| A | B |
|---|
| VPN | Virtual Private Network- configured within a private network. |
| DNS | Domain Name Service. Will map TCP/IP number to a more remembered name. |
| Hub | A central connecting device in a network that joins communications lines together in a star configuration. Passive hubs are just connecting units that add nothing to the data passing through them. |
| Repeater | A communications device that amplifies (analog) or regenerates (digital) the data signal in order to extend the transmission distance. Available for both electronic and optical signals, repeaters are used extensively in long distance transmission. |
| Bridge | A device that connects two LAN segments together, which may be of similar or dissimilar types, such as Ethernet and Token Ring. A bridge is inserted into a network to segment it and keep traffic contained within the segments to improve performance. |
| Brouter | A router determines the best path for a data packet to be sent from one network to another. |
| Gateway | A computer that performs protocol conversion between different types of networks or applications. For example, a gateway can convert a TCP/IP packet to a NetWare IPX packet and vice versa or from AppleTalk to DECnet, from SNA to AppleTalk and so on. |
| RJ-45 | A telephone connector that holds up to eight wires. RJ-45 plugs and sockets are used in Ethernet and Token Ring Type 3 devices. |
| CAT 5 | Type of cabling that consists of 4 twisted pairs of copper wire terminated by RJ-45 connectors. |
| BNC Connector | A commonly used plug and socket for audio, video and networking applications. BNCs connect two-wire coaxial cable (signal and ground) using a bayonet mount. |
| Fiber Optic Cable | Carries Pulses of laser lights which are encoded with digital signals. |
| Network Adapter | A printed circuit board that plugs into both the clients (personal computers or workstations) and servers and controls the exchange of data between them. The network adapter provides services at the data link level of the network, which is also known as the "access method" (OSI layers 1 and 2). |
| Half Duplex | The transmission of data in both directions, but only one direction at a time. Two-way radio was the first to use half-duplex, for example, while one party spoke, the other party listened. |
| Full Duplex | Transmitting and receiving simultaneously. In pure digital networks, this is achieved with two pairs of wires. In analog networks or in digital networks using carriers, it is achieved by dividing the bandwidth of the line into two frequencies, one for sending, the other for receiving. |
| TCP/IP | (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) A communications protocol developed under contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to internetwork dissimilar systems. Invented by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn, this de facto UNIX standard is the protocol of the Internet and has become the global standard for communications. |
| IP adress | (Internet Protocol address) The address of a computer attached to a TCP/IP network. Every client and server station must have a unique IP address. |
| IPX | (Internetwork Packet Exchange). Works at the Network Layer Three of the OSI model. |
| SPX | (Sequenced Packet Exchange) is the usual Transport Layer 4 protocol that works with IPX in Layer 3 to gauruntee that the packets sent out by IPX can be accuratly assembled into the entire message by the destination node. |
| NetBEUI | Net Bios Enhanced User Interface is supported automatically by all versions of Windows. |
