Network administration

Terms related to managing computer networks, including definitions about LANS or WANS and words and phrases about network design, troubleshooting, security and backups.

100 Gigabit Ethernet (100 GbE) - 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100 GbE) is an Ethernet standard that supports data speeds of up to 100 billion bits (gigabits) per second (Gbps).
10BASE-T - 10BASE-T is an Ethernet standard for local area networks and one of several physical media specified in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.
AAA server (authentication, authorization and accounting) - An AAA server is a server program that handles user requests for access to computer resources and, for an enterprise, provides authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) services.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) - Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage service.
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) - AMD-V (AMD Virtualization) technology refers to a set of hardware extensions and on-chip features for the AMD family of x86 microprocessors.
analog telephone adapter (ATA) - An analog telephone adapter (ATA) is a device used to connect an analog telephone, fax machine or similar equipment to a computer or network to enable communications over the internet.
Apache Kafka - Apache Kafka is a distributed publish-subscribe messaging system that receives data from disparate source systems and makes the data available to target systems in real time.
Apple Bonjour - Apple Bonjour is a group of networking technologies designed to help devices and applications discover each other on the same network.
application delivery controller (ADC) - An application delivery controller (ADC) is a network component that manages and optimizes how client machines connect to web and enterprise application servers.
application streaming - Application streaming is an on-demand software delivery model that takes advantage of the fact that most applications require only a small fraction of their total program code to run.
application whitelisting - Application whitelisting is the practice of specifying an index of approved software applications or executable files that are permitted to be present and active on a computer system.
attack surface - An attack surface is the total number of all possible entry points for unauthorized access into any system.
authentication server - An authentication server is an application that facilitates the authentication of an entity that attempts to access a network.
auto attendant (automated attendant) - An automated attendant (AA) is a telephony system that transfers incoming calls to various extensions as specified by callers, without the intervention of a human operator.
Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) - Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) is a feature of Windows-based OSes -- included since Windows 98 and Windows ME -- that enables a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol client to automatically assign an IP address to itself when there's no DHCP server available to perform that function.
autonomous system (AS) - An autonomous system (AS) in networking is a collection of one or more associated Internet Protocol (IP) prefixes with a clearly defined routing policy that governs how the AS exchanges routing information with other autonomous systems.
AWS CloudWatch - Amazon CloudWatch is a component of Amazon Web Services that provides monitoring for AWS resources and the customer applications running on the Amazon infrastructure.
backup domain controller (Windows NT) - A backup domain controller (BDC) is a role a Windows NT computer takes on to help manage access to network resources.
bandwidth (network bandwidth) - Network bandwidth is a measurement indicating the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to transmit data over a network connection in a given amount of time.
bare-metal provisioning - Bare-metal provisioning is the process of installing an operating system (OS) or Type 1 hypervisor directly on a computer's hard disk.
baseboard management controller (BMC) - A baseboard management controller (BMC) is a specialized service processor that remotely monitors the physical state of a host system, such as a computer, network server or other hardware devices.
beamforming - Beamforming is a type of radio frequency (RF) management in which a wireless signal is directed toward a specific receiving device.
BIOS rootkit - A BIOS-level rootkit is programming that exists in a system's memory hardware to enable remote administration.
BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol) - BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol) is an internet protocol that lets a network user automatically be configured to receive an IP address and have an operating system booted without user involvement.
built-in administrator account - In the Windows operating system, the built-in administrator account -- the first account created when the OS was installed -- has the highest permissions of any profile on the computer system.
bus network - A bus network is a local area network (LAN) topology in which each node -- a workstation or other device -- is connected to a main cable or link called a bus.
cache - A cache -- pronounced CASH -- is hardware or software that is used to store something, usually data, temporarily in a computing environment.
caching - Caching -- pronounced "cashing" -- is the process of storing data in a cache, which is a temporary storage area that facilitates faster access to data with the goal of improving application and system performance.
canonical name (CNAME) - A canonical name (CNAME) is a type of Domain Name System (DNS) database record that indicates that a domain name is the nickname or alias for another domain name.
captive portal - A captive portal is a webpage that the user of a public-access network is required to view and interact with before they can access the network.
CDN (content delivery network) - A CDN (content delivery network), also called a content distribution network, is a group of geographically distributed and interconnected servers.
