverminimal
delayroutes.NottobeconfusedwiththeHelloprotocol.
HelloPacket
Multicastpacketthatisusedbyroutersforneighbordiscoveryandrecovery.Hellopacketsalsoindicatethataclientisstill
operatingandnetworkready.
HelloProtocol
ProtocolusedbyOSPFsystemsforestablishingandmaintainingneighborrelationships.NottobeconfusedwithHELLO.
HelperAddress
Addressconfiguredonaninterfacetowhichbroadcastsreceivedonthatinterfacewillbesent.
HEPnet
HighEnergyPhysicsNetwork.ResearchnetworkthatoriginatedintheUnitedStates,butthathasspreadtomostplaces
involvedinhighenergyphysics.WellknownsitesincludeArgonneNationalLaboratory,BrookhavenNationalLaboratory,and
theStanfordLinearAcceleratorCenter(SLAC).
Hertz(HZ)
Aunitofmeasureofthefrequencyofcyclicwaveform,equaltoonecycleorperiodpersecond.
HeterogeneousNetwork
Networkconsistingofdissimilardevicesthatrundissimilarprotocolsandinmanycasessupportdissimilarfunctionsor
applications.
Hexadecimal
Anumericalsystemwithabaseof16thatisusefulforexpressingdigitaldata.Onehexadecimaldigitrepresentsforbits.
HFS
HierarchicalFileSystem.
HierarchicalRouting
Routingbasedonahierarchicaladdressingsystem.Forexample,IProutingalgorithmsuseIPaddresses,whichcontain
networknumbers,subnetnumbers,andhostnumbers.
Hint
Indynamicaddressing,anaddressthatanodewilltestforuniquenessfirst.Thehintiseitherthelastsuccessfuladdressthe
nodeusedpreviously(theMacintoshkeepssuchahintinPRAM)oraparticularaddressthatisspecifictoaparticularmodel
ofdevice(theGatorBoxalwaystries128firstorLocalTalknetworks).
HIPPI
HighPerformanceParallelInterface.HighperformanceinterfacestandarddefinedbyANSI.HIPPIistypicallyusedtoconnect
supercomputerstoperipheralsandotherdevices.
Holddown
Stateintowhicharouteisplacedsothatrouterswillneitheradvertisetheroutenoracceptadvertisementsabouttheroutefor
aspecificlengthoftime(theholddownperiod).Holddownisusedtoflushbadinformationaboutaroutefromallroutersinthe

network.Arouteistypicallyplacedinholddownwhenalinkinthatroutefails.
Homologation
Conformityofaproductorspecificationtointernationalstandards,suchasITUt,CSA,TUV,UL,orVCCI.Enablesportability
acrosscompanyandinternationalboundaries.
Hop
Inroutednetworks,thepassageofapacketthrougharouteronthewaytoitsdestination.
HopCount
InAppleTalkpackets,a4bitcounterintheDDPheaderthatisincrementedeachtimeapacketpassesthrougharouteron
thewaytoitsdestination.
HopDistance
Aunitofmeasureusedtoexpressthenumberorroutersthatapacketmustpassthroughitswaytoitsdestination.
Host
Interminalemulation,theremotecomputerthatisbeingcontrolledbytheterminalemulationsoftware.
HostAddress
Seehostnumber.
HostNode
SNAsubareanodethatcontainsanSSCP.
HostNumber
PartofanIPaddressthatdesignateswhichnodeonthesubnetworkisbeingaddressed.Alsocalledahostaddress.
HotStandbyRouterProtocol
SeeHSRP.
HPCC
HighPerformanceComputingandCommunications.U.S.governmentfundedprogramadvocatingadvancesincomputing,
communications,andrelatedfields.TheHPCCisdesignedtoensureUS.leadershipinthesefieldsthrougheducation,
researchanddevelopment,industrycollaboration,andimplementationofhighperformancetechnology.Thefivecomponents
oftheHPCCareASTA,BRHR,HPCS,IITA,andNREN.
HPCS
HighPerformanceComputingSystems.ComponentoftheHPCCprogramdesignedtoensureUS.technologicalleadershipin
highperformancecomputingthroughresearchanddevelopmentofcomputingsystemsandrelatedsoftware.SeealsoHPCC.
HPR
HighPerformanceRouting.SecondgenerationroutingalgorithmforAPPN.HPRprovidesaconnectionlesslayerwith
nondisruptiveroutingofsessionsaroundlinkfailures,andaconnectionorientedlayerwithendtoendflowcontrol,error
control,andsequencing.ComparetoISR.SeealsoAPPN.
HSRP
HotStandbyRouterProtocol.Provideshighnetworkavailabilityandtransparentnetworktopologychanges.HSRPcreatesa
HotStandbyroutergroupwithaleadrouterthatservicesallpacketssenttotheHotStandbyaddress.Theleadrouteris
monitoredbyotherroutersinthegroup,andifitfails,oneofthestandbyroutersinheritstheleadpositionandtheHotStandby
groupaddress.
HSSI
HighSpeedSerialInterface.Networkstandardforhighspeed(upto52Mbps)serialconnectionsoverWANlinks.
HTML
Hypertextmarkuplanguage.Simplehypertextdocumentformattinglanguagethatusestagstoindicatehowagivenpartofa
documentshouldbeinterpretedbyaviewingapplication,suchasaWWWbrowser.SeealsohypertextandWWWbrowser.
Hub
1.Generally,atermusedtodescribeadevicethatservesasthecenterofastartopologynetwork.2.Hardwareofsoftware
devicesthatcontainsmultipleindependentbutconnectedmodulesofnetworkandinternetworkequipment.Hubscanbe
active(wheretheyrepeatsignalssentthroughthem)orpassive(wheretheydonotrepeat,butmerelysplit,signalssent
throughthem).3.InEthernetandIEEE802.3,anEthernetmultiportrepeater,sometimesreferredtoasaconcentrator.
HybridNetwork
Internetworkmadeupofmorethanonetypeofnetworktechnology,includingLANsandWANs.
Hypertext
Electronicallystoredtextthatallowsdirectaccesstoothertextsbywayofencodedlinks.Hypertextdocumentscanbe
createdusingHTML,andoftenintegrateimages,sound,andothermediathatarecommonlyviewedusingaWWWbrowser.
SeealsoHTMLandWWWbrowser.
HypertextMarkupLanguage
SeeHTML.
I/O
Input/Output.Acomputeractivitywheredataiseitherloadedinto(input)orextractedfrom(output)RAM.

I/OBound
AcomputerornetworkactivitywhosespeedislimitedbythetimenecessarytoperformI/Ofunctions.
IAB
InternetArchitectureBoard.BoardofinternetworkresearcherswhodiscussissuespertinenttoInternetarchitecture.
ResponsibleforappointingavarietyofInternetrelatedgroupssuchastheIANA,IESG,andIRSG.TheIABisappointedby
thetrusteesoftheISOC.SeealsoIANA,IESG,IRSG,andISOC.
IANA
InternetAssignedNumbersAuthority.OrganizationoperatedundertheauspicesoftheISOCasapartoftheIAB.IANA
delegatesauthorityforIPaddressspaceallocationanddomainnameassignmenttotheNICandotherorganizations.IANA
alsomaintainsadatabaseofassignedprotocolidentifiersusedintheTCP/IPstack,includingautonomoussystemnumbers.
SeealsoIAB,ISOC,andNIC.
ICD
InternationalCodeDesignator.OneoftwoATMaddressformatsdevelopedbytheATMforumforusebyprivatenetworks.
AdaptedfromthesubnetworkmodelofaddressinginwhichtheATMlayerisresponsibleformappingnetworklayeraddresses
toATMaddresses.SeealsoDCC.
ICMP
InternetControlMessageProtocol.NetworklayerInternetprotocolthatreportserrorsandprovidesotherinformationrelevant
toIPpacketprocessing.DocumentedinRFC792.
ICMPRouterDiscoveryProtocol
SeeIRDP.
Icon
Apictographicsymbolusedtorepresentacomputerconceptoroperation.
IDI
Initialdomainidentifier.InOSI,theportionoftheNSAPthatspecifiesthedomain.
IDN
InternationalDataNumber.SeeX.121.
IDP
Initialdomainpart.ThepartofaCLNSaddressthatcontainsanauthorityandformatidentifierandadomainidentifier.
IDPR
InterdomainPolicyRouting.Interdomainroutingprotocolthatdynamicallyexchangespoliciesbetweenautonomoussystems.
IDPRencapsulatesinterautonomoussystemtrafficandroutesitaccordingtothepoliciesofeachautonomoussystemalong
thepath.IDPRiscurrentlyanIETFproposal.Seealsopolicyrouting.
IDRP
ISISInterdomainRoutingProtocol.OSIprotocolthatspecifieshowrouterscommunicatewithroutersindifferentdomains.
IEC
InternationalElectrotechnicalCommission.Industrygroupthatwritesanddistributesstandardsforelectricalproductsand
components.
IEEE
TheInstituteorElectricalandElectronicEngineers,anonprofitorganizationthat,amongmanyotheractivities,endeavorsto
coordinate,synthesizeandpromotedatanetworkingstandards.
IEEE802.1
IEEEspecificationthatdescribesanalgorithmthatpreventsbridgingloopsbycreatingaspanningtree.Thealgorithmwas
inventedbyDigitalEquipmentCorporation.TheDigitalalgorithmandtheIEEE802.1algorithmarenotexactlythesame,nor
aretheycompatible.Seealsospanningtree,spanningtreealgorithm,andSpanningTreeProtocol.
IEEE802.12
IEEELANstandardthatspecifiesthephysicallayerandtheMACsublayerofthedatalinklayer.IEEE802.12usesthe
demandprioritymediaaccessschemeat100Mbpsoveravarietyofphysicalmedia.Seealso100VGAnyLAN.
IEEE802.2
ThecommitteeoftheIEEEchargedwiththeresponsibilityofcoordinatingstandardsattheDataLinkLayer.Thecommittee
alsooverseestheworkofmanysubcommitteesthatgovernindividualDataLinkstandardssuchasthe802.3standard.
IEEE802.3
IEEELANprotocolthatspecifiesanimplementationofthephysicallayerandtheMACsublayerofthedatalinklayer.IEEE
802.3usesCSMA/CDaccessatavarietyofspeedsoveravarietyofphysicalmedia.ExtensionstotheIEEE802.3standard
specifyimplementationsforFastEthernet.PhysicalvariationsoftheoriginalIEEE802.3specificationsinclude10Base2,
10Base5,10BaseF,10BaseT,and10Broad36.Physicalvariationsforfastethernetinclude100BaseT,100BaseT4,and
100BaseX.
IEEE802.4
IEEELANprotocolthatspecifiesanimplementationofthephysicallayerandtheMACsublayerofthedatalinklayer.IEEE
802.4usestokenpassingaccessoverabustopologyandisbasedonthetokenbusLANarchitecture.Seealsotokenbus.
IEEE802.5

