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Wild Packets - Networking terms Category: Agriculture and Industry > Networking terms Date & country: 24/02/2017, USA Words: 1152

Message
Application layer (Layer 7) logical grouping of information, often composed of a number of lower-layer logical groupings such as packets. The terms datagram, frame, packet, and segment are also used to describe logical information groupings at various layers of the OSI reference model.

Message Switching
Switching technique involving transmission of messages from node to node through a network. The message is stored at each node until such time as a forwarding path is available.

Message Unit
Unit of data processed by any network layer.

Metalanguage
A language that represents another language.

Metasignaling
Process running at the ATM layer that manages signaling types and virtual circuits.

MHS
1. Message Handling Service. A synonym of X.400 store and forward messaging. 2. Message Handling System. A Novell protocol for mail handling.

MIB
Management Information Base. In SNMP, a specification of the data objects and data structures that the Agent is responsible for knowing and reporting to the Console on demand.

MIC
Media interface connector. FDDI de facto standard connector.

Micro
1. A prefix that denotes a one millionth part of a unit of measure, such as a microsecond or microampere. 2. A prefix that denotes something small. 3. A slang term for any personal computer.

Microcode
Translation layer between machine instructions and the elementary operations of a computer. Microcode is stored in ROM and allows the addition of new machine instructions without requiring that they be designed into electronic circuits when new instructions are needed.

Microsegmentation
Division of a network into smaller segments, usually with the intention of increasing aggregate bandwidth to network devices.

Microwave
1. Any electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 1 meter. 2. A point-to-point data transmission system employing electromagnetic radiation using a carrier frequency in the microwave region.

MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface.

Midsplit
Broadband cable system in which the available frequencies are split into two groups: one for transmission and one for reception.

Milli
A prefix denoting a one thousandth part of a unit of measure, such as a millisecond or millimeter.

MILNET
Military Network. Unclassified portion of the DDN. Operated and maintained by the DISA.

Minicomputer
Archaic. A multi-user computer capable of supporting 4 - 16 simultaneous users.

Mips
Millions of instructions per second. Number of instructions executed by a processor per second.

MIS
Management Information System. Used to describe the set of computing resources that hold and allow access to the information owned by an organization.

Mode
establish and terminate calls in V.25bis.

Mode
1. One particular method or way of accomplishing a goal. 2. In fiber optic transmission, a particular path between a light source and a receiver. 3. In statistics, the result with the highest frequency within the sample group.

Modem
A device that can covert data signals between analog and digital signaling systems.

Modem eliminator
Device allowing connection of two DTE devices without modems.

Modulation
Process by which the characteristics of electrical signals are transformed to represent information. Types of modulation include AM, FM, and PAM.

MOP
Maintenance Operation Protocol. Digital Equipment Corporation protocol that provides a way to perform primitive maintenance operations on DECnet systems.

Mosaic
Public-domain WWW browser, developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

MOSPF
Multicast OSPF. Intradomain multicast routing protocol used in OSPF networks. Extensions are applied to the base OSPF unicast protocol to support IP multicast routing.

MOV
Metal Oxide Varister. A device that acts as a surge suppresser by forcing transient high voltages to ground.

MQI
Message Queueing Interface. International standard APO that provides functionality similar to that of the RPC interface. In contrast to RPC, MQI is implemented strictly at the application layer.

MSAU
Multistation access unit. Wiring concentrator to which all end stations in a Token Ring network connect. The MSAU provides an interface between these devices and the Token Ring interface.

MSL
Maximum Segment Lifetime.

MSS
Maximum Segment Size.

MTA
Message Transfer Agent. In x.400, a process that is responsible for storing and forwarding messages.

MTU
Maximum Transmission Unit. A specification in a data link protocol that defines the maximum number of bytes that can be carried in any one packet on that link.

Mu-law
North American companding standard used in conversion between analog and digital signals in PCM systems.

Multiaccess Network
Network that allows multiple devices to connect and communicate simultaneously.