Chaos Monkey - Chaos Monkey is a software tool Netflix engineers developed to test the resiliency and recoverability of their Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure.
chatty protocol - A chatty protocol is an application or routing protocol requiring a client or server to wait for an acknowledgment before transmitting data again.
CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing or supernetting) - CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing or supernetting) is a method of assigning IP addresses that improves the efficiency of address distribution and replaces the previous system based on Class A, Class B and Class C networks.
Cisco Enterprise Agreement (EA) - Cisco Enterprise Agreement (EA) is a software buying program that digitizes and simplifies license management for Cisco suite customers.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) - Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a security policy management platform that provides secure network access to users and devices.
Cisco IOS (Cisco Internetwork Operating System) - Cisco IOS (Internetwork Operating System) is a collection of proprietary operating systems (OSes) that runs on Cisco hardware devices, including Cisco Systems network devices, routers and network switches.
Citrix Workspace app (Citrix Receiver) - Citrix Receiver was renamed the Citrix Workspace app in 2018.
Class of Service (CoS) - Class of Service (CoS) is a way of managing traffic in a network by grouping similar types of traffic -- such as email, streaming video, voice over IP and large document file transfer -- together and treating each type as a class with its own level of network service priority.
clean install - A clean install is a software installation in which any previous version is eradicated.
Clos network - A Clos network is a type of nonblocking, multistage switching network used today in large-scale data center switching fabrics.
cloud ecosystem - A cloud ecosystem is a complex system of interdependent components that all work together to enable cloud services.
cloud storage API - A cloud storage API is an application programming interface that connects a locally based application to a cloud-based storage system so that a user can send data to it and access and work with data stored in it.
cluster quorum disk - A cluster quorum disk is the storage medium on which the configuration database is stored for a cluster computing network.
CNAME - A CNAME specifies an alias or nickname for a canonical name record in a domain name system (DNS) database.
codec - A codec is a hardware- or software-based process that compresses and decompresses large amounts of data.
computer network - A computer network is a group of interconnected nodes or computing devices that exchange data and resources with each other.
conductance - Conductance is an expression of the ease with which electric current flows through materials like metals and nonmetals.
Conficker - Conficker is a fast-spreading worm that targets a vulnerability (MS08-067) in Windows operating systems.
configuration management database (CMDB) - A configuration management database (CMDB) is a file -- usually in the form of a standardized database -- that contains all relevant information about the hardware and software components used in an organization's IT services and the relationships among those components.
connectionless - In telecommunications, connectionless describes communication between two network endpoints in which a message can be sent from one endpoint to another without prior arrangement.
converged network adapter (CNA) - A converged network adapter (CNA) is a single network interface device that provides the functionality of both a Fibre Channel (FC) host bus adapter (HBA) and a TCP/IP Ethernet network interface card (NIC).
COPE (corporate-owned, personally enabled) - COPE (corporate-owned personally-enabled) is a business model in which an organization provides its employees with mobile computing devices and allows the employees to use them as if they were personally-owned notebook computers, tablets or smartphones.
CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) - CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) is a protocol for carrier transmission in 802.
CYOD (choose your own device) - CYOD (choose your own device) is an employee provisioning model in which an organization allows people to select the mobile devices they would like, usually from a limited number of options.
data availability - Data availability is a term used by computer storage manufacturers and storage service providers to describe how data should be available at a required level of performance in situations ranging from normal through disastrous.
data breach - A data breach is a cyber attack in which sensitive, confidential or otherwise protected data has been accessed or disclosed in an unauthorized fashion.
data center services - Data center services provide the supporting components necessary to the proper operation of a data center.
data link layer - The data link layer is the protocol layer in a program that handles how data moves in and out of a physical link in a network.
data plane - The data plane -- sometimes known as the user plane, forwarding plane, carrier plane or bearer plane -- is the part of a network that carries user traffic.
data protection management (DPM) - Data protection management (DPM) is the administration, monitoring and management of backup processes to ensure backup tasks run on schedule and data is securely backed up and recoverable.
data reduction - Data reduction lowers the amount of capacity required to store data.
data streaming - Data streaming is the continuous transfer of data from one or more sources at a steady, high speed for processing into specific outputs.
deep packet inspection (DPI) - Deep packet inspection (DPI) is an advanced method of examining and managing network traffic.
desktop management interface (DMI) - The desktop management interface (DMI) is a standard industry framework that manages and tracks components on one or more personal computers, usually from a centralized console.
desktop virtualization - Desktop virtualization is the concept of isolating a logical operating system (OS) instance from the client used to access it.
device as a service (DaaS) - The device as a service (DaaS) model offers PCs, smartphones and other mobile computing devices as a paid service.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) - DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a network management protocol used to dynamically assign an IP address to any device, or node, on a network so it can communicate using IP.
differentiated services (DiffServ or DS) - Differentiated services, often shortened to DiffServ or DS, is a class of service (CoS) model to specify and control IP network traffic by class.
Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) - Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) is a Safe Mode boot option for Windows Server domain controllers.
discrete event simulation (DES) - Discrete event simulation (DES) is the process of codifying the behavior of a complex system as an ordered sequence of well-defined events.
diskpart (Disk Partition Utility) - Diskpart is a command line utility in Windows operating systems (OSs) that is used to manage disks, partitions, and volumes.
distributed antenna system (DAS) - In a distributed antenna system (DAS), a single signal source is connected to a group of antennas instead of to a single antenna.
Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) - Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) is an extension to Component Object Model (COM) that enables software components to communicate with each other across different computers on a local area network (LAN), on a wide area network (WAN) or across the internet.
DNS redirection - DNS redirection is the controversial practice of serving a Web page to a user that is different from either the one requested or one that might reasonably be expected, such as an error page.
domain controller - A domain controller is a type of server that processes requests for authentication from users within a computer domain.
dynamic port numbers - Dynamic port numbers, also known as private port numbers, are the port numbers that are available for use by any application to use in communicating with any other application, using the internet's Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
economizer - An economizer is a mechanical device that reduces the amount of energy used to cool a data center or other buildings.
encoding and decoding - Encoding and decoding are used in many forms of communications, including computing, data communications, programming, digital electronics and human communications.
endpoint device - An endpoint device is an internet-capable computer hardware device on a TCP/IP network.
Energy Star - Energy Star is a government-backed labeling program that helps people and organizations save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by identifying factories, office equipment, home appliances and electronics that have superior energy efficiency.
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) - Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) is a network protocol that enables routers to exchange information more efficiently than earlier network protocols, such as Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) or Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).
Ethernet - Ethernet is the traditional technology for connecting devices in a wired local area network (LAN) or wide area network.
Ethernet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol) - Ethernet/IP (Ethernet Industrial Protocol) is a network communication standard capable of handling large amounts of data at speeds of 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, and at up to 1500 bytes per packet.
event handler - In programming, an event handler is a callback routine that operates asynchronously once an event takes place.
event-driven architecture (EDA) - An event-driven architecture (EDA) is a framework that orchestrates behavior around the production, detection and consumption of events as well as the responses they evoke.
fault management - Fault management is the component of network management that detects, isolates and fixes problems.
FCAPS (fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security) - FCAPS (fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security) is a network management framework created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) - FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) is a network standard that uses fiber optic connections in a local area network (LAN) that can extend in range up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).
file server - A file server is a computer responsible for the storage and management of data files so that other computers on the same network can access the files.
fixed-length subnet mask (FLSM) - A fixed-length subnet mask (FLSM) refers to a type of enterprise or provider networking where a block of IP addresses is divided into multiple subnets of equal length (i.
flooding (network) - In a computer network, flooding occurs when a router uses a non-adaptive routing algorithm to send an incoming packet to every outgoing link except the node on which the packet arrived.
flow control - Flow control is a technique used to regulate data transfer between computers or other nodes in a network.
frame relay - Frame relay is a packet-switching telecommunications service designed for cost-efficient data transmission for intermittent traffic between local area networks (LANs) and between endpoints in wide area networks (WANs).
Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) - Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is a protocol that encapsulates packets in order to route various protocols over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) - Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), a transmission technology based on the Ethernet frame format and protocol used in local area networks (LANs), provides a data rate of 1 billion bits per second, or 1 gigabit (Gb).
GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching or Multiprotocol Lambda Switching) - GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching) is a networking technology that enables fast and reliable network switching of data flows on any type of network infrastructure.
gpresult - Gpresult is a command-line tool that shows the RSoP (Resultant Set of Policy) for a user or computer based on applied Group Policy settings.
green networking - Green networking is the practice of selecting energy-efficient networking technologies and products and minimizing resource use whenever possible.
grid computing - Grid computing is a system for connecting a large number of computer nodes into a distributed architecture that delivers the compute resources necessary to solve complex problems.