IEEELANprotocolthatspecifiesanimplementationofthephysicallayerandMACsublayerofthedatalinklayer.IEEE802.5
usestokenpassingaccessat4or16MbpsoverSTPcablingandissimilartoIBMTokenRing.SeealsoTokenRing.
IEEE802.6
IEEEMANspecificationbasedonDQDBtechnology.IEEE802.6supportsdataratesof1.5to155Mbps.SeealsoDQDB.
IESG
InternetEngineeringSteeringGroup.Organization,appointedbytheIAB,thatmanagestheoperationoftheIETF.Seealso
IABandIETF.
IETF
InternetEngineeringTaskForce.Taskforceconsistingofover80workinggroupsresponsiblefordevelopingInternet
standards.TheIETFoperatesundertheauspicesofISOC.SeealsoISOC.
IGP
InteriorGatewayProtocol.Internetprotocolusedtoexchangeroutinginformationwithinanautonomoussystem.Examplesof
commonInternetIGPsincludeIGRP,OSPF,andRIP.SeealsoIGRP,OSPF,andRIP.
IGMP
InternetGroupManagementProtocol.UsedbyIPhoststoreporttheirmulticastgroupmembershipstoanadjacentmulticast
router.
IGRP
InteriorGatewayRoutingProtocol.IGPdevelopedbyCiscotoaddresstheproblemsassociatedwithroutinginlarge,
heterogeneousnetworks.ComparewithEnhancedIGRP.SeealsoIGP,OSPF,andRIP.
IIH
ISISHello.MessagesentbyallISISsystemstomaintainadjacencies.SeealsoISIS.
IITA
InformationInfrastructureTechnologyandApplications.ComponentoftheHPCCprogramintendedtoensureU.S.leadership
inthedevelopmentofadvancedinformationtechnologies.SeealsoHPCC.
ILMI
InterimLocalManagementInterface.SpecificationdevelopedbytheATMForumforincorporatingnetworkmanagement
capabilitiesintheATMUNI.
IMP
Interfacemessageprocessor.OldnameforARPANETpacketswitches.AnIMPisnowreferredtoasaPSN(packetswitch
node).SeealsoPSN(packetswitchnode).
Impedance
Ameasureoftheoppositiontotheflowofanalternatingsignalbyitsmedia.
Implementation
Thephysicalmanifestationofanetworkstandardordesign.
Inbandsignaling
Transmissionwithinafrequencyrangenormallyusedforinformationtransmission.Comparewithoutofbandsignaling.
Infrared
1.Aportionofelectromagneticspectrumsituatedbetweenvisiblelightandmicrowaves.2.Ameansofshortdistancewireless
networkingthatdependsonanunobstructedlineofsightpath.
INIT
Archaic.AMacintoshSystemExtension.
Initialization
Theentryofasetofprocessparameters(performedbyahumanorautomaticallyloadedfromafile)thatarenecessaryto
beginasoftwareprocess.
INOC
InternetNetworkOperationsCenter.BBNgroupthatintheearlydaysoftheInternetmonitoredandcontrolledtheInternet
coregateways(routers).INOCnolongerexistsinthisform.
Input/output
SeeI/O.
Instance
Instatisticalanalysis,thesingleoccurrenceofaphenomenaorevent.
Insulator
Amaterialthatishighlyresistanttoelectricaland/orthermalconduction.
InsuredBurst
ThelargestburstofdataabovetheinsuredratethatwillbetemporarilyallowedonaPVCandnottaggedbythetraffic

policingfunctionfordroppinginthecaseofnetworkcongestion.Theinsuredburstisspecifiedinbytesorcells.Comparewith
maximumburst.Seealsoinsuredrate.
InsuredRate
Thelongtermdatathroughput,inbitsorcellspersecond,thatanATMnetworkcommitstosupportundernormalnetwork
conditions.Theinsuredrateis100percentallocatedtheentireamountisdeductedfromthetotaltrunkbandwidthalongthe
pathofthecircuit.Comparewithexcessrateandmaximumrate.Seealsoinsuredburst.
InsuredTraffic
TrafficwithintheinsuredratespecifiedforthePVC.Thistrafficshouldnotbedroppedbythenetworkundernormalnetwork
conditions.SeealsoCLPandinsuredrate.
IntegratedISIS
RoutingprotocolbasedontheOSIroutingprotocolISISbutwithsupportforIPandotherprotocols.IntegratedISIS
implementationssendonlyonesetofroutingupdates,makingitmoreefficientthantwoseparateimplementations.Formerly
referredtoasDualISIS.CompareISIS.
IntegratedServiceDigitalNetwork
SeeISDN.
Integrity
Innetworking,adesirableconditionwheretheinformationreceivedisexactlyequaltotheinformationsent.
Intelligence
Theabilityofasystemtousegeneralinformationtorespondappropriatelytospecificevents.
InterareaRouting
Termusedtodescriberoutingbetweentwoormorelogicalareas.Comparewithintraarearouting.
InterdomainPolicyRouting
SeeIDPR.
Interface
1.Connectionbetweentwosystemsordevices.2.Inroutingterminology,anetworkconnection.3.Intelephony,ashared
boundarydefinedbycommonphysicalinterconnectioncharacteristics,signalcharacteristics,andmeaningsofinterchanged
signals.4.TheboundarybetweenadjacentlayersoftheOSImodel.
InterfaceMessageProcessor
SeeIMP.
Interference
Unwantedcommunicationchannelnoise.
InterimLocalManagementInterface
SeeILMI.
InteriorGatewayProtocol
SeeIGP.
InteriorGatewayRoutingProtocol
SeeIGRP.
IntermediateRoutingNode
SeeIRN.
IntermediateSessionRouting
SeeIRS.
IntermediateSystem
SeeIS.
IntermediateSystemtoIntermediateSystem
SeeISIS.
InternationalCodeDesignator
SeeICD.
InternationalDataNumber
SeeX.121.
Internet
1.Theworldwidesystemoflinkednetworksthatiscapableofexchangingmailanddatathroughacommonaddressingand
namingsystembasedonTCP/IPprotocols.2.Anygroupoflinkednetworkscapableofexchangingelectronicmailanddata
usingacommonprotocol.
InternetAddress

Anaddressthatidentifiesacommunicationentityonaninternet.
InternetNode
InAppleTalk,thecombinationofnetworkandnodeaddressthat
Address
uniquelydefinesanAppleTalkprotocolrunninginadevicethatiscurrentlyactive.
InternetProtocol
SeeIP.
Internetprotocol
AnyprotocolthatispartoftheTCP/IPprotocolstack.SeeTCP/IP.
InternetResearchSteeringGroup
SeeIRSG.
InternetResearchTaskForce
SeeIRTF.
InternetRouter
ArouterthatusestherulesofoneormoreNetworkLayerprotocolstoforwardpacketsbetweennetworks.
InternetSociety
SeeISOC.
InternetSocket
InAppleTalk,thecombinationofnetwork,nodeandsocket
Address
addressthatuniquelyidentifiesasoftwareprocessthatisusingAppleTalkprotocolstocommunicate.
Internetwork
Collectionofnetworksinterconnectedbyroutersandotherdevicesthatfunctionsgenerally)asasinglenetwork.Sometimes
calledaninternet,whichisnottobeconfusedwiththeInternet.
Internetworking
Generaltermusedtorefertotheindustrythathasarisenaroundtheproblemofconnectingnetworkstogether.Thetermcan
refertoproducts,procedures,andtechnologies.
InternetworkPacketExchange
SeeIPX.
Interoperability
Abilityofcomputingequipmentmanufacturedbydifferentvendorstocommunicatewithoneanothersuccessfullyoverthe
network.
InterSwitchingSystemInterface
SeeISSI.
IntraareaRouting
Termusedtodescriberoutingwithinalogicalarea.Comparewithinterarearouting.
InverseARP
InverseAddressResolutionProtocol.Methodofbuildingdynamicroutesinanetwork.Allowsanaccessservertodiscoverthe
networkaddressofadeviceassociatedwithavirtualcircuit.
I/O
input/output.
IP
InternetProtocol.TheNetworkLayerprotocolintheTCP/IPstackofferingaconnectionlessinternetworkservice.IPprovides
featuresforaddressing,typeofservice.IPprovidesfeaturesforaddressing,typeofservicespecification,fragmentationand
reassembly,andsecurity.DocumentedinRFC791.
IPAddress
32bitaddressassignedtohostsusingTCP/IP.AnIPaddressbelongstooneoffiveclasses(A,B,C,D,orE)andiswritten
as4octetsseparatedwithperiods(dotteddecimalformat).Eachaddressconsistsofanetworknumber,anoptionalsubnet
worknumber,andahostnumber.Thenetworkandsubnetworknumberstogetherareusedforrouting,whilethehostnumber
isusedtoaddressanindividualhostwithinthenetworkorsubnetwork.Asubnetmaskisusedtoextractnetworkand
subnetworkinformationfromtheIPaddress.AlsocalledanInternetaddress.SeealsoIPandsubnetmask.
IPMulticast
RoutingtechniquethatallowsIPtraffictobepropagatedfromonesourcetoanumberofdestinationsorfrommanysourcesto
manydestinations.Ratherthansendingonepackettoeachdestination,onepacketissenttoamulticastgroupidentifiedbya
singleIPdestinationgroupaddress.

IPSecurityOption
SeeIPSO.
IPSO
IPSecurityOption.US.governmentspecificationthatdefinesanoptionalfieldintheIPpacketheaderthatdefineshierarchical
packetsecuritylevelsonaperinterfacebasis.
IPX
InternetworkPacketExchange.AprotocolfamilythatisproprietarytotheNovellNetwaresystem.
IPXWAN
Protocolthatnegotiatesendtoendoptionsfornewlinks.Whenalinkcomesup,thefirstIPXpacketssentacrossare
IPXWANpacketsnegotiatingtheoptionsforthelink.WhentheIPXWANoptionshavebeensuccessfullydetermined,normal
IPXtransmissionbegins.DefinedbyRFC1362.
IRDP
ICMPRouterDiscoverProtocol.Enablesahosttodeterminetheaddressofarouterthatitcanuseasadefaultgateway.
SimilartoESIS,butusedwithIP.SeealsoESIS.
IRN
Intermediateroutingnode.InSNA,asubareanodewithintermediateroutingcapability.
IRSG
InternetResearchSteeringGroup.GroupthatispartoftheIABandoverseestheactivitiesoftheIRTF.SeealsoIABand
IRTF.
IRTF
InternetResearchTaskForce.CommunityofnetworkexpertsthatconsiderInternetrelatedresearchtopics.TheIRTFis
governedbytheIRSGandisconsideredasubsidiaryoftheIAB.SeealsoIABandIRSG.
IS
Intermediatesystem.RoutingnodeinanOSInetwork.
ISA
IndustryStandardArchitecture.16bitbususedforIntelbasedpersonalcomputers.SeealsoEISA.
IsarithmicFlowControl
Flowcontroltechniqueinwhichpermitstravelthroughthenetwork.Possessionofthesepermitsgrantstherighttotransmit.
Isarithmicflowcontrolisnotcommonlyimplemented.
ISDN
IntegratedServicesDigitalNetwork.Communicationprotocol,offeredbytelephonecompanies,thatpermitstelephone
networkstocarrydata,voice,andothersourcetraffic.SeealsoBISDN,BRI,NISDN,andPRI.
ISIS
IntermediateSystemtoIntermediateSystem.AdynamicroutingprotocolforIP.
ISO
Internationalorganizationthatisresponsibleforawiderangeofstandards,includingthoserelevanttonetworking.ISO
developedtheOSIreferencemodel,apopularnetworkingreferencemodel.
ISO3309
HDLCproceduresdevelopedbyISO.ISO3309:1979specifiestheHDLCframestructureforuseinsynchronous
environments.ISO3309:1984specifiesproposedmodificationstoallowtheuseofHDLCinasynchronousenvironmentsas
well.
ISO9000
SetofinternationalqualitymanagementstandardsdefinedbyISO.Thestandards,whicharenotspecifictoanycountry,
industry,orproduct,allowcompaniestodemonstratethattheyhavespecificprocessesinplacetomaintainanefficientquality
system.
ISOC
InternetSociety.Internationalnonprofitorganization,foundedin1992,thatcoordinatestheevolutionanduseoftheInternet.
Inaddition,ISOCdelegatesauthoritytoothergroupsrelatedtotheInternet,suchastheIAB.ISOCisheadquarteredin
Reston,Virginia,U.S.A.SeealsoIAB.
IsochronousTransmission
Asynchronoustransmissionoverasynchronousdatalink.Isochronoussignalsrequireaconstantbitrateforreliabletransport.
Comparewithasynchronoustransmission,plesiochronoustransmission,andsynchronoustransmission.
ISODE
ISOdevelopmentenvironment.LargesetoflibrariesandutilitiesusedtodevelopupperlayerOSIprotocolsandapplications.
ISODevelopmentEnvironment
SeeISODE.
ISR

