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.

promiscuous mode - In computer networking, promiscuous mode is a mode of operation, as well as a security, monitoring and administration technique.
proxy hacking - Proxy hacking is a cyber attack technique designed to supplant an authentic webpage in a search engine's index and search results pages to drive traffic to an imitation site.
race condition - A race condition is an undesirable situation that occurs when a device or system attempts to perform two or more operations at the same time, but because of the nature of the device or system, the operations must be done in the proper sequence to be done correctly.
RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) - RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) is a client-server protocol and software that enables remote access servers to communicate with a central server to authenticate dial-in users and authorize their access to the requested system or service.
RAT (remote access Trojan) - A RAT (remote access Trojan) is malware an attacker uses to gain full administrative privileges and remote control of a target computer.
Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) - Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is an application-level network communication system that transfers real-time data from multimedia to an endpoint device by communicating directly with the server streaming the data.
real-time application (RTA) - A real-time application is an application program that functions within a time frame that the user senses as immediate or current.
real-time location system (RTLS) - A real-time location system (RTLS) is one of a number of technologies used to pinpoint the current geographic position and location of a target.
real-time monitoring - Real-time monitoring is the delivery of continuously updated data about systems, processes or events.
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) - Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) is a network standard designed for transmitting audio or video data that is optimized for consistent delivery of live data.
reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) - Reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) is a set of related attributes that must be considered when designing, manufacturing, purchasing and using a computer product or component.
remote access - Remote access is the ability for an authorized person to access a computer or network from a geographical distance through a network connection.
remote desktop - 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.
remote infrastructure management - Remote infrastructure management, or RIM, is a comprehensive approach to handling and overseeing an organization's IT infrastructure, systems and services from a remote location.
Rich Internet Application (RIA) - A rich Internet application (RIA) is a Web application designed to deliver the same features and functions normally associated with deskop applications.
RMON (Remote Network Monitoring) - RMON (Remote Network Monitoring) provides standard information that a network administrator can use to monitor, analyze, and troubleshoot a group of distributed local area networks (LANs) and interconnecting T-1/E-1 and T-2/E-3 lines from a central site.
Routing Information Protocol (RIP) - Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a distance vector protocol that uses hop count as its primary metric.
routing table - A routing table is a set of rules, often viewed in table format, that's used to determine where data packets traveling over an Internet Protocol (IP) network will be directed.
RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) - RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) refers to a set of tools from Microsoft that enable IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server from a computer that is running Windows 11, Windows 10 or Windows 7 Service Pack 1.
runbook - Runbooks are a set of standardized written procedures for completing repetitive IT processes within a company.
SD-WAN security - SD-WAN security refers to the practices, protocols and technologies protecting data and resources transmitted across software-defined wide area network infrastructure.
SDN controller (software-defined networking controller) - A software-defined networking controller is an application in SDN architecture that manages flow control for improved network management and application performance.
secure access service edge (SASE) - Secure access service edge (SASE), pronounced sassy, is a cloud architecture model that bundles together network and cloud-native security technologies and delivers them as a single cloud service.
security information management (SIM) - Security information management (SIM) is the practice of collecting, monitoring and analyzing security-related data from computer logs and various other data sources.
Server Message Block protocol (SMB protocol) - The Server Message Block protocol (SMB protocol) is a client-server communication protocol used for sharing access to files, printers, serial ports and other resources on a network.
service desk - An IT service desk is a communications center that provides a single point of contact (SPOC) between a company, its customers, employees and business partners.
session border controller (SBC) - A session border controller (SBC) is a dedicated hardware device or software application that governs the manner in which phone calls are initiated, conducted and terminated on a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.
Shared Key Authentication (SKA) - Shared Key Authentication (SKA) is a process by which a computer can gain access to a wireless network that uses the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol.
Shodan - Shodan (Sentient Hyper-Optimised Data Access Network) is a search engine designed to map and gather information about internet-connected devices and systems.
short message service center (SMSC) - The short message service center (SMSC) is the portion of a mobile phone network that handles text message operations.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) - Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application-layer protocol for monitoring and managing network devices on a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).
single-user multiple input, multiple output (SU-MIMO) - Single-user multiple input, multiple output (SU-MIMO) is a multitransmitter and receiver technology that lets a wireless access point send multiple, simultaneous data streams to one compatible endpoint at a time.
Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) - Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) is a Cisco proprietary standard for terminal control for use with voice over IP (VoIP).
sliding window (windowing) - The sliding window (windowing) technique is used by Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to manage the flow of packets between two computers or network hosts.
SMB 3.0 (Server Message Block 3.0) - SMB 3 (Server Message Block 3.
SMS gateway - An SMS gateway is a website that allows users to send SMS messages from a web browser to people within the cell served by that gateway.
softphone (soft client telephone) - A softphone (software telephone) is an application program that enables voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone calls from computing devices.
software package - A software package is a group of programs bundled together into a product suite.
software-defined networking (SDN) - Software-defined networking (SDN) is an architecture that abstracts different, distinguishable layers of a network to make networks agile and flexible.
software-defined networking monitoring application (SDN monitoring application) - An SDN monitoring application is a software program that oversees the traffic in a software-defined network (SDN) as a component of network management.
software-defined storage (SDS) - Software-defined storage (SDS) is a software program that manages data storage resources and functionality and has no dependencies on the underlying physical storage hardware.
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a Layer 2 network protocol used to prevent looping within a network topology.
split horizon - Split horizon is a method used by distance vector protocols to prevent network routing loops.
Squid proxy server - Squid is a Unix-based proxy server that caches Internet content closer to a requestor than its original point of origin.
stack overflow - A stack overflow is a type of buffer overflow error that occurs when a computer program tries to use more memory space in the call stack than has been allocated to that stack.
star network - A star network is a local area network (LAN) topology in which all nodes -- personal computers (PCs), workstations or other devices -- are directly connected to a common central computer that is often referred to as a hub.
STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) - STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) is a Linux service for maintaining the integrity of nodes in a high-availability (HA) cluster.
storage at the edge - Storage at the edge is the collective methods and technologies that capture and retain digital information at the periphery of the network, as close to the originating source as possible.
storage security - Storage security is the group of parameters and settings that make storage resources available to authorized users and trusted networks and unavailable to other entities.
storage snapshot - A storage snapshot is a set of reference markers for data at a particular point in time (PIT).
subnet (subnetwork) - A subnet, or subnetwork, is a segmented piece of a larger network.
SYN scanning - SYN scanning is a tactic that a malicious hacker can use to determine the state of a communications port without establishing a full connection.
Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) - Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) is a transmission protocol used to synchronously transfer code-transparent, serial-by-bit data over a communications channel.
system administrator (sysadmin) - A system administrator (sysadmin) is an information technolog professional who supports a multiuser computing environment and ensures continuous, optimal performance of IT services and support systems.
TCPView - TCPView is a Windows network monitoring utility that shows a graphical representation of all currently active TCP and UDP endpoints on a system.
ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) - Ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) is a specialized type of high-speed memory that searches its entire contents in a single clock cycle.
Testing as a Service (TaaS) - Testing as a service (TaaS) is an outsourcing model in which testing activities associated with some of an organization's business activities are performed by a service provider rather than in-house employees.
thick client (fat client) - A thick client (sometimes called a fat client) is a form of client-server architecture.
tiered storage - Tiered storage is a method for assigning different categories of data to various types of storage media to reduce overall storage costs and improve the performance and availability of mission-critical applications.
time-division multiplexing (TDM) - Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a method of putting multiple data streams in a single signal by separating the signal into many segments, each having a very short duration.
time-to-live (TTL) - Time-to-live (TTL) is a value for the period of time that a packet, or data, should exist on a computer or network before being discarded.
timestamp - A timestamp is the current time of an event that a computer records.
token ring - A token ring is a data link for a local area network (LAN) in which all devices are connected in a ring or star topology and pass one or more tokens from host to host.
Top searches of 2008 - What were people searching the WhatIs.
top-of-rack switching - Top-of-rack switching is a data center architecture design in which computing equipment like servers, appliances and other switches located within the same or adjacent rack connect to an in-rack network switch.
traceroute - Traceroute is a command-line utility that returns information about the communication route between two nodes on an Internet Protocol (IP) network.
transport layer - The transport layer is Layer 4 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communications model.
unified computing system (UCS) - A unified computing system (UCS) is a converged data center architecture that integrates computing, networking and storage resources to increase efficiency and enable centralized management.
