Computer Networking

Access port

A connection on a hub to which cables attach.

Active Directory (AD)

The Windows Server standard used to manage large and small network systems. It uses a hierarchical directory structure that is designed as a database containing information about objects belonging to the entire network.

Active Hub

A hub that can determine whether a packet should remain in an isolated section of the network or pass through to another section of the network.

AD HOC mode

A wireless network that does not contain a Wireless Access Point.

Administrative server

A server that administers network security and activity.

Alien Crosstalk

A measurement of the noise introduced outside the cable jacket, typically caused by other network cables in close proximity.

Amplifier

An electronic device designed to raise a signal's amplitude.

Amplitude

The maximum voltage, or height, of an electronic signal.

Analog Signal

An electric signal that varies in values.

ANSI

A private, nonprofit organization that does not develop standards, but rather prompts voluntary conformity and standardization.

Application layer

A layer of the OSI model that works with specific networking applications such as Web browser programs, file transfer programs, and e-mail.

ATM

A protocol designed especially for transmitting data, voice, and video.

Attenuation

The loss of signal strength.

Attenuation

The loss of signal strength.

Auditing

A service that tracks the events, use and access network resources and writes these actions to a log.

AWG Rating

A rating that describes the size of a conductor's diameter.

Backbone

A common cable path that often employs high-speed network cable such as fiber-optic.

Bandwidth

A measurement of the network media's ability to cayy data.

Baseband

A method of transmitting data in the form of a digital signal, using the entire bandwidth of a cable.

Basic disk

The term applied to the old system of hard disk drive configuration, which includes creating primary and extended partitions.

Basic Service Set (BSS)

An IEEE term used to describe a group of wireless devices connected as an infrastructure network or an SSID.

Bridge

A network device that can be used to divide the network into smaller segments, reducing the chance of collisions.

Broadband

A method of transmitting data in the form of several analog signals at the same time.

Brouter

A network device that combines router and bridge functions.

Bus topology

A network topology that uses a single cable or conductor to connect all nodes on the network.

Call Center

A large collection of support people located in a common facility equipped with telephones and computer network support.

Carrier wave

An electromagnetic wave of a set frequency that is used to carry wave.

Cell

An area or zone that is served by a radio access tower.

Cellular technology

A technology based on radio waves connecting to designated areas referred to as cells.

Centralized administrator

The methodology used to administer a client/server network.

CERN

An organization responsible for the original development of the World Wide Web.

Channel

The bandwidth of a carrier wave.

Client/server network

A network that consists of computers connected to one or more servers.

Coaxial Cable

A type of cable that consists of a Copper core conductor surrounded by an insulator referred to as a dielectric.

complex trust relationship

A trust relationship in which more than two domains have a full-trust relationship.

Concentrator

A central connection point where network cables are concentrated. It is classified as either active or passive.

Connection-oriented

A type of network connection that requires a direct connection between the source and the destination.

Connectionless-oriented

A type of network connection that does not use a direct connection between the destination and the source.

Contiguous namespace

A namespace in which the location must use the root domain name as part of its URL or as its complete name.

Copper core cable

A type of cable that consists of a copper wire surrounded by plastic or synthetic insulation.

Crosstalk

Interference that comes from neighboring conductors inside a wire's insulating jacket.

Customer Support

The delivery of customer assistance, customer training, and customer services.

Data Execution Prevention

A security feature included in modern operating systems: it is preventing the content of a region of memory identified as containing data other than executable instructions to be executed as instructions by a program, service, device driver, etc. It is known to be available in Linux, OS X, Microsoft Windows and Android operating systems.

Data link layer

A layer of the OSI model that describes how raw data is packaged for transfer from one network interface card to another.

Database server

A server that contains data files and software programs to query data.

Decentralized administration

The methodology used to administer a peer-to-peer network.

Decibel

A unit of measurement that expresses the relationship of power between two electrical forces.

Dedicated server

A server that provides a single function.

Demodulation

The process of separating a data signal from a carrier wave.

Depot Technician

A technician that preforms repair work, usually covered by warranty, and has very limited customer contact or no customer contact at all.

Digital Signal

An electronic signal that has discrete values.

Direct sequencing

A spread spectrum technique that transmits data on multiple channels sequentially.

Directional

The ability of an antenna to transmit electromagnetic signals in a focused or aimed direction.

Disjointed namespace

A domain name that is part of the active directory but does not follow the contigius namespace requirement.

Disk quota

The amount of disk space assigned to specific users.