IntermediateSessionRouting.InitialroutingalgorithmusedinAPPN.ISRprovidesnodetonodeconnectionorientedrouting.
NetworkoutagescausesessionstofailbecauseISRcannotprovidenondisruptivereroutingaroundafailure.ISRhasbeen
replacedbyHPR.ComparewithHPR.SeealsoAPPN.
ISSI
InterSwitchingSystemInterface.StandardinterfacebetweenSMDSswitches.
ITUT
InternationalTelecommunicationUnionTelecommunicationStandardizationSector.Internationalbodythatdevelops
worldwidestandardsfortelecommunicationstechnologies.TheITUTcarriesoutthefunctionsoftheformerCCITT.Seealso
CCITT.
Jabber
1.Errorconditioninwhichanetworkdevicecontinuallytransmitsrandom,meaninglessdataontothenetwork.2.InIEEE
802.3,adatapacketwhoselengthexceedsthatprescribedinthestandard.
Jack
Thefemaleconnector.
Jacket
Theprotectiveoutercoveringofacomputerornetworkcable.
JANET
JointAcademicNetwork.X.25WANconnectinguniversityandresearchinstitutionsintheUnitedKingdom.
JapanUNIXNetwork
SeeJUNET.
Jitter
Thedifferencebetweenarealsignalanditsidealduetodistortion.
JohnvonNeumannComputerNetwork
SeeJvNCnet.
Jumper
Electricalswitchconsistingofanumberofpinsandaconnectorthatcanbeattachedtothepinsinavarietyofdifferentways.
Differentcircuitsarecreatedbyattachingtheconnectortodifferentpins.
JUNET
JapanUNIXNetwork.Nationwide,noncommercialnetworkinJapan,designedtopromotecommunicationbetweenJapanese
andotherresearchers.
JvNCnet
JohnvonNeumannComputerNetwork.Regionalnetwork,ownedandoperatedbyGlobalEnterpriseServices,Inc.,
composedofT1andslowerseriallinksprovidingmidlevelnetworkingservicestositesintheNortheasternUnitedStates.
Karn'sAlgorithm
Algorithmthatimprovesroundtriptimeestimationsbyhelpingtransportlayerprotocolsdistinguishbetweengoodandbad
roundtriptimesamples.
KB
Kilobyte.
Kb
Kilobit.
KBPS
Aunitofmeasureusedtodescribetherateofdatatransmissionequalto1000bitspersecond.
KByte
Aunitofmeasureusedtodescribeanamountofinformationequalto1024(210)bytes.
KeepaliveInterval
Periodoftimebetweeneachkeepalivemessagesentbyanetworkdevice.
KeepaliveMessage
Messagesentbyonenetworkdevicetoinformanothernetworkdevicethatthevirtualcircuitbetweenthetwoisstillalive.
Kermit
VeryslowtelecomdatatransferprotocoldevelopedatColumbia,andusedprimarilyinVAXenvironments,althoughwidely
ported.Likeanyothertelecomdatatransferprotocolit'spurposeistobreakadatastreamintoblocks,andprovideflow
control,errordetection,andretransmissiononthetransferoftheblocks.MuchlessefficientthanXmodem,Ymodem,or
Zmodem.
Kludge
Awordusedtodescribeasolutiontoaproblemthatlackseleganceorthatcontainscomponentsforapurposesignificantly
differentthattheiroriginaldesignpurpose.

LabelSwapping
RoutingalgorithmusedbyAPPNinwhicheachrouterthatamessagepassesthroughonitswaytoitsdestination
independentlydeterminesthebestpathtothenextrouter.
LAN
Acommunicationinfrastructurethatsupportsdataandresourcesharingwithinasmallarea(<2kmdiameter)thatis
completelycontainedonthepremisesofasingleowner.
LANE
LANemulation.TechnologythatallowsanATMnetworktofunctionasaLANbackbone.TheATMnetworkmustprovide
multicastandbroadcastsupport,addressmapping(MACtoATM),SVCmanagement,andausablepacketformat.LANEalso
definesEthernetandTokenRingELANs.SeealsoELAN.
LANEmulation
SeeLANE.
LANEmulationClient
SeeLEC.
LANManager
DistributedNOS,developedbyMicrosoft,thatsupportsavarietyofprotocolsandplatforms.
LANServer
Ageneraltermusedtodescribeadevicethatmanagesandallowstheuseofmorethanonekindofresourcesuchasstorage
orfileservices,printservices,communicationservices,databaseservices,etc.
LANSwitch
Highspeedswitchthatforwardspacketsbetweendatalinksegments.MostLANswitchesforwardtrafficbasedonMAC
addresses.ThisvarietyofLANswitchissometimescalledaframeswitch.LANswitchesareoftencategorizedaccordingto
themethodtheyusetoforwardtraffic:cutthroughpacketswitchingorstoreandforwardpacketswitching.Multilayerswitches
areanintelligentsubsetofLANswitches.Comparewithmultilayerswitch.Seealsocutthroughpacketswitchingandstore
andforwardpacketswitching.
LAP
LinkAccessProtocol.AnyprotocoloftheDataLinkLayer,suchasEtherTalk.
LAPB
LinkAccessProcedure,Balanced.DatalinklayerprotocolintheX.25protocolstack.LAPBisabitorientedprotocolderived
fromHDLC.SeealsoHDLCandX.25.
LAPD
LinkAccessProcedureontheDchannel.ISDNdatalinklayerprotocolfortheDchannel.LAPDwasderivedfromtheLAPB
protocolandisdesignedprimarilytosatisfythesignalingrequirementsofISDNbasicaccess.DefinedbyITUT
RecommendationsQ.920andQ.921.
LAPM
LinkAccessProcedureforModems.ARQusedbymodemsimplementingtheV.42protocolforerrorcorrection.SeealsoARQ
andV.42.
Laser
Lightamplificationbysimulatedemissionofradiation.Analogtransmissiondeviceinwhichasuitableactivematerialisexcited
byanexternalstimulustoproduceanarrowbeamofcoherentlightthatcanbemodulatedintopulsestocarrydata.Networks
basedonlasertechnologyaresometimesrunoverSONET.
LaserWriter
AnyofagroupoflaserprintersthatusesPostScriptasanimaginglanguageandcancommunicateusingAppleTalkprotocols.
LAT
LocalAreaTransport.DECnet'smethodforcommunicationbetweenterminalsandterminalservers.LATcannotberouted.
Latency
Indatatransmission,thedelayintransmissiontimethatoccurswhileinformationremainsinadevice'sbufferedmemory(such
asabridgeorrouter)beforeitcanbesentalongitspath.
Layer
Atermusedtodescribeagroupofcommunicationfunctionsandtheprotocolsimplementedtoperformthemasdefinedbya
networkstandardsorganization,mostoftenreferringtoagroupoffunctionsasdescribedbytheOSI7LayerModel
designatedbytheISO.
LCI
Logicalchannelidentifier.SeeVCN.
LCN
Logicalchannelnumber.SeeVCN.
LeafInternetwork
Inastartopology,aninternetworkwhosesoleaccesstootherinternetworksinthestaristhroughacorerouter.

LearningBridge
BridgethatperformsMACaddresslearningtoreducetrafficonthenetwork.LearningbridgesmanageadatabaseofMAC
addressesandtheinterfacesassociatedwitheachaddress.SeealsoMACaddresslearning.
LeasedLine
Transmissionlinereservedbyacommunicationscarrierfortheprivateuseofacustomer.Aleasedlineisatypeofdedicated
line.Seealsodedicatedline.
LEC
1.LANEmulationClient.Entityinanendsystemthatperformsdataforwarding,addressresolution,andothercontrol
functionsforasingleESwithinasingleELAN.ALECalsoprovidesastandardLANserviceinterfacetoanyhigherlayer
entitythatinterfacestotheLEC.EachLECisidentifiedbyauniqueATMaddress,andisassociatedwithoneormoreMAC
addressesreachablethroughthatATMaddress.SeealsoELANandLES.
LECS
LANEmulationConfigurationServer.EntitythatassignsindividualLANEclientstoparticularELANsbydirectingthemtothe
LESthatcorrespondstotheELAN.ThereislogicallyoneLECSperadministrativedomain,andthisservesallELANswithin
thatdomain.SeealsoELAN.
LED
Lightemittingdiode.Semiconductordevicethatemitslightproducedbyconvertingelectricalenergy.Statuslightsonhardware
devicesaretypicallyLEDs.
LENnode
Lowentrynetworkingnode.InSNA,aPU2.1thesupportsLUprotocols,butwhoseCPcannotcommunicatewithother
nodes.BecausethereisnoCPtoCPsessionbetweenaLENnodeanditsNN,theLENnodemusthaveastaticallydefined
imageoftheAPPNnetwork.
LES
LANEmulationServer.EntitythatimplementsthecontrolfunctionforaparticularELAN.ThereisonlyonelogicalLESper
ELAN,anditisidentifiedbyauniqueATMaddress.SeealsoELAN.
Level1Router
DevicethatroutestrafficwithinasingleDECnetorOSIarea.
Level2Router
DevicethatroutestrafficbetweenDECnetorOSIareas.AllLevel2routersmustformacontiguousnetwork.
LightEmittingDiode
SeeLED.
LimitedResourceResourceLink
definedbyadeviceoperatortoremainactiveonlywhenbeingused.
LimitedrouteExplorerPacket
Seespanningexplorerpacket.
Line
1.InSNA,aconnectiontothenetwork.2.Seelink.
LineCodeType
Oneofanumberofcodingschemesusedonseriallinestomaintaindataintegrityandreliability.Thelinecodetypeusedis
determinedbythecarrierserviceprovider.SeealsoAMIandHBD3.
LineConditioning
Useofequipmentonleasedvoicegradechannelstoimproveanalogcharacteristics,therebyallowinghighertransmission
rates.
LineDriver
Inexpensiveamplifierandsignalconverterthatconditionsdigitalsignalstoensurereliabletransmissionsoverextended
distances.
LineofSight
Characteristicofcertaintransmissionsystems,suchaslaser,microwave,andinfraredsystems,inwhichnoobstructionsina
directpathbetweentransmitterandreceivercanexist.
LinePrinterDaemon
SeeLPD.
LineTurnaround
Timerequiredtochangedatatransmissiondirectiononatelephoneline.
Link
Networkcommunicationschannelconsistingofacircuitortransmissionpathandallrelatedequipmentbetweenasenderand
areceiver.MostoftenusedtorefertoaWANconnection.Sometimesreferredtoasalineoratransmissionlink.
LinkLayer

Seedatalinklayer.
LinkLayerAddress
SeeMACaddress.
LinkstateAdvertisement
SeeLSA.
LinkStateRouting
Aroutingprotocolthattakeslinkloadingandbandwidthwhenselectingbetweenalternateroutes.Example:OSPF.
LinkStateRoutingAlgorithmAlgorithm
Routingalgorithminwhicheachrouterbroadcastsormulticastsinformationregardingthecostofreachingeachofits
neighborstoallnodesintheinternetwork.Linkstatealgorithmscreateaconsistentviewofthenetworkandarethereforenot
pronetoroutingloops,buttheyachievethisatthecostofrelativelygreatercomputationaldifficultyandmorewidespread
traffic(comparedwithdistancevectorroutingalgorithms).Comparewithdistancevectorroutingalgorithm.SeealsoDijkstra's
algorithm.
Littleendian
Methodofstoringortransmittingdatainwhichtheleastsignificantbitorbyteispresentedfirst.Comparewithbigendian.
LLC
LogicalLinkControl.
LLC2
LogicalLinkControl,type2.ConnectionorientedOSILLCsublayerprotocol.SeealsoLLC.
LMI
LocalManagementInterface.SetofenhancementstothebasicFrameRelayspecification.LMIincludessupportfora
keepalivemechanism,whichverifiesthatdataisflowingamulticastmechanism,whichprovidesthenetworkserverwithits
localDLCIandthemulticastDLCIglobaladdressing,whichgivesDLCIsglobalratherthanlocalsignificanceinFrameRelay
networksandastatusmechanism,whichprovidesanongoingstatusreportonthe'DLCIsknowntotheswitch.Knownas
LMTinANSIterminology.
LMT
SeeLMI.
LM/X
LANManagerforINIX.MonitorsLANdevicesinUNIXenvironments.
LNM
LANNetworkManager.SRBandTokenRingmanagementpackageprovidedbyIBM.TypicallyrunningonaPC,itmonitors
SRBandTokenRingdevicesandcanpassalertsupinNetView.
LoadBalancing
Inrouting,theabilityofaroutertodistributetrafficoverallitsnetworkportsthatarethesamedistancefromthedestination
address.Goodloadbalancingalgorithmsusebothlinespeedandreliabilityinformation.Loadbalancingincreasesthe
utilizationofnetworksegments,thusincreasingeffectivenetworkbandwidth.
LocalAccessandTransportArea
SeeLATA.
LocalAcknowledgment
Methodwherebyanintermediatenetworknode,suchasarouter,respondstoacknowledgmentsforaremoteendhost.Useof
localacknowledgmentsreducesnetworkoverheadand,therefore,theriskoftimeouts.Alsoknownaslocaltermination.
LocalareaNetwork
SeeLAN.
LocalareaTransport
SeeLAT.
LocalBridge
Bridgethatdirectlyinterconnectsnetworksinthesamegeographicarea.
LocalExchangeCarrier
SeeLEC.
LocalExplorerPacket
GeneratedbyanendsysteminanSRBnetworktofindahostconnectedtothelocalring.Ifthelocalexplorerpacketfailsto
findalocalhost,theendsystemproduceseitheraspanningexplorerpacketoranallroutesexplorerpacket.Seealsoall
routesexplorerpacket,explorerpacket,andspanningexplorerpacket.
LocalLoop
LinefromthepremisesofatelephonesubscribertothetelephonecompanyCO.
LocalManagementInterface