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) - Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a standard that lets network devices automatically find, communicate with and control each other.
Uptime Institute's data center tier standards - Data center tiers are a system created by Uptime Institute LLC to describe the availability of infrastructure resources in a facility.
user account provisioning - User account provisioning is a business process for creating and managing access to resources in an information technology (IT) system.
Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) - Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) is a subnet -- a segmented piece of a larger network -- design strategy where all subnet masks can have varying sizes.
virtual appliance - Considered a software equivalent of a hardware device, a virtual appliance (VA) is a preconfigured software solution.
virtual desktop - A virtual desktop is a computer operating system that does not run directly on the endpoint hardware from which a user accesses it.
virtual local area network hopping (VLAN hopping) - Virtual local area network hopping (VLAN hopping) is a method of attacking the network resources of a VLAN by sending packets to a port not usually accessible from an end system.
virtual LUN (virtual logical unit number) - A virtual LUN (virtual logical unit number) is a representation of a storage area that is not tied to any physical storage allocation.
virtual network adapter - A virtual network adapter is software that operates like a physical network adapter within the host operating system (OS) or through an application installed on the endpoint or server.
virtual network functions (VNFs) - Virtual network functions (VNFs) are virtualized tasks formerly carried out by proprietary, dedicated hardware.
virtual networking - Virtual networking is the abstraction of network resources from the underlying physical network infrastructure.
virtual phone number - A virtual phone number is a telephone number is used to route calls to the user's actual phone number or numbers.
virtual SAN appliance (VSA) - A virtual SAN appliance (VSA) is a software bundle that allows a storage manager to turn the unused storage capacity in his network's virtual servers into a storage area network (SAN).
virtual server - A virtual server, also known as a virtual machine (VM), is a partitioned space inside a real server and is transparent to users, replicating the functionality of a dedicated physical server.
virtualization sprawl (VM sprawl) - Virtualization sprawl is a phenomenon that occurs when the number of virtual machines (VMs) on a network reaches a point where administrators can no longer manage them effectively.
visitor-based networking (visitor-based network) - Visitor-based networking (VBN) is a computer network with high-speed internet access provided by an organization for temporary use by visitors, guests or other users in a public area.
VLAN (virtual LAN) - A virtual LAN (VLAN) is a logical overlay network that groups together a subset of devices that share a physical LAN, isolating the traffic for each group.
VMware backup - VMware backup is the copying of data on a virtual machine (VM) in a VMware environment to prevent data loss.
VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) - Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) is a proposed Layer 3 encapsulation protocol that will make it easier for network engineers to scale out a cloud computing environment while logically isolating cloud apps and tenants.
WAN (wide area network) - A wide area network (WAN) is a geographically distributed private telecommunications network that interconnects multiple local area networks (LANs).
WAN optimization (WAN acceleration) - WAN optimization -- also known as WAN acceleration -- is a collection of technologies and techniques used to improve the efficiency of data transfer across a wide area network (WAN) between organizations' centralized data centers and their remote locations.
What is a cloud-native network function (CNF)? - A cloud-native network function (CNF) is a service that performs network duties in software, as opposed to purpose-built hardware.
What is a command prompt? - A command prompt is the input field in a text-based user interface screen for an operating system (OS) or program.
What is a H.323 gatekeeper? - A gatekeeper is a management tool for H.
What is a personal area network (PAN)? - A personal area network (PAN) is a small network that interconnects technology devices within a limited range of just a few meters.
What is a private cloud? - Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture.
What is a proxy server? - A proxy server is an intermediary between a user and the internet.
What is a server? - A server is a computer program or device that provides a service to another computer program and its user, also known as the client.
What is a service mesh? - A service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer that controls service-to-service communication within a distributed application.
What is a software-defined data center (SDDC)? - A software-defined data center (SDDC) is a server management concept in which all infrastructure elements -- networking, storage and compute -- are virtualized and delivered as a service.
What is a VPN? - A virtual private network (VPN) is a service that creates a safe, encrypted online connection.
What is a web server? - A web server is software and hardware that uses HTTP and other protocols to respond to client requests made over the World Wide Web.