Dispersion

The distortion of the light wave pattern as it reflects off the core cladding

Distinguished name

A naming system that uniquely identifies the location of the object in the active directory structure.

Domain

A logical grouping of users and equipment as defined by the network administrator.

Driver

A software program that allows a PC to communicate with and to transfer data to and from computer hardware, such as the network interface card.

Driver Signing

Windows device installation uses digital signatures to verify the integrity of driver packages and to verify the identity of the vendor (software publisher) who provides the driver packages.

Dynamic disk

A new system of disk configuration and management introduced with NTFS5.0. Dynamic disks are managed by the system group and allow for creation of five different volume types: simple, spanned, mirrored, RAID-5, and striped.

EFI partition

A partition on a GPT disk that contains all programs required to boot the computer in the same way the BIOS boots the computer

EIA

A trade association that is concerned with radio communications.

Electromagnetic wave

A form of energy that behaves like a wave and can travel through a vacuum.

Emoticons

Cartoon face characters made from keyboard symbols to express emotions in e-mails, letters, and text messaging.

Equal Level Far-End Crosstalk

A measurement calculated by subtracting the effects of attenuation from the Far-End Crosstalk measurement.

Extended partition

A partition that can contain one or more logical drives. Only one extended partition can exist on a hard disk drive.

Extended Service Set Identifier (ESSID)

Two or more wireless access points or wireless devices using the same SSID

Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)

A protocol that ensures authorized access to the network system and network resources. It is used on both wired and wireless network systems.

External trust

A trust relationship between Windows Server 2008 and an older server operating system or with another Windows Server 2008 computer or when the other domain is located in an entirely separate forest. The two forests are not joined in a trust relationship

Extrinsic losses

Signal losses caused by physical factors outside the normal core, such as splices, connectors, and bends in the fiber core.

Far-End Crosstalk

A measurement of reflective loss at the farend, or output end, of a cable. Far-end losses are expressed in decibels.

Fiber-optic cable

A type of cable that has glass or clear plastic core.

File server

A server that stores data files that can be accessed by a client.

FIR

A protocol that used for transmitting data from laptop computers to desktop computers without the use of cables.

Forest

A collection of domain trees that share a common active database.

Forest trust

A two-way trust that is designed to share resources between the two forests. In a forest trust, users can be authenticated in either forest.

Free space

The space on a hard disk drive that has not be partitioned.

Frensnel reflection loss

A type of signal loss that commonly occurs at connection points in fiber-optic cabling and is due to refraction property differences in core material, the connector materials used for sealing the connector, and air

Frequency

The number of cycles of an electronic signal that occur in 1 second. It is measured in Hertz.

Frequency hopping

a spread spectrum technique that transmits data on multiple channels simultaneously.

Full-duplex

Communication that occurs bi-directionally and simultaneously between two devices. An example of a full-duplex communication is communication via telephone.

Fusion splice

Joining two fiber-optic cores using heat to fuse the materials together

Gateway

A network device that connects the local area network to the Internet.

Geosynchronous orbit

An orbit in which a satellite's rotational speed is synchronized with the Earth's rotational speed, making the satellite appear to be in a stationary position.

Global security policy

A security policy that affects domain users.

Globally Unique identifier

A new partitioning style uses a partition table called GUID partition table.

Graded-index multi-mode fiber-optic cable

A type of multimode fiber-optic cable that has a varying grade of core material. It is designed for maximum light conduction at the center of the core and gradually diminished light conduction toward the cladding.

Half-duplex

Communication that is bi-directional but can only occur one direction at a time.

Help Desk

A central point of contact that provides technical support to clients. The clients may be company employees or customers.

Hierarchical star

A network topology created when two or more star topologies are merged using network devices such as hubs, switches, or routers.

Hive

A hive is a logical group of keys, subkeys, and values in the registry that has a set of supporting files containing backups of its data.

Hub

A central connection point where all network cables are concentrated. It is classified as either active or passive. Also called a concentrator.

Hub

A network device that provides common electrical connection to all nodes in a star topology.

Hybrid topology

A network topology that consists of a mixture of topology types connected together.

I/O Address

In the x86 architecture, an input/output base address is the first address of a range of consecutive read/write addresses that a device uses on the x86's IO bus. This base address is sometimes called an I/O port.

IEEE

An organization that continually develops standards for the networking and communications industry.

Impendence

The opposition to alternating current.

Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS)

A network that does not use an access point and usually is a direct connection between two wireless devices.

Infrastructure mode

A wireless network that contains one or more Wireless Access Points.