SeeLMI.
LocalTalk
ADataLinkLayerprotocoldefinedinInsideAppleTalkbyAppleComputerthatcoversthetransmissionofdataontwistedpair
wireusingCSMA/CAat230.4Kilobitspersecond.
LocalTermination
Seelocalacknowledgment.
LocalTraffic
FilteringProcessbywhichabridgefiltersout(drops)frameswhosesourceanddestinationMACaddressesarelocatedonthe
sameinterfaceonthebridge,thuspreventingunnecessarytrafficfrombeingforwardedacrossthebridge.DefinedintheIEEE
802.1standard.SeealsoIEEE802.1.
LogicalAddress
Seenetworkaddress.
LogicalChannel
Nondedicated,packetswitchedcommunicationspathbetweentwoormorenetworknodes.Packetswitchingallowsmany
logicalchannelstoexistsimultaneouslyonasinglephysicalchannel.
LogicalChannelIdentifier
SeeLCI.
LogicalChannelNumber
SeeLCN.
LogicalLinkControl
SeeLLC.
LogicalLinkControl,type2
SeeLLC2.
LogicalUnit
SeeLU.
LogicalUnit6.2
SeeLU6.2.
Login
Aformalprocedurewhereacomputingdeviceinitiatesasustainedconnectiontoanothercomputingdeviceforthepurposeof
usingaresourcemanagedbythecomputer.
Logout
AFormalprocedurewhereacomputingdeviceseversitsconnectiontoanothercomputingdevice.
Loop
Routewherepacketsneverreachtheirdestination,butsimplycyclerepeatedlythroughaconstantseriesofnetworknodes.
Loopbackpacket
Atestpacketsentbyanetworkadapterwithadestinationaddressequaltotheadapter'sownhardwareaddress.The
purposeofthistestistypicallytoestablishthattheadapterisconnectedtoanetworkthatisfunctionalenoughtosupporta
datatransmission.
Loopbacktest
Atestpacketsentbyanetworkadapterwithadestinationaddressequaltotheadapter'sownhardwareaddress.The
purposeofthistestistypicallytoestablishthattheadapterisconnectedtoanetworkthatisfunctionalenoughtosupporta
datatransmission.
Loss
Theaggregateattenuationofasignalduetointeractionwithitsenvironment.
LSP
LinkStatePacket.Apacketbroadcastbyalinkstaterouterlistingtherouter'sneighbors.
Lossy
Characteristicofanetworkthatispronetolosepacketswhenitbecomeshighlyloaded.
LowentryNetworkingNode
SeeLENnode.
LPD
Lineprinterdaemon.ProtocolusedtosendprintjobsbetweenUNIXsystems.
LSA
LinkstateAdvertisement.Broadcastpacketusedbylinkstateprotocolsthatcontainsinformationaboutneighborsandpath

costs.LSAsareusedbythereceivingrouterstomaintaintheirroutingtables.Sometimescalledalinkstatepacket(LSP).
LSP
LinkStatePacket.Apacketbroadcastbyalinkstaterouterlistingtherouter'sneighbors.
LU
LogicalUnit.
LU6.2
AnSNAcommunicationsprotocolthatestablishesapeertopeersessionbetweentwoprocesses.
MAC
MediaAccessControl.Themethodwherebyacomputingdevicetakescontrolofthetransmissionmediaforthepurposeof
sendinganinformationpacket.
Macaddress
StandardizeddatalinklayeraddressthatisrequiredforeveryportordevicethatconnectstoaLAN.Otherdevicesinthe
networkusetheseaddressestolocatespecificportsinthenetworkandtocreateandupdateroutingtablesanddata
structures.MACaddressesare6byteslongandarecontrolledbytheIEEE.Alsoknownasahardwareaddress,aMAClayer
address,oraphysicaladdress.
MACaddresslearning
Servicethatcharacterizesalearningbridge,inwhichthesourceMACaddressofeachreceivedpacketisstoredsothatfuture
packetsdestinedforthataddresscanbeforwardedonlytothebridgeinterfaceonwhichthataddressislocated.Packets
destinedforunrecognizedaddressesareforwardedouteverybridgeinterface.Thisschemehelpsminimizetrafficonthe
attachedLANs.MACaddresslearningisdefinedintheIEEE802.1standard.
MacIP
NetworklayerprotocolthatencapsulatesIPpacketsinDDSortransmissionoverAppleTalk.MacIPalsoprovidesproxyARP
services.
Magneticfield
Theareasurroundinganelectricallychargedbodyinwhichanelectromagneticforcecanbedetected.
Mainframe
Anexpensive,generalpurposecomputerwiththeabilitytobeusedbymanyuserssimultaneously.
Maleconnector
Aconnectorwhosepointsofelectricalcontactareexposed.
MAN
metropolitanareanetwork.Networkthatspansametropolitanarea.Generally,aMANspansalargergeographicareathana
LAN,butasmallergeographicareathataWAN.
ManagedObject
Innetworkmanagement,anetworkdevicethatcanbemanagedbyanetworkmanagementprotocol.
ManagementServices
SNAfunctionsdistributedamongnetworkcomponentstomanageandcontrolanSNAnetwork.
Manchesterencoding
Digitalcodingscheme,usedbyIEEE802.3andEthernet,inwhichamidbittimetransitionisusedforclocking,anda1is
denotedbyahighlevelduringthefirsthalfofthebittime.
MAP
ManufacturingAutomationProtocol.NetworkarchitecturecreatedbyGeneralMotorstosatisfythespecificneedsofthe
factoryfloor.MAPspecifiesatokenpassingLANsimilartoIEEE802.4.
MAPI
MicrosoftApplicationProgrammingInterface.AprogramminglibraryforWindowsdevelopersthatprovidesmessaging
servicestotheirapplications.
Mask
Seeaddressmaskandsubnetmask.
MAU
MediaAccessUnit.ThecomponentofanetworkadapterthatdirectlyattachestotheTransmissionmedia.
MaximumBurst
SpecifiesthelargestburstofdataabovetheinsuredratethatwillbeallowedtemporarilyonanATMPVCbutwillnotbe
droppedattheedgebythetrafficpolicingfunction,evenifitexceedsthemaximumrate.Thisamountoftrafficwillbeallowed
onlytemporarilyonaverage,thetrafficsourceneedstobewithinthemaximumrate.Specifiedinbytesorcells.
MaximumRate
Maximumtotaldatathroughputallowedonagivenvirtualcircuit,equaltothesumoftheinsuredanduninsuredtrafficfromthe
trafficsource.Theuninsureddatamightbedroppedifthenetworkbecomescongested.Themaximumrate,whichcannot
exceedthemediarate,representsthehighestdatathroughputthevirtualcircuitwilleverdeliver,measuredinbitsorcellsper
second.

MBONE
Multicastbackbone.ThemulticastbackboneoftheInternet.MBoneisavirtualmulticastnetworkcomposedofmulticastLANs
andthepointtopointtunnelsthatinterconnectthem.
MBPS
Aunitofmeasureusedtodescribetherateofdatatransmissionequaltoonemillionsbitspersecond.
MByte
Aunitofmeasureusedtodescribeanamountofinformationequalto1,048,576(220)bytes.
MCA
Microchannelarchitecture.BusinterfacecommonlyusedinPCsandsomeUNIXworkstationsandservers.
MCI
MultiportCommunicationsInterface.CardontheAGS+thatprovidestwoEthernetinterfacesanduptotwosynchronous
serialinterfaces.TheMCIprocessespacketsrapidly,withouttheinterframedelaystypicalofotherEthernetinterfaces.
MCR
minimumcellrate.ParameterdefinedbytheATMForumforATMtrafficmanagement.MCRisdefinedonlyforABR
transmissions,andspecifiestheminimumvaluefortheACR.
MD5
MessageDigest5.AlgorithmusedformessageauthenticationinSNMPv.2.MD5verifiestheintegrityofthecommunication,
authenticatestheorigin,andchecksfortimelines.
Media
Theenvironmentinwhichthetransmissionsignaliscarried.
MediaRate
Maximumtrafficthroughputforaparticularmediatype.
Memory
Incomputing,asystemwheredataisstoredfordirect,highspeedaccessbyamicroprocessor.
MemoryAllocation
Theamountofmemory,usuallyRAM,thatanprocessreservesforitself.
Mesh
Networktopologyinwhichdevicesareorganizedinamanageable,segmentedmannerwithmany,oftenredundant,
interconnectionsstrategicallyplacedbetweennetworknodes.
Message
Applicationlayer(Layer7)logicalgroupingofinformation,oftencomposedofanumberoflowerlayerlogicalgroupingssuch
aspackets.Thetermsdatagram,frame,packet,andsegmentarealsousedtodescribelogicalinformationgroupingsat
variouslayersoftheOSIreferencemodel.
MessageSwitching
Switchingtechniqueinvolvingtransmissionofmessagesfromnodetonodethroughanetwork.Themessageisstoredateach
nodeuntilsuchtimeasaforwardingpathisavailable.
MessageUnit
Unitofdataprocessedbyanynetworklayer.
Metalanguage
Alanguagethatrepresentsanotherlanguage.
Metasignaling
ProcessrunningattheATMlayerthatmanagessignalingtypesandvirtualcircuits.
MHS
1.MessageHandlingService.AsynonymofX.400storeandforwardmessaging.2.MessageHandlingSystem.ANovell
protocolformailhandling.
MIB
ManagementInformationBase.InSNMP,aspecificationofthedataobjectsanddatastructuresthattheAgentisresponsible
forknowingandreportingtotheConsoleondemand.
MIC
Mediainterfaceconnector.FDDIdefactostandardconnector.
Micro
1.Aprefixthatdenotesaonemillionthpartofaunitofmeasure,suchasamicrosecondormicroampere.2.Aprefixthat
denotessomethingsmall.3.Aslangtermforanypersonalcomputer.
Microcode
Translationlayerbetweenmachineinstructionsandtheelementaryoperationsofacomputer.MicrocodeisstoredinROMand

allowstheadditionofnewmachineinstructionswithoutrequiringthattheybedesignedintoelectroniccircuitswhennew
instructionsareneeded.
Microsegmentation
Divisionofanetworkintosmallersegments,usuallywiththeintentionofincreasingaggregatebandwidthtonetworkdevices.
Microwave
1.Anyelectromagneticradiationwithawavelengthbetween1millimeterand1meter.2.Apointtopointdatatransmission
systememployingelectromagneticradiationusingacarrierfrequencyinthemicrowaveregion.
MIDI
MusicalInstrumentDigitalInterface.
Midsplit
Broadbandcablesysteminwhichtheavailablefrequenciesaresplitintotwogroups:onefortransmissionandonefor
reception.
Milli
Aprefixdenotingaonethousandthpartofaunitofmeasure,suchasamillisecondormillimeter.
MILNET
MilitaryNetwork.UnclassifiedportionoftheDDN.OperatedandmaintainedbytheDISA.
Minicomputer
Archaic.Amultiusercomputercapableofsupporting416simultaneoususers.
Mips
Millionsofinstructionspersecond.Numberofinstructionsexecutedbyaprocessorpersecond.
MIS
ManagementInformationSystem.Usedtodescribethesetofcomputingresourcesthatholdandallowaccesstothe
informationownedbyanorganization.
Mode
1.Oneparticularmethodorwayofaccomplishingagoal.2.Infiberoptictransmission,aparticularpathbetweenalight
sourceandareceiver.3.Instatistics,theresultwiththehighestfrequencywithinthesamplegroup.
Modem
Adevicethatcancovertdatasignalsbetweenanaloganddigitalsignalingsystems.
Modemeliminator
DeviceallowingconnectionoftwoDTEdeviceswithoutmodems.
Modulation
Processbywhichthecharacteristicsofelectricalsignalsaretransformedtorepresentinformation.Typesofmodulation
includeAM,FM,andPAM.
Modulatordemodulator
SeeModem.
MOP
MaintenanceOperationProtocol.DigitalEquipmentCorporationprotocolthatprovidesawaytoperformprimitivemaintenance
operationsonDECnetsystems.
Mosaic
PublicdomainWWWbrowser,developedattheNationalCenterforSupercomputingApplications(NCSA).
MOSPF
MulticastOSPF.IntradomainmulticastroutingprotocolusedinOSPFnetworks.ExtensionsareappliedtothebaseOSPF
unicastprotocoltosupportIPmulticastrouting.
MOV
MetalOxideVarister.Adevicethatactsasasurgesuppresserbyforcingtransienthighvoltagestoground.
MQI
MessageQueueingInterface.InternationalstandardAPOthatprovidesfunctionalitysimilartothatoftheRPCinterface.In
contrasttoRPC,MQIisimplementedstrictlyattheapplicationlayer.
MSAU
Multistationaccessunit.WiringconcentratortowhichallendstationsinaTokenRingnetworkconnect.TheMSAUprovides
aninterfacebetweenthesedevicesandtheTokenRinginterface.
MSL
MaximumSegmentLifetime.
MSS

