Data centers
Definitions used in data center management, including hardware, virtualization and cloud computing.

Data backup and disaster recovery
Terms related to backup and recovery, including definitions about making copies of data and words and phrases about restoring original data after a data loss event.
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What is a remote desktop and how does it work?
A remote desktop is a program or an operating system feature that allows a user to connect to a computer in another location, see that computer's desktop and interact with it as if it were local.
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What is a business continuity policy?
A business continuity policy is the set of standards and guidelines an organization enforces to ensure resilience and proper risk management.
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What is a virtual hard disk (VHD)?
A virtual hard disk (VHD) is a disk image file format for storing the entire contents of a computer's hard drive.
Data center management
Terms related to data centers, including definitions about network operations centers (NOCs) and words and phrases about the storage, management and the transmission of data.
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What is data profiling?
Data profiling refers to the process of examining, analyzing, reviewing and summarizing data sets to gain insight into the quality of data.
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What is a data lake?
A data lake is a storage repository that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed for analytics applications.
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What is a northbound interface/southbound interface?
A northbound interface (NBI) is an application programming interface (API) or protocol that allows a lower-level network component to communicate with a higher-level or more central component; conversely, a southbound interface (SBI) allows a higher-level component to send commands to lower-level network components.
Linux
Definitions related to Linux, including tech terms about open source and words and phrases about Linux distributions and software development.
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What is a remote desktop and how does it work?
A remote desktop is a program or an operating system feature that allows a user to connect to a computer in another location, see that computer's desktop and interact with it as if it were local.
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What is an operating system (OS)?
An operating system (OS) is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other application programs in a computer.
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What is remote desktop protocol (RDP)?
Remote desktop protocol (RDP) is a secure network communications protocol developed by Microsoft.
Operating systems
Definitions related to operating systems, including tech terms about open source and proprietary operating systems and words and phrases about system programs, boot mechanisms, kernels, command interpreters, DLL libraries and drivers.
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What is Microsoft Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK)?
The Microsoft Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) is a set of tools that IT professionals can combine to prepare, assess and launch image-based Windows deployments.
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What is a virtual machine (VM) and how does it work?
A virtual machine (VM) is a virtual emulation of a physical computer.
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What is a word in computing architecture?
In computing architecture, a word is a fixed unit of data containing a specific number of bits that can be addressed and moved between storage and the computer processor.
Storage Admin
Terms related to data storage management, including definitions about enterprise storage and words and phrases about storage infrastructure, storage capacity and hierarchical storage management (HSM).
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What is a clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system?
A clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system is a scale-out storage platform made up of multiple NAS nodes networked together into a single cluster.
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What is a data lake?
A data lake is a storage repository that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed for analytics applications.
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What is a disk image?
A disk image is a compressed file that contains a copy of the entire contents of a computer's hard drive or other storage media, such as optical discs or solid-state drives.
Storage and Data Mgmt
Definitions about storage and data management including backup/recovery vocabulary, business intelligence terminology, storage area networks and database management.
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What is a clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system?
A clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system is a scale-out storage platform made up of multiple NAS nodes networked together into a single cluster.
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What is cloud NAS (cloud network-attached storage)?
Cloud NAS (network-attached storage) is remote storage that is accessed over the internet as if it is local.
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What is direct-attached storage (DAS) and how does it work?
Direct-attached storage (DAS) is a type of data storage that is attached directly to a computer without going through a network.
Virtualization
Terms related to virtualization, including definitions about virtualization technologies and words and phrases about server virtualization, desktop virtualization and storage virtualization.
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What is a virtual machine (VM) and how does it work?
A virtual machine (VM) is a virtual emulation of a physical computer.
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What is a remote desktop and how does it work?
A remote desktop is a program or an operating system feature that allows a user to connect to a computer in another location, see that computer's desktop and interact with it as if it were local.
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What is a virtual hard disk (VHD)?
A virtual hard disk (VHD) is a disk image file format for storing the entire contents of a computer's hard drive.