Multicast
Single packets copied by the network and sent to a specific subset of network addresses. These addresses are specified in the destination address field.

Multicast Group
Dynamically determined group of IP hosts identified by a single IP multicast address.

Multicast router
Router used to send IGMP query messages on their attached local networks. Host members of a multicast group respond to a query by sending IGMP reports noting the multicast groups to which they belong. The multicast router takes responsibility for forwarding multicast datagrams from one multicast group to all other networks that have members in the group.

Multicast Server
Establishes a one-to-many connection to each device in a VLAN, thus establishing a broadcast domain for each VLAN segment. The multicast server forwards incoming broadcasts only to the multicast address that maps to the broadcast address.

Multidrop Line
Communications line having multiple cable access points. Sometimes called a multipoint line.

Multihomed Host
Host attached to multiple physical network segments in an OSI CLNS network.

Multihoming
Addressing scheme in IS-IS routing that supports assignment of multiple area addresses.

Multilayer switch
Switch that filters and forwards packets based on MAC addresses and network addresses. A subset of LAN switch.

Multimode Fiber
Optical fiber supporting propagation of multiple frequencies of light.

Multiple Domain Network
SNA network with multiple SSCPs.

Multiplexing
Scheme that allows multiple logical signals to be transmitted simultaneously across a single physical channel.

Multitasking
A descriptive term for a computing device whose operating system can handle several tasks concurrently. In monoprocessors, each active task is given short periods of time to use the CPU in a rotational fashion.

Multi-user
A term used to describe a computing process that can handle the requirements of several users simultaneously.

Multivendor network
Network using equipment from more than one vendor.

MVS
Multiple Virtual Storage. The primary operating systems for IBM mainframes.

NAK
Negative acknowledgment. Response sent from a receiving device to a sending device indicating that the information received contained errors.

Name Caching
Method by which remotely discovered host names are stored by a router for use in future packet-forwarding decisions to allow quick access.

Name Server
Server connected to a network that resolves network names into network addresses.

Name Service
In AppleTalk, a computing process that has used Name Binding Protocol to register a process so that it may be located using a network resource management like the Chooser.

Nano
A prefix that denotes a 1 billionth portion of a unit of measure, as in nanosecond or nanometer.

NAP
Network access point. Location for interconnection of internet service providers in the United States for the exchange of packets.

Native
Something is a standard component of a computer system, such as a native file system or a native protocol.

NAU
Network addressable unit. SNA term for an addressable entity. Examples include LUs, PUs, and SSCPs. NAUs generally provide upper-level network services.

NAUN
Nearest active upstream neighbor. In Token Ring or IEEE 802.5 networks, the closest upstream network device from any given device that is still active.

NBMA
Nonbroadcast multiaccess. Term describing a multiaccess network that either does not support broadcasting (such as X.25) or in which broadcasting is not feasible (for example, an SMDS broadcast group or an extended Ethernet that is too large).

NBP
Name Binding Protocol. The AppleTalk protocol that associates the name, type and zone of a process with its Internet Socket Address.

NCP
Network Control Protocol.

NEARNET
Regional network in New England (United States) that links Boston University, Harvard University, and MIT.

Neighboring Routers
In OSPF, two routers that have interfaces to a common network. On multiaccess networks, neighbors are dynamically discovered by the OSPF Hello protocol.

NET
Network entity title. Network addresses, defined by the ISO network architecture, and used in CLNS-based networks.

Net
Short for network.

NetBIOS
Network Basic Input/Output System. API used by applications on an IBM LAN to request services from lower-level network processes. These services might include session establishment and termination, and information transfer.

NetView
A network and device management system developed by IBM.

NetWare
A trademark of Novell that includes network operating systems and LAN server processes that run on and/or serve many computing platforms, operating systems and protocols.

Network
The infrastructure that supports electronic data exchange.

Network Adapter
A hardware device that translates electronic signals between a computing device's native network hardware and the transmission media. A network adapter may also include memory or additional hardware or firmware to aid or perform the computing device's network operations.