MaximumSegmentSize.
MTA
MessageTransferAgent.Inx.400,aprocessthatisresponsibleforstoringandforwardingmessages.
MTU
MaximumTransmissionUnit.Aspecificationinadatalinkprotocolthatdefinesthemaximumnumberofbytesthatcanbe
carriedinanyonepacketonthatlink.
Mulaw
NorthAmericancompandingstandardusedinconversionbetweenanaloganddigitalsignalsinPCMsystems.
MultiaccessNetwork
Networkthatallowsmultipledevicestoconnectandcommunicatesimultaneously.
Multicast
Singlepacketscopiedbythenetworkandsenttoaspecificsubsetofnetworkaddresses.Theseaddressesarespecifiedin
thedestinationaddressfield.
MulticastGroup
DynamicallydeterminedgroupofIPhostsidentifiedbyasingleIPmulticastaddress.
Multicastrouter
RouterusedtosendIGMPquerymessagesontheirattachedlocalnetworks.Hostmembersofamulticastgrouprespondtoa
querybysendingIGMPreportsnotingthemulticastgroupstowhichtheybelong.Themulticastroutertakesresponsibilityfor
forwardingmulticastdatagramsfromonemulticastgrouptoallothernetworksthathavemembersinthegroup.
MulticastServer
EstablishesaonetomanyconnectiontoeachdeviceinaVLAN,thusestablishingabroadcastdomainforeachVLAN
segment.Themulticastserverforwardsincomingbroadcastsonlytothemulticastaddressthatmapstothebroadcast
address.
MultidropLine
Communicationslinehavingmultiplecableaccesspoints.Sometimescalledamultipointline.
MultihomedHost
HostattachedtomultiplephysicalnetworksegmentsinanOSICLNSnetwork.
Multihoming
AddressingschemeinISISroutingthatsupportsassignmentofmultipleareaaddresses.
Multilayerswitch
SwitchthatfiltersandforwardspacketsbasedonMACaddressesandnetworkaddresses.AsubsetofLANswitch.
MultimodeFiber
Opticalfibersupportingpropagationofmultiplefrequenciesoflight.
MultipleDomainNetwork
SNAnetworkwithmultipleSSCPs.
Multiplexing
Schemethatallowsmultiplelogicalsignalstobetransmittedsimultaneouslyacrossasinglephysicalchannel.
Multiuser
Atermusedtodescribeacomputingprocessthatcanhandletherequirementsofseveraluserssimultaneously.
Multitasking
Adescriptivetermforacomputingdevicewhoseoperatingsystemcanhandleseveraltasksconcurrently.Inmonoprocessors,
eachactivetaskisgivenshortperiodsoftimetousetheCPUinarotationalfashion.
Multivendornetwork
Networkusingequipmentfrommorethanonevendor.
MVS
MultipleVirtualStorage.TheprimaryoperatingsystemsforIBMmainframes.
Nagel'sAlgorithm
ActuallytwoseparatecongestioncontrolalgorithmsthatcanbeusedinTCPbasednetworks.Onealgorithmreducesthe
sendingwindowtheotherlimitssmalldatagrams.
NAK
Negativeacknowledgment.Responsesentfromareceivingdevicetoasendingdeviceindicatingthattheinformationreceived
containederrors.
NameCaching
Methodbywhichremotelydiscoveredhostnamesarestoredbyarouterforuseinfuturepacketforwardingdecisionstoallow

quickaccess.
NameServer
Serverconnectedtoanetworkthatresolvesnetworknamesintonetworkaddresses.
NameService
InAppleTalk,acomputingprocessthathasusedNameBindingProtocoltoregisteraprocesssothatitmaybelocatedusing
anetworkresourcemanagementliketheChooser.
Nano
Aprefixthatdenotesa1billionthportionofaunitofmeasure,asinnanosecondornanometer.
NAP
Networkaccesspoint.LocationforinterconnectionofinternetserviceprovidersintheUnitedStatesfortheexchangeof
packets.
Native
Somethingisastandardcomponentofacomputersystem,suchasanativefilesystemoranativeprotocol.
NAU
Networkaddressableunit.SNAtermforanaddressableentity.ExamplesincludeLUs,PUs,andSSCPs.NAUsgenerally
provideupperlevelnetworkservices.
NAUN
Nearestactiveupstreamneighbor.InTokenRingorIEEE802.5networks,theclosestupstreamnetworkdevicefromany
givendevicethatisstillactive.
NBMA
Nonbroadcastmultiaccess.Termdescribingamultiaccessnetworkthateitherdoesnotsupportbroadcasting(suchasX.25)or
inwhichbroadcastingisnotfeasible(forexample,anSMDSbroadcastgrouporanextendedEthernetthatistoolarge).
NBP
NameBindingProtocol.TheAppleTalkprotocolthatassociatesthename,typeandzoneofaprocesswithitsInternetSocket
Address.
NCP
NetworkControlProtocol.
NEARNET
RegionalnetworkinNewEngland(UnitedStates)thatlinksBostonUniversity,HarvardUniversity,andMIT.
NeighboringRouters
InOSPF,tworoutersthathaveinterfacestoacommonnetwork.Onmultiaccessnetworks,neighborsaredynamically
discoveredbytheOSPFHelloprotocol.
NET
Networkentitytitle.Networkaddresses,definedbytheISOnetworkarchitecture,andusedinCLNSbasednetworks.
Net
Shortfornetwork.
NetBIOS
NetworkBasicInput/OutputSystem.APIusedbyapplicationsonanIBMLANtorequestservicesfromlowerlevelnetwork
processes.Theseservicesmightincludesessionestablishmentandtermination,andinformationtransfer.
NetView
AnetworkanddevicemanagementsystemdevelopedbyIBM.
NetWare
AtrademarkofNovellthatincludesnetworkoperatingsystemsandLANserverprocessesthatrunonand/orservemany
computingplatforms,operatingsystemsandprotocols.
Network
Theinfrastructurethatsupportselectronicdataexchange.
NetworkAdapter
Ahardwaredevicethattranslateselectronicsignalsbetweenacomputingdevice'snativenetworkhardwareandthe
transmissionmedia.Anetworkadaptermayalsoincludememoryoradditionalhardwareorfirmwaretoaidorperformthe
computingdevice'snetworkoperations.
NetworkAddress
Networklayeraddressreferringtoalogical,ratherthanaphysical,networkdevice.Alsocalledaprotocoladdress.
NetworkAdministrator
Apersonwhoischargedwiththeresponsibilityofcaringforanetworkandthecommunicationabilitiesofitsusers.
NetworkAnalyzer

Hardwareorsoftwaredeviceofferingvariousnetworktroubleshootingfeatures,includingprotocolspecificpacketdecodes,
specificpreprogrammedtroubleshootingtests,packetfiltering,andpackettransmission.
NetworkArchitecture
Asetofspecificationsthatdefineseveryaspectofadatanetwork'scommunicationsystem,includingbutnotlimitedtothe
typesofuserinterfacesemployed,thenetworkingprotocolsusedandthestructureandtypesofnetworkcablingthatmaybe
used.
NetworkInterface
Boundarybetweenacarriernetworkandaprivatelyownedinstallation
NetworkLayer
Layer3oftheOSIreferencemodel.Thislayerprovidesconnectivityandpathselectionbetweentwoendsystems.The
networklayeristhelayeratwhichroutingoccurs.CorrespondsroughlywiththepathcontrollayeroftheSNAmodel.
NetworkManagement
Asetofactivitiesanddutieswhosegoalistoprovidehighquality,reliablecommunicationamongagroupofnetworked
computerusers.Typicalactivitiesmayincluderesourceplanning,networkdesign,providinguserassistanceandtraining,
reconfigurationofthenetworkduetoachangeinuserrequirements,assessinguserneedsanddesigningappropriatesolutions
andtroubleshootingandremedyingnetworkproblemsastheyarise.
NetworkNodeServer
SNANNthatprovidesresourcelocationandrouteselectionservicesforENs,LENnodes,andLUsthatareinitsdomain.
NetworkNumber
PartofanIPaddressthatspecifiesthenetworktowhichthehostbelongs.
NetworkOperating
AtermmostlyusedinDOSnetworkingsystemstorefer
System
collectivelytotheproprietaryprotocolsandnetworkfilesystemsthatcomputersusetoexchangedatawiththeirLANServers.
NetworkOperator
Personwhoroutinelymonitorsandcontrolsanetwork,performingtaskssuchasreviewingandrespondingtotraps,
monitoringthroughput,configuringnewcircuits,andresolvingproblems.
NFS
NetworkFileSystem.Afilemetalanguageandsetofprocedurecallstoaccessandmanagefilesthatisstandardissueon
nearlyeverycomputerthatusesTCP/IPprotocolsasitsstandardnetworkprotocols.DesignedbySunMicrosystems,NFSis
nowastandardfeatureofnearlyallUnixsystems.
NHRP
NextHopResolutionProtocol.ProtocolusedbyrouterstodynamicallydiscovertheMACaddressofotherroutersandhosts
connectedtoaNBMAnetwork.Thesesystemscanthendirectlycommunicatewithoutrequiringtraffictouseanintermediate
hop,increasingperformanceinATM,FrameRelay,SMDS,andX.25environments.
Nibble
Onehalfofabyte,whichcanberepresentedbyasinglehexadecimaldigit.
NIC
1.NetworkInformationCenter.ThegroupresponsiblefortheassignmentofIPaddresses.2.NetworkInterfaceCard.A
networkadapteronacircuitboardthatplugsintoacomputerinternalbusarchitecture.3.A16bitEthernetchipdesignedby
TexasInstruments.
NIS
NetworkInformationSystem.ProtocoldevelopedbySunMicrosystemsfortheadministrationofnetworkwidedatabases.the
serviceessentiallyusestwoprograms:oneforfindingaNISserverandoneforaccessingtheNISdatabases.
NISDN
NarrowbandISDN.CommunicationstandardsdevelopedbytheITUTforbasebandnetworks.Basedon64kbpsBchannels
and16or64kbpsDchannels.
NIST
NationalinstituteofStandardsandTechnology.FormerlytheNBS,thisU.S.governmentorganizationsupportsandcatalogsa
varietyofstandards.
NLM
NetWareLoadableModule.IndividualprogramthatcanbeloadedintomemoryandfunctionaspartoftheNetWareNOS.
NLSP
NetWareLinkServicesProtocol.LinkstateroutingprotocolbasesonISIS.
NMS
Networkmanagementsystem.Systemresponsibleformanagingatleastpartofanetwork.AnNMSisgenerallyareasonably
powerfulandwellequippedcomputersuchasanengineeringworkstation.NMSscommunicatewithagentstohelpkeeptrack
ofnetworkstatisticsandresources.
NMVT

