Network Configurations, Hardware, and Troubleshooting Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering network types, standard ports and protocols, mobile device management, cloud computing, wireless standards, and hardware troubleshooting.

WAN (Wide Area Network)

A network type that interconnects offices over long distances, often using leased fiber or satellite links, and is maintained by large enterprises or telecommunications providers.

LAN (Local Area Network)

A network covering devices within a localized area such as an office, home, or school; typically Ethernet-based, providing high speed and low latency.

PAN (Personal Area Network)

A short-range network centered around an individual device, such as linking devices via Bluetooth or a USB cable.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

A network that connects multiple buildings across a city, often utilizing fiber-optic backbones.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

A non-secure protocol that uses port 25 to transfer outgoing emails between mail servers.

SSH (Secure Shell)

An encrypted protocol operating on port 22 that provides secure, text-based terminal access and file transfers.

HTTP

A non-encrypted protocol operating on port 80 used to carry non-secure web traffic.

HTTPS

An encrypted protocol operating on port 443 that carries web traffic secured with Transport Layer Security (TLS).

DNS (Domain Name System)

A foundational service operating on port 53 that resolves human-readable names (such as google.com) into numerical IP addresses.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

A network service operating on ports 67 and 68 that automatically assigns IP addresses to network devices.

Print Spooler

A Windows operating system service that manages print jobs; restarting it frequently resolves stalled print processes.

MemTest86

A specialized hardware diagnostics tool used to identify failures in critical components like RAM.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

A layered security mechanism that provides an additional layer of security beyond simple passwords.

MDM (Mobile Device Management) Policies

Policies providing centralized administrative control over mobile device settings, security configurations, and data usage.

NFC (Near Field Communication)

A connection technology used for very short-range tasks, such as tap-to-pay functionality or device pairing.

Public Cloud

A cloud deployment model where computing infrastructure is shared and managed entirely by a third-party provider.

Private Cloud

A dedicated cloud environment built and operated solely for one specific organization.

Hybrid Cloud

A deployment model that combines and links resources from both public and private cloud environments.

Community Cloud

A shared cloud infrastructure used by multiple organizations with common goals or interests.

Rapid Elasticity

The cloud computing capability to quickly scale computing resources up or down according to demand.

Resource Pooling

A cloud computing characteristic where physical hardware resources are dynamically and efficiently shared among multiple customers.

Measured Service

A cloud service model where billing is calculated purely on the actual consumption of resources.

High Availability

A cloud characteristic ensuring services remain online despite component failures through built-in redundancy.

Firewall

A security protection mechanism acting as a gatekeeper to either block or allow specific network traffic.

Port Filtering

A network security technique used to restrict access to specific services running on designated ports.

NAT (Network Address Translation)

A technique that hides internal private IP addresses by translating them behind a single public IP address.

ECC RAM (Error-Correcting Code RAM)

A specialized type of memory used in servers to detect and correct memory errors.

Registered RAM

A type of memory used for large-capacity server installations that require high system stability.

APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing)

An IP address beginning with $169.254$ that a device assigns to itself when configured for automatic IP configuration but unable to reach a DHCP server.

802.11 (1997)

The original wireless networking standard, providing a maximum bandwidth of $2\,\text{Mbps}$ on the $2.4\,\text{GHz}$ frequency band.

802.11a (1999)

A wireless standard operating on the $5\,\text{GHz}$ frequency band, achieving speeds of up to $54\,\text{Mbps}$.

802.11b (1999)

A wireless standard operating on the $2.4\,\text{GHz}$ band with a maximum transmission speed of $11\,\text{Mbps}$.

802.11g (2003)

A wireless standard combining features of 802.11a and 802.11b that achieves speeds up to $54\,\text{Mbps}$ on the $2.4\,\text{GHz}$ band.

802.11n (Wi-Fi 4)

A wireless standard released in 2009 that introduced MIMO technology, operating across both bands with speeds up to $600\,\text{Mbps}$.

802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)

A wireless standard released in 2013 operating primarily on the $5\,\text{GHz}$ band, offering speeds exceeding $1\,\text{Gbps}$.

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6)

A wireless standard released in 2019 designed for higher frequency that supports multiple simultaneous devices and reaches speeds up to $10\,\text{Gbps}$.

802.11be (Wi-Fi 7)

A wireless standard from 2024 that utilizes the newly available $6\,\text{GHz}$ band alongside existing bands for enhanced speed and efficiency.

Laser Printer Fuser

A printer hardware component responsible for heating and melting toner onto paper; failures lead to smudged or unfused printouts, jams, and heating errors.