Network Address
Network layer address referring to a logical, rather than a physical, network device. Also called a protocol address.

Network Administrator
A person who is charged with the responsibility of caring for a network and the communication abilities of its users.

Network Analyzer
Hardware or software device offering various network troubleshooting features, including protocol-specific packet decodes, specific preprogrammed troubleshooting tests, packet filtering, and packet transmission.

Network Architecture
A set of specifications that defines every aspect of a data network's communication system, including but not limited to the types of user interfaces employed, the networking protocols used and the structure and types of network cabling that may be used.

Network Interface
Boundary between a carrier network and a privately-owned installation

Network Layer
Layer 3 of the OSI reference model. This layer provides connectivity and path selection between two end systems. The network layer is the layer at which routing occurs. Corresponds roughly with the path control layer of the SNA model.

Network Management
A set of activities and duties whose goal is to provide high-quality,reliable communication among a group of networked computerusers. Typical activities may include resource planning, network design, providing user assistance and training, reconfiguration ofthe network due to a change in user requirements, assessing userneeds and designing appropriate solutions and troubleshootingand remedying network problems as they arise.

Network Node Server
SNA NN that provides resource location and route selection services for ENs, LEN nodes, and LUs that are in its domain.

Network Number
Part of an IP address that specifies the network to which the host belongs.

Network Operating
A term mostly used in DOS networking systems to refer

Network Operator
Person who routinely monitors and controls a network, performing tasks such as reviewing and responding to traps, monitoring throughput, configuring new circuits, and resolving problems.

NFS
Network File System. A file metalanguage and set of procedurecalls to access and manage files that is standard issue on nearlyevery computer that uses TCP/IP protocols as its standard network protocols. Designed by Sun Microsystems, NFS is now astandard feature of nearly all Unix systems.

NHRP
Next Hop Resolution Protocol. Protocol used by routers to dynamically discover the MAC address of other routers and hosts connected to a NBMA network. These systems can then directly communicate without requiring traffic to use an intermediate hop, increasing performance in ATM, Frame Relay, SMDS, and X.25 environments.

Nibble
One-half of a byte, which can be represented by a single hexadecimal digit.

NIC
1. Network Information Center. The group responsible for theassignment of IP addresses. 2. Network Interface Card. A network adapter on a circuit board that plugs into a computerinternal bus architecture. 3. A 16-bit Ethernet chip designed by Texas Instruments.

NIS
Network Information System. Protocol developed by Sun Microsystems for the administration of network-wide databases. the service essentially uses two programs: one for finding a NIS server and one for accessing the NIS databases.

NIST
National institute of Standards and Technology. Formerly the NBS, this U.S. government organization supports and catalogs a variety of standards.

NLM
NetWare Loadable Module. Individual program that can be loaded into memory and function as part of the NetWare NOS.

NLSP
NetWare Link Services Protocol. Link-state routing protocol bases on IS-IS.

NMS
Network management system. System responsible for managing at least part of a network. An NMS is generally a reasonably powerful and well-equipped computer such as an engineering workstation. NMSs communicate with agents to help keep track of network statistics and resources.

NMVT
Network management vector transport. SNA message consisting of a series of vectors conveying network management-specific information.

NOC
Network Operations Center. Organization responsible for maintaining a network.

Node
A networked computing device that takes a protocol address andcan initiate and respond to communication from other networked devices that employ similar protocols.

Noise
Undesirable electrical or electromagnetic signals.

Nonseed Router
In AppleTalk, a router that must first obtain and then verify its configuration with a seed router before it can begin operation.

Non-stub Area
Resource-intensive OSPF area that carries a default route, static routes, intra-area routes, interarea routes, and external routes. Nonstub areas are the only OSPF areas that can have virtual links configured across them and are the only areas that can contain an ASBR.

Non-Volatile
Information that will remain usable by a computer despite loss of power or shutdown.

Northwest Net
NSF-funded regional network serving the Northwestern United States, Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota. Northwest Net connects all major universities in the region, as well as many leading industrial concerns.