Networkmanagementvectortransport.SNAmessageconsistingofaseriesofvectorsconveyingnetworkmanagement
specificinformation.NNNetworknode.SNAintermediatenodethatprovidesconnectivity,directoryservices,routeselection,
intermediatesessionrouting,datatransport,andnetworkmanagementservicestoLENnodesandENs.TheNNcontainsa
CPthatmanagestheresourcesofboththeNNitselfandthoseoftheENsandLENnodesinitsdomain.NNsprovide
intermediateroutingservicesbyimplementingtheAPPNPU2.1extensions.
NNI
NetworktoNetworkInterface.ATMForumstandardthatdefinestheinterfacebetweentwoATMswitchesthatareboth
locatedinaprivatenetworkorarebothlocatedinapublicnetwork.Theinterfacebetweenapublicswitchandprivateoneis
definedbytheUNIstandard.Also,thestandardinterfacebetweentwoFrameRelayswitchesmeetingthesamecriteria.
NOC
NetworkOperationsCenter.Organizationresponsibleformaintaininganetwork.
Node
Anetworkedcomputingdevicethattakesaprotocoladdressandcaninitiateandrespondtocommunicationfromother
networkeddevicesthatemploysimilarprotocols.
Noise
Undesirableelectricalorelectromagneticsignals.
NonseedRouter
InAppleTalk,arouterthatmustfirstobtainandthenverifyitsconfigurationwithaseedrouterbeforeitcanbeginoperation.
NonstubArea
ResourceintensiveOSPFareathatcarriesadefaultroute,staticroutes,intraarearoutes,interarearoutes,andexternal
routes.NonstubareasaretheonlyOSPFareasthatcanhavevirtuallinksconfiguredacrossthemandaretheonlyareasthat
cancontainanASBR.
NonVolatile
Informationthatwillremainusablebyacomputerdespitelossofpowerorshutdown.
NorthwestNet
NSFfundedregionalnetworkservingtheNorthwesternUnitedStates,Alaska,Montana,andNorthDakota.NorthwestNet
connectsallmajoruniversitiesintheregion,aswellasmanyleadingindustrialconcerns.
NOS
Networkoperatingsystem.Generictermusedtorefertowhatarereallydistributedfilesystems.
NREN
NationalResearchandEducationNetwork.ComponentoftheHPCCprogramdesignedtoensureUS.technicalleadershipin
computercommunicationsthroughresearchanddevelopmenteffortsinstateofthearttelecommunicationsandnetworking
technologies.
NRM
normalresponsemode.HDLCmodeforuseonlinkswithoneprimarystationandoneormoresecondarystations.Inthis
mode,secondarystationscantransmitonlyiftheyfirstreceiveapollfromtheprimarystation.
NRZ
nonreturntozero.NRZsignalsmaintainconstantvoltagelevelswithnosignaltransitions(noreturntoazerovoltagelevel)
duringabitinterval.
NTP
NetworkTimeProtocol.
Nubus
Oneofalargenumberofcomputerbusarchitecture'susedinMacintoshcomputers.
Object
InNBP,thepropertermfordescribingtheindividualnamegiventoaservice.IntheChooser,itisthenamethatisdisplayedin
thelistofdevices.
ODI
OpenDatalinkInterface.ANovellspecificationfornetworkinterfacecarddevicedriversthatallowsmultipleprotocolstacksto
usethesamecardsimultaneously.
OEM
OriginalEquipmentManufacture.Asystemofdistributionwhereacompanymarketsequipmentpurchasedfromanother
companyunderitsownlabel.
Ohm()
Ameasureoftheoppositiontotheflowofelectriccurrent.
OLE
ObjectLinkingandEmbedding.AMicrosoftspecificationfortheexchangeofdataobjectsbetweenapplications.
OpenDoc
Anopencrossplatform,compounddocumentarchitecturedevelopedbyApplewithhelpandsupportfromNovelland

WordPerfect,amongothers.
OpenView
HP'sSNMPconsoleandnetworkmanagementsystem.
OperatingSystem
Acollectionofsystemsoftwareroutinesthatmanagesalloftheperipherals,hardwarecomponentsandothercomputing
resourcesandprocessesinacomputingdevice.
OS/2
IBM'soperatingsystemfor80x86basedsystems.
Oscillate
Aconditionwhereasystemchangesbetweentwoormoreconfigurationsonarecurringbasis.
Oscilloscope
Atestdevicethatcancaptureanddisplayanoscillatingelectricalsignal.
OSF
OpenSoftwareFoundation.
OSI
OpenSystemsInterconnection.ReferringtothesubsetoftheISOthatpromotesanddefinesstandardsforopennetworking
systems.
OSI7LayerModel
Amethodofdescribingtherelationshipsbetweennetworkprotocolsbygroupingthemaccordingtothecommunication
functionstheprotocolsprovide.TheOSImodeldefines7distinctcategories(Layers)thatactsuccessivelyondataasitmakes
itswaybetweentheuserandthetransmissionmedia.
OSPF
OpenShortestPathFirst.AlinkstateroutingprotocolforIP.
OutofBand
Referringtoatransmissionsystemthatisseparateandauxiliarytothenetwork'stransmissionsystemandwho'soperabilityis
independentoftheoperabilityofthenetwork.
Output
Arepresentationofasystem'sdatathatisexternallyvisible.
Overwrite
Anerrorconditionthatoccurswhenaprocessstoresdatainalocationthatit1)hasnotproperlyallocatedforthatpurposeor
2)hasbeenallocatedbyanotherprocess.
Packet
Adiscretechunkofcommunicationinapredefinedformat.
Padding
Additional,meaninglessdataaddstoapackettoincreaseitssize.
ParityChecking
Amethodoferrorcheckingwhereanextrabitisusedtosignifytheconditionofasmallgroupofdatabits.
PDA
PersonalDigitalAssistant.
PDS
ProcessorDirectSlot.Oneofalargenumberofcomputerbusarchitecture'susedinMacintoshcomputers.
Peek
Atermusedtodescribetheviewingofnetworkdatanotordinarilyvisibletoauser.
Peer
Innetworking,adevicetowhichacomputerhasanetworkconnectionthatisrelativelysymmetrical,i.e.wherebothdevices
caninitiateorrespondtoasimilarsetofrequests.
Peripheral
1.Anyhardwareresourceusedbyacomputerthatisexternaltoacomputer'senclosurecasethatisaccessedbyserialor
parallelconnections,orbusarchitecturessuchasSCSI,MIDIorVME.2.Anyhardwarecomputingresourcethatcanbe
accessedbyauser.
PhysicalAddress
AsynonymforHardwareAddressorMAClayeraddress.
Pico
Aprefixdenotinga1trillionthportionofaunitofmeasure,asinpicosecondorpicofarad.

Pin
Atypeofelectricalcontactpointforasingleconductor.
Ping
1.AnetworkdiagnosticutilityonUnixsystemsthatsendsanICMPEchoRequesttoadistantnodewhichmustthen
immediatelyreturnanICMPEchoReplypacketbacktotheoriginatingnode.2.AnICMPEchoRequestpacket.
Plug
Asynonymformaleconnector.
Poke
Atermusedtorefertothetransmissionofapacketonanetworkfortestpurposesonly.
Polarity
ATermusedtodescribetheorientationofadifferentialvoltage.
Polling
AmeansofMediaAccessControlwhereadevicemayonlytransmitinformationwhenitisgivenpermissiontotransmitbya
controllerdevice.
Port
Onanetworkhub,bridgeorrouter,aphysicallydistinctandindividuallycontrollablesetoftransmissionhardware.Eachsuch
portisconnectedtothedevicesotherportsthroughthedevice'sinternalelectronicstructures.
POSIX
PortableOperatingSystemsInterface.AnIEEEstandardthatspecifiesrequirementsforportableUNIXoperatingsystems.
PostScript
AnExtensibleprogramminglanguagethatiscapableofdescribinganddrawingcompleximagesthatwasdevelopedby
AdobeSystems.
PowerOpen
Apple'snextgenerationoperatingsystemcodevelopedwithIBM.
PowerPC
AMotoroladevelopedRISCchip.AlsoreferstothesuccessoroftheMacintoshpoweredbythischip.
PPC
1.ProcesstoProcessCommunication.2.SometimesusedasanacronymforPowerPC.
PPP
PointtoPointProtocol.Aspecificationforsynchronousorasynchronousdatacommunicationbetweentworoutersorbetween
acomputersystemandanetwork.
Precision
Referringtothesmallestdifferenceinmeasurementthatatestinstrumentcandistinguish.
PRI
PrimaryRateInterface.AnISDNserviceoveraT1linkthatprovides23datachannels"bearer"or"b"Channels"at64KBPS
andone16KBPScontrolchannel(or"D"channel).
PrintSpooler
ASoftwareprocessthatacceptsaprintjobfromaworkstationasifitwereaprinterandthensendstheprintjobtoanactual
printeratalatertime.Therearetwostyles,abackgroundspooler,wheretheprintspoolingprocessisresidentinthesame
nodeastheprocessseekingtheprintservice,andahardwarespooler,wheretheprintspoolingprocessisinaseparate
node.
PrinterDriver
IntheMacintosh,aSystemExtensionthatisintermediatebetweentheCPUandtheprinter.ItacceptstheMacintosh'sinternal
representationofanimageandtranslatesitintothecontrolcodesandimagedescriptionsnecessaryfortheprinterto
manufactureanimage.
Process
Asetofinstructions,asinacomputerprogramorapplicationthatiscurrentlyactive,i.e.consumingCPUtimeandmemory
resources.Whilean"application"isaprocess,thattermusuallyreferstoaprocessthatausercanlaunchfromtheFinderand
directlycontrol,wheretheuseoftheterm"process"oftenimpliesthattheprocesshasbeenlaunchedbythesystemandis
notunderdirectusercontrol.
Program
Asetofinstructionsthathasbeencodedintoacomputerlanguageandcompiledintoamachinelanguage.
PROM
ProgrammableReadOnlyMemory.Firmwareinwhichachiphashadaprogram"burnedin"toitsinternalcircuitry.The
designation"EPROM"indicatesthattheprogramisErasable.
Promiscuous
ALANstationthatreceivesandprocessesallofthepacketsonitsnetwork.

Proprietary
Meaningthatinformationconcerningthemethodsorimplementationofatechnologyareownedbyanindividualora
company."Proprietary"maymeanthattheinformationissecretorthattheinformationmustbelicensedfromtheownerbefore
itcanbeused.
Protocol
Innetworking,aspecificationofthedatastructuresandalgorithmsnecessarytoaccomplishaparticularnetworkfunction.
ProtocolStack
Agroupofprotocols,usuallyspecifiedbyasinglevendorororganization,thatareimplementedatmorethanoneLayerofthe
OSI7LayermodelthatalsohaveServiceAccessPointsdefined.
Publish&Subscribe
AnAppleproprietarymethodofdefiningandmaintainingalivelinkbetweenafileandanexternalpieceofdata.
Quad
Alowgradeimplementationoftwistedpairwire,wherefourconductors(twopairs)arealltwistedtogetherwithno
independenttwistingbetweenthepairs.
Quantum
ThemaximumunitoftimethatarealtimeprocesscanoccupytheCPU.
Query
Ageneraltermtodescribetheformation,usuallyinaprescribedformat,thatacomputerprocesswouldusetoretrieve
specificinformationfromanotherprocessasopposedtoawholesaletransferofdata.
QuickTime
AmultimediatechnologydevelopedbyApple.
Radio(RF)Frequency
1.Electromagneticradiationwithafrequencyintherangeof10KHzto300GHz.2.Wirelessdatacommunicationusingsuch
radiation.
RAM
RandomAccessMemory.AgroupofmemorylocationsthatarenumericallyidentifiedtoallowhighspeedaccessbyaCPU.
Inrandomaccess,anymemorylocationcanbeaccessedatanytimebyreferringtoitsnumericalidentifierascomparedto
sequentialaccess,wherememorylocation6canonlybeaccessedafteraccessingmemorylocations15.
RARP
ReverseAddressResolutionProtocol.AmethodforworkstationstoaskaserverfortheirIPaddressduringbootstrap
operations.
Reboot
Auseractivitywheretheuserstartsacomputingdevicewithoutinterruptingitssourceofelectricalpower.
Receiver
Thenodeorprocessforwhichapacketorotherinformationisintended.
RemoteAccess
AppleTalkRemoteAccess.Apple'sprotocolthatallowsasingleusertogainnetworkaccessoveramodernconnection.
Repeater
APhysicalLayerdevicewhichrestores,amplifies,reclocksorotherwiseimprovesanetworksignalthatitreceivesononeof
itsportsandtransmitstheimprovedsignalwithoutbufferingorinterpretingit.
ResEdit
AMacintoshutilitythatallowsausertomodifytheresourceforkofanHFSfile.
Resetbutton
Asmallbuttonthat,whenpushed,willrestartaMacintosh.
Resistor
Apassiveelectricaldevicethataddsresistancetoacircuit.
ResourceFork
InaMacintoshfile,theportionofthefilethatcontainssuchauxiliaryinformationasthemenus,thedialogboxesandsounds
thatafilemayrequireinadditiontoitsdata.
ResponseTime
Thegapbetweenthetimewhenauserinitiatesanactionandthetimethattheactiondisplaysitsresults.
RFInterference
RadioFrequencysignalsthatdegradetheintegrityofadatasignal.
RFC
RequestForComment.FortheIETF,thedocumentthatspecifiesastandardafteranexhaustivereviewprocess.

RFS
RemoteFileSharing.Theactivityofsharingafileamongremotecomputers.
Ring
Atypeofnetworktopologywherethedevicesareconnectedtoacontinuousconductor.
RIP
RoutingInformationProtocol.AdistancevectorroutingprotocolforIP.
ROM
ReadOnlyMemory.Achiporotherelectronicdevicethatcontainsmemorythatcannotbealtered.IntheMacintosh,theROM
containstheMacintoshOSandinstructionsforbasicsystemoperations.
Router
AdevicethatforwardspacketsbetweennetworksaccordingtotherulesofanetworklayerprotocolsuchasDDPand
informationithasgatheredduringitsserviceconcerningthestructureoftheinternet.
RPC
RemoteProcedureCall.Acommandgivenbyonecomputertoasecondcomputeroveranetworktoexecuteadefined
systemcall,suchasinanNFSsession.
RTT
RoundTripTime.thetimebetweenthetransmissionofapacketandthereceiptofitsacknowledgmentorreply.
SAA
SystemsApplicationArchitecture.IBM'sarchitectureforcommunicationsandapplicationdevelopment.
SAP
ServiceAccessPoint.Theinterfacebetweenoneprotocolandanotherinanadjacentlayer.
Scalability
Thesuitabilityofasystem(particularlyanetworksystemtooperateproperlyandefficientlywhenconfiguredonalargescale.
ScreenSaver
Abackgroundprocessthatmonitorssystemactivitysuchasmouseclicksandkeystrokesandtakesoverthesystemduring
prolongedperiodsofidleactivitytocoverthescreenwithadisplaythatwillpreventdamagetoitsphosphorseitherby
reducingtheintensityofelectronfloworbydisplayinganimagethatchangesoftenenoughtoavoidscreen"burnin".Some
screensaversalsoofferasecurityoptionbyrequiringapasswordbeforeausercanregaincontrolofthesystem.
Script
Asetofinstructionsthatacomputercanoperate.Unlikeaprogram,scriptinstructionsarenotcompiledintomachine
languagebutareinterpretedbythesystematthetimeofexecution.ScriptinglanguagesfortheMacintoshincludeHyperTalk,
FrontierandAppleScript.
SCSI
SmallComputerSystemsInterface.Aspecification(ANSIX3T9.2)forashortdistance((6metersmax.)LocalAreaNetwork
usingbustopologyforuptoeightdevices.TheMacintoshusesthisnetworkforattachingdevicessuchasexternaldiskdrives
andscanners.
SDLC
SynchronousDataLinkControl.IBM'sspecificationforencapsulationofdataoversynchronouslinks.AnalogoustoHDLC.
SerialPort
Aportonacomputingdevicethatiscapableofeithertransmittingorreceivingonebitatatime.ExamplesincludetheMac's
printerandmodemports.
Server
Adevicethatissharedbyseveralusersofanetwork.
Session
Anongoingrelationshipbetweentwocomputingdevicesinvolvingtheallocationofresourcesandsustaineddateflow.
SessionLayer
ThelayerintheOSI7LayerModelthatisconcernedwithmanagingtheresourcesrequiredforthesessionbetweentwo
computers.
Set
InSNMP,thecommandgivenbytheConsolethataskstheMIBtochangethevalueofadataobjectinitsMIB.
Short
Thedirectconnectionoftwoormoreconductorsofacircuitwitheachother.
Signal
Themeansofconveyanceforacommunication,typicallyanelectromagneticwavethatismodulatedtoencodethe
informationcommunicated.
SignaltoNoiseRatio

Inanelectromagneticsignal,theratiooftheamplitude(strength)ofasignaltotheamplitudeoftheambientradiationand
othersignaldisturbancesthatarepresent,usuallyexpressedindecibels(dB).
SlewingRate
Themaximumrate,usuallyexpressedinvolts/second,atwhichanactivedevicesuchasatransistorortransformercan
changeitsvoltagestate.
SLIP
SerialLineInternetProtocol.AprotocolforcarryingIPinformationoverseriallinks.
SMDS
SwitchedMultimegabitDataService.AmetropolitanareapacketswitchingdatanetworkusingT1andT3lines.
SMI
StructureofManagementInformation.
SMTP
SimpleMailTransferProtocol.ThestandardprotocolforexchangingmailoverTCP/IPnetworks.
SNA
SystemsNetworkArchitecture.IBM'scommunicationsarchitectureandstrategy.
SNMP
SimpleNetworkManagementProtocol.Adefactostandardformanagementofnetworkeddevicesusingasimplerequest
responsedataretrievalmechanism.
SNMPv2
SimpleNetworkManagementProtocolVersion2.Offersincreasedperformance,bettersecurity,greaterportabilityandgreater
abilitytomanagenonnetworkresources.
Source
Thenodeorprocesstransmittinginformation.
SONET
SynchronousOpticalNetwork.Astandardforaworldwidedigitalnetworkusingacommontransport.SONETcanrunover
copperorfiber.
Specification
Adocumentthatdefinesaconceptanditsallowableimplementationforms.
Spike
Asuddenandtransientincreaseinthevoltagefromapowersupply.
SPX
SequentialPacketExchange.ATransportlayerprotocoldevelopedbyNovelltoprovideinsequencedatatransfer.
SQL
StructuredQueryLanguage.Awidelyusedmetalanguagefordatabaseaccessandmanagement.ANIBMandANSI
standard.
Squarewave
Anelectromagneticwavethatoscillatesbetweentwovoltagestates,theoreticallyrequiringnotimetoaccomplishastate
transition.
Standard
1.Asynonymforspecification.2.Acomponentorwayofaccomplishingataskthatissofrequentlyandwidelyusedthatis
seemstobepartofaspecification.
StandbyMonitor
DeviceplacedinstandbymodeonaTokenRingnetworkincaseanactivemonitorfails.Seealsoactivemonitorandring
monitor.
Star
Anetworktopologythatisconstructedbyconnectingcomputingdevicestoacommondevice.
StarLAN
CSMA/CDLAN,basedonIEEE802.3,developedbyAT&T.
StarTopology
LANtopologyinwhichendpointsonanetworkareconnectedtoacommoncentralswitchbypointtopointlinks.Aring
topologythatisorganizedasastarimplementsaunidirectionalclosedloopstar,insteadofpointtopointlinks.Comparewith
bustopology,ringtopology,andtreetopology.
StaticRoute
Routethatisexplicitlyconfiguredandenteredintotheroutingtable.StaticRoutestakeprecedenceoverrouteschosenby
dynamicroutingprotocols.

StatisticalMultiplexing
Techniqueinwhichinformationfrommultiplelogicalchannelscanbetransmittedacrossasinglephysicalchannel.Statistical
multiplexingdynamicallyallocatesbandwidthonlytoactiveinputchannels,makingbetteruseofavailablebandwidthand
allowingmoredevicestobeconnectedthanwithothermultiplexingtechniques.Alsoreferredtoasstatisticaltimedivision
multiplexingorstatmux.
STM1
SynchronousTransportModulelevel1.OneofanumberofSDHformatsthatspecifiestheframestructureforthe155.52
MbpslinesusedtocarryATMcells.
StoreAndForwardPacketSwitching
Packetswitchingtechniqueinwhichframesarecompletelyprocessedbeforebeingforwardedouttheappropriateport.This
processingincludescalculatingtheCRCandcheckingthedestinationaddress.Inaddition,framesmustbetemporarilystored
untilnetworkresourcesareavailabletoforwardthemessage.
STP
Shieldedtwistedpair.Twopairwiringmediumusedinavarietyofnetworkimplementations.STPcablinghasalayerof
shieldedinsulationtoreduceEMI.
STS1
SynchronousTransportSignallevel1.BasicbuildingblocksignalofSONET,operatingat51.84Mbps.FasterSONETrates
aredefinedasSTSn,wherenisamultipleof51.84Mbps.
STS3c
SynchronousTransportSignallevel3,concatenated.SONETformatthatspecifiestheframestructureforthe155.52Mbps
linesusedtocarryATMcells.
StubArea
OSPFareathatcarriesadefaultroute,intraarearoutes,andinterarearoutes,butdoesnotcarryexternalroutes.Virtuallinks
cannotbeconfiguredacrossastubarea,andtheycannotcontainasASBR.
StubNetwork
Networkthathasonlyasingleconnectiontoarouter.
Subarea
PortionofanSNAnetworkthatconsistsofasubareanodeandanyattachedlinksandperipheralnodes.
SubareaNode
SNAcommunicationcontrollerorhostthathandlescompletenetworkaddresses.
Subchannel
Inbroadbandterminology,afrequencybasedsubdivisioncreatingaseparatecommunicationschannel.
Subinterface
Oneofanumberofvirtualinterfacesonasinglephysicalinterface.
SubnetAddress
PortionofanIPaddressthatisspecifiedasthesubnetworkbythesubnetmask.SeealsoIPaddress,subnetmask,and
subnetwork.
SubnetMask
Arepresentationofauser'sInternetaddresswhereallofthebitpositionscorrespondingtotheuser'snetworkandsubnetwork
idare1'sandthebitcorrespondingtotheuser'shostidare0's.
Subnetwork
1.InIPnetworks,anetworksharingaparticularsubnetaddress.Subnetworksarenetworksarbitrarilysegmentedbya
networkadministratorinordertoprovideamultilevel,hierarchicalroutingstructurewhileshieldingthesubnetworkfromthe
addressingcomplexityofattachednetworks.Sometimescalledasubnet.2.InOSInetworks,acollectionofESsandISs
underthecontrolofasingleadministrativedomainandusingasinglenetworkaccessprotocol.
Subvector
AdatasegmentofavectorinanSNAmessage.Asubvectorconsistsofalengthfield,akeythatdescribesthesubvector
type,andsubvectorspecificdata.
SURAnet
SoutheasternUniversitiesResearchAssociationNetwork.Networkconnectinguniversitiesandotherorganizationsinthe
SoutheasternUnitedStates.SURAnet,originallyfundedbytheNSFandapartoftheNSFNET,isnowpartofBBNPlanet.
SVC
Switchedvirtualcircuit.Virtualcircuitthatisdynamicallyestablishedondemandandistorndownwhentransmissionis
complete.SVCsareusedinsituationswheredatatransmissionissporadic.CalledaswitchedvirtualconnectioninATM
terminology.
Switch
Aswitchisadevicethatforwardspacketsbetweennodesbasedonthepacket'sdestinationnodeaddress(eitherhardwareor
protocol),typicallywithabuffertimelongerthanarepeaterbutshorterthanthetransmissiontimeofthepacket.
Switched56

AdialupcommunicationserviceavailablefromatelephoneserviceproviderthatoffersafractionalportionofaT1linebuilt
fromasmanyas24channelsof56KBPSeach.AlsocalledFractionalT1.
SwitchedLAN
LANimplementedwithLANswitches.
Synchronization
Establishmentofcommontimingbetweensenderandreceiver.
Synchronous
Acommunicationsystemwherestationsmayonlytransmitatprescribedintervalsandmustprovideatimingpulsewiththeir
packet.
Synchronous
Termdescribingdigitalsignalsthataretransmittedwith
Transmission
preciseclocking.Suchsignalshavethesamefrequency,withindividualcharactersencapsulatedincontrolbits(calledstart
bitsandstopbits)thatdesignatethebeginningandendofeachcharacter.Comparewithasynchronousplesiochronous
transmission.
Sysgen
Systemgeneration.Processofdefiningnetworkresourcesinanetwork.
System
AnycomputersystemthatcanbecontrolledbyauserconsistingofaCPUandoptionalequipmentsuchasdisplaymonitors,
diskdrives,andotherperipherals.
SystemFile
TheMacintoshfilethatcontainssystemsoftwarefortheMacintoshOS,includingpatchesorreplacementstoobsoletecode
containedinROM.
SystemFolder
ThedirectoryinwhichtheSystemFileresides.
SystemManagement
Activitiesthatfocusonthecareandmanagementofindividualcomputersystems.
SystemSoftware
Softwareinacomputingsystemthatprovidesbasicfunctionalitylikefilemanagement,visualdisplay,andkeyboardinputand
isusedbyapplicationsoftwaretoaccomplishthesefunctions.
T1
ATelecommunicationstechnologyforwideareanetworks(WAN)withatransmissionspeedof1.554MBPSover24
multiplexed56KBPSchannels.
T2
FourmultiplexedT1linesofferingacommunicationchannelat6.3MBPS.Available
T3
TwentyeightmultiplexedT1circuitswithabandwidthof44.736MBPS
TAC
TerminalAccessController.Internethostthatacceptsterminalconnectionsfromdialuplines.
TACACS
TerminalAccessControllerAccessControlSystem.Authenticationprotocol,developedbytheDDNcommunity,thatprovides
remoteaccessauthenticationandrelatedservices,suchaseventlogging.Userpasswordsareadministeredinacentral
databaseratherthaninindividualrouters,providinganeasilyscalablenetworksecuritysolution.
TaggedTraffic
ATMcellsthathavetheirCLPbitsetto1.Ifthenetworkiscongested,taggedtrafficcanbedroppedtoensuredeliverof
higherprioritytraffic.SometimescalledDE(discardeligible)traffic.
Tap
Anintrusionintoanetworkcablebyaconnector.
Task
1)Synonymforprocess.2)Anactivityorgroupofactivitiesnecessarytoaccomplishagoal.
TAXI4B/5B
TransparentAsynchronousTransmitter/ReceiverInterface4byte/5byte.EncodingschemeusedforFDDILANs,aswellas
forATM.Supportsspeedsofupto100Mbpsovermultimodefiber.TASIisthechipsetthatgenerates4B/5Bencodingon
multimodefiber.
Tcarrier
TDMtransmissionmethodusuallyreferringtoalineorcablecarryingaDS1signal.

TCP
TransmissionControlProtocol.AreliableTransportLayerProtocolformanagingIPthatsupportsretransmission,sequencing
andfragmentation.
TCP/IP
TransmissionControlProtocol/InternetProtocol.ATransportandNetworkLayerProtocol,respectively,usedbyalarge
numberofcomputers.
TCU
Trunkcouplingunit.InTokenRingnetworks,aphysicaldevicethatenablesastationtoconnecttothetrunkcable.
TDM
Timedivisionmultiplexing.Techniqueinwhichinformationfrommultiplechannelscanbeallocatedbandwidthonasinglewire
basedonpreassignedtimeslots.Bandwidthisallocatedtoeachchannelregardlessofwhetherthestationhasdatato
transmit.
TDR
Timedomainreflectometer.Devicecapableofsendingsignalsthroughanetworkmediumtocheckcablecontinuityandother
attributes.TDRsareusedtofindphysicallayernetworkproblems.
Telco
Abbreviationfortelephonecompany.
Telecommunications
Thesystemoftechnologiesusedintelephonecommunications.
Telephony
Thescienceandpracticeoftelecommunications.
Telex
TeletypewriterserviceallowingsubscriberstosendmessagesoverthePSTN.
Telnet
Aprocesstoaccessaremotecomputersystem,oftenaUnixsystem,overthenetwork.Origin:TeletypeNetwork.
Tempest
U.S.militarystandard.ElectronicproductsadheringtotheTempestspecificationsaredesignedtowithstandEMP.
TERENA
TransEuropeanResearchandEducationNetworkingAssociation.Organizationthatpromotesinformationand
telecommunicationstechnologiesdevelopmentinEurope.FormedbythemergingofEARNandRARE.
Termid
SNAclustercontrolleridentification.Termidismeaningfulonlyforswitchedlines.AlsocalledXid.
Terminal
Simpledeviceatwhichdatacanbeenteredorretrievedfromanetwork.Generally,terminalshaveamonitorandakeyboard,
butnoprocessororlocaldiskdrive.
TerminalAdapter
DeviceusedtoconnectISDNBRIconnectionstoexistinginterfacessuchasEIA/TIA232.Essentially,anISDNmodem.
TerminalEmulation
Acomputingactivityinwhichacomputerrunsanapplicationandcommunicateswithahostasifitwereaterminalsuchasa
DECVT220.
TerminalServer
Communicationsprocessorthatconnectsasynchronousdevicessuchasterminals,printers,hosts,andmodemstoanyLAN
orWANthatusesTCP/IP,X.25,orLATprotocols.Terminalserversprovidetheinternetworkintelligencethatisnotavailablein
theconnecteddevices.
Terminator
Typically,aresistorplacedattheendofabustopreventthereflectionofsignals.
TFTP
TrivialFileTransferProtocol.AsimplifiedversionofFTP.
TH
Transmissionheader.SNAheaderthatisappendedtotheSNAbasicinformationunit(BIU).TheTHusesoneofanumberof
availableSNAheaderformats.
THEnet
TexasHigherEducationNetwork.Regionalnetworkcomprisingover60academicandresearchinstitutionsinTexas.
ThickEthernet
Alsoknownas10Base5.

Thinnet
Termusedtodefineathinner,lessexpensiveversionofthecablespecifiedintheIEEE802.310Base2standard.
Throughput
Rateofinformationarrivingat,andpossiblypassingthrough,aparticularpointinanetworksystem.
TIA
TelecommunicationsIndustryAssociation.Organizationthatdevelopsstandardsrelatingtotelecommunicationstechnologies.
Together,theTIAandtheEIAhaveformalizedstandards,suchasEIA/TIA232,fortheelectricalcharacteristicsofdata
transmission.
TIC
TokenRinginterfacecoupler.ControllerthroughwhichanFEPconnectstoaTokenRing.
TightlyCoupled
Atermthatdescribestherelationshipbetweentwocomputingprocesseswhosesuccessfulcompletionandindividual
performanceratesarehighlyinterdependent.
TimeOut
Eventthatoccurswhenonenetworkdeviceexpectstohearfromanothernetworkdevicewithinaspecifiedperiodoftime,but
doesnot.Theresultingtimeoutusuallyresultsinaretransmissionofinformationorthedissolvingofthesessionbetweenthe
twodevices.
TN3270
TerminalEmulationsoftwarethatallowsaterminaltoappeartoanIBMhostasa3278Model2terminal.
TNotify
TimeNotify.SpecifieshowoftenSMTinitiatesneighbornotificationbroadcasts.
Token
Framethatcontainscontrolinformation.Possessionofthetokenallowsanetworkdevicetotransmitdataontothenetwork.
Tokenbus
LANarchitectureusingtokenpassingaccessoverabustopology.ThisLANarchitectureisthebasisfortheIEEE802.4LAN
specification.
TokenPassing
AMACmethodwherestationsmayonlytransmitwhentheyareinpossessionofaspecialbitsequence(token)passedfrom
stationtostation.
TokenRing
AringtopologynetworkthatusestokenpassingforMAC.
Toner
Alsotonegenerator.Inatonetestset,thetonegeneratingdevice.
Tool
Anydevice,softwareprogramorinstrumentconstructedforthepurposeofaidingahumaninaccomplishingagoal.
TOP
TechnicalOfficeProtocol.
Topology
1.Thearrangementofcomputingdevicesinanetwork.2.Atermdescribingsuchanarrangement.
Trailer
ThegroupofbytesthatmarkstheendofaframeandusuallycontainsanerrorcheckingmechanismsuchasaCRC.
Transceiver
1.InEthernet,anelectronicdevicethattransformssignalsbetweenanode'sinternalcircuitryandtheEthernetsignalsand
alsodetectscollisions.2.Anydevicethatcansimultaneouslytransmitandreceive.
TransferRate
Therateatwhichdataistransferredfromonedevicetoanother,usuallyexpressedinbitpersecondorinbytespersecond.
Transient
Ashortlivedelectricalevent.
Transmission
Theactivityofsendingorconveyinginformation.
Transmit
Tosendinformation.
TransportProtocol
TheProtocolLayeroftheOSI7LayerModelthatisconcernedwithmanagementofthedataflowbetweensourceand

destination.
Transport
AnyofthefunctionscarriedoutbyprotocolsintheNetworkorTransportLayers.
Trap
InSNMP,amessagesentfromtheAgenttotheConsolewhentheAgentdetectsthatconditiondefinedbythenetwork
managerhasoccurred.
TREDI
TrafficReducedEncapsulationofDDPinIP.AnAppleTalktunnelingprotocoldevelopedbyCayman.
TrojanHorse
Amaliciouslycreatedcomputerprogramorvirusthatcausessignificantdamagetoasystem.TrojanHorsesaretypically
givenattractivefilenamesandplacedonbulletinboardsystems.DamageusuallyoccurswhentheuserlaunchestheTrojan
horseonhisownsystem.NamedafterasuccessfuloffensiveploymadebytheancientGreekarmyatthesiegeofTroy.
TrueType
AnoutlinefonttechnologydevelopedasanalternativetoAdobePostscriptfonts.
Truncate
Amethodofformattingdatabyremovingcharactersattheendofthedatathatdonotconformtotheformatdesired.
Trunk
Asynonymforbus.
TSO
TimeSharingOption.
Tuple
Asetoftworelateddataitems.
Tweak
Aminoradjustment.
TypeField
Abyteorgroupofbytesthatindicatestheprotocolusedbythedatathatistofollow.
UDP
UserDatagramprotocol.
UNIX
A32bitmultitasking,multiuseroperatingsysteminventedbyBellLabsthatisusedonmanytypeofcomputersystems.
Upload
Theactivityoftransferringafilefromauser'scomputersystemtoaremotesystem.
UPS
UninterruptablePowerSupply.Anelectricalsupplysystemthatconditionselectricalpowerforacomputersystemandwill
allowcontinuedoperatingintheeventofapowerfailure.
User
Apersonwhousesacomputersystemtoaccomplishanoncomputinggoal,ascomparedtoaprogrammerornetwork
manager.
UserInterface
Thecollectionofdisplaysymbolsandothersensorystimulimadebyacomputerthatpresentinformationtoahumanandthe
collectionofphysicalactionthatahumancantaketopresentdatatoacomputer.
UserArea
Theareawhereusersworkandwherethecomputersystemsarelocated.
UTP
Unshieldedtwistingpairwiring.
UTPEthernet
1)Asynonymfor10BaseT.2)AnyofanumberofEthernettechnologiesinusebeforetheadoptionofthe10BaseTStandard
thatprovideda10MBPSnetworksystemusingCSMA/CD.
UUCP
UnixtoUnixCopy.AsimpleyetpowerfulmechanismtocopyfilesfromoneUnixcomputertoanotheroveranetworkor
modemconnections.
Vaporware
Acomputerprogramthathasbeenpubliclyannouncedbutisnotshipping.
Variable

1)Asituationoraspectthatcannotbeexpressedexplicitlybecauseitmayhaveoneofseveralvalues.2)Introubleshooting,
anaspectofaproblemthatmakesitdifferfromanormalsituation.3)Inamathematicalexpression,asymbolthatrepresents
anumber.
VAX
AfamilyofcomputersmadebytheDigitalEquipmentCorporation.
VINES
ANetworkOperatingSystemdevelopedbyBanyan.
Virtual
Aqualityusedtodescribeasituationwhereacomputersimulatesaspectsofanactivityordevicebuttheactivityordevice
doesnothaveaphysicalform.
Virus
Apieceofcomputercodethatattachesitselftoapplicationsanddatafileswithouttheirconsentorknowledge.
VITAL
VirtuallyIntegratedTechnicalArchitectureLifecycle.Aconceptualframework,designedbyApple,fordesigning,buildingand
maintainingenterpriseinformationsystems.
VM
VirtualMachine.AnoperatingsystemforIBMmainframeswithinwhichmultipleotheroperatingsystemscanbeprocessing,
eachwithitsownapplications.
Voicegrade
Aclassificationofcommunicationwiringindicatingthatthewiringisunsuitablefornetworkdatatransfer.
Volt
Thestandardunitofmeasureforadifferenceinelectricpotential
VSAM
VirtualStorageAccessMethod.thePrimaryMechanismforaccessingdataonIBMmainframes.
VTAM
VirtualTerminalAccessMethod.theprimarycommunicationcontrolsoftwareforSNA.
VTP
VirtualterminalProtocol.OSI'sremoteterminalprotocol.
WAN
WideAreaNetwork.Anetworkthatiscreatedbetweenandamongdevicesseparatedbylargedistances(typicallyinexcess
of50miles).
Watt
Astandardunitofmeasureforelectricalpower.
Wave
Thephenomenathatoccurswhenaphysicalmediumishosttoameasurableconditionthatvariesinintensity,frequencyor
velocitywithtime.
WellBehaved
Aconditionthatexhibitsexpectedproperties.
Wireless
ASystemthatprovidescommunicationwithouttheuseofwires.
Wiringcloset
Inwiringfortelephoneordatasystems,anylocationfromwhichthecommunicationwiresemanate,usuallyenclosed.
Workgroup
Agroupofnetworkedcomputeruserswhofrequentlycommunicatewitheachotherandsharecommondevices.
X.25
Apacketswitchingnetwork.
X.400
AnOSIstandardforagroupofstoreandforwardmessagehandlingservices.
X.500
DirectoryServicesforOSIprovidesconsistentdatastorage,retrievalandmanagementforinformationaboutallnetwork
objects.
X11
ThespecificationsforXWindows.

XDR
ExternalDataRepresentation.ThepresentationlayerprotocolusedbyNFS.
XWindows
Awayofoperatingremotesystems.Thewindowallowstheusertocontrolandapplicationremotelyandviewtheapplication's
output.
ZIP
ZoneInformationProtocol.theAppleTalkprotocolthatcorrelatesnetworkaddresseswithzonenames.
Zone
InanAppleTalkinternet,areferencetoalogicalgroupofdevicesandservices.