Glossary
802.11b
802.11g
802.1x
Access Point
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
DHCP
Disk Array
Domain Migrations
Driver (Device Driver)
Electronic Medical Records
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
HIPPA
LAN
LTO
MAC
NAS
SAN
SDLT
Sniffer
SSID
Static IP
Subnet
Symantec Ghost
WAP
WEP
Wi-Fi
WLAN
802.11b:
802.11b is a design standard proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It became the defacto standard in wireless networking in 2000. Wireless hardware manufacturers implement the design standard in their equipment, such as wireless NICs and access points. More information about the standard can be found on the IEEE 802.11 site.
802.11g:
802.11g is a design standard proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Backwards-compatible with the 802.11g standard, it is the most modern of the commonly used wireless technologies in use (at the time of this writing). The defacto standard shifted from 802.11b to 802.11g during 2004. Wireless hardware manufacturers implement the design standard in their equipment, such as wireless NICs and access points. More information about the standard can be found on the IEEE 802.11 site.
802.1x:
802.1x is an IEEE Standard for port-based Network Access Control ("port" meaning a single point of attachment to the LAN infrastructure). It is part of the IEEE 802.1 group of networking protocols. It provides an authentication mechanism to devices wishing to attach to a LAN, either establishing a point-to-point connection or preventing it if authentication fails. It is used for most wireless 802.11 access pointsand is based on the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
Access Point:
An access point is a radio device that is capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals. It converts radio signals into a digital form that can be understood on a hard-wired computer network and converts digital data from a hard-wired computer network into radio signals that can be understood by other radio devices. Simply put, a computer with a wireless network card (NIC) transmits and receives radio waves to an access point which provides the wireless network card (and the computer to which it is attached) access to a wireless network.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
CRM consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing.
DHCP:
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a communications protocol that automates the assignment of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in a network.
Disk Array:
A disk array is a disk storage system which contains multiple disk drives. It is differentiated from a disk enclosure, in that an array has cache memory and advanced functionality, like RAID and virtualization.
Domain Migrations:
Moving data from one system, or domain, to another without compromising security or losing any of the data. Domain migration happens when servers are upgraded and the data (including any authentication and authorization information) must be moved to a new system, when an administrator changes from one ISP to another or when an Web site’s administrator moves the data that creates a Web page (any mark-up language coding and images) from one system, or domain, to another.
Driver (Device Driver):
A device driver is software that allows computer programs to interact with, control, and listen to computer hardware. Device drivers are generally specific to one piece of hardware that matches one specific operating system. So so for example, a device driver for a Cannon printer on a macintosh will be a different device driver for the same Cannon printer on Windows XP. Without the proper device driver, software programs can not interact with a piece of hardware.
Electronic Medical Records (EMR):
In health informatics, an EMR is considered by some to be one of several types of EHRs (electronic health records), but in several contexts EMR and EHR are used as synonymous. The term has sometimes included other systems which keep track of medical information, such as the practice management system which supports the electronic medical record.
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP):
This authentication protocol grew from Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) as the need for a flexible way to authenticate users across various different platforms evolved. EAP is capable of performing a number of different methods of authentication and can use a number of different encryption technologies. In wireless communications using EAP, a user requests connection to a WLAN through an AP, which then requests the identity of the user and transmits that identity to an authentication server such as RADIUS. The server asks the AP for proof of identity, which the AP gets from the user and then sends back to the server to complete the authentication.
HIPPA:
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs. Title II of HIPAA, known as the Administrative Simplification (AS) provisions, requires the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. It helps people keep their information private.
The Administration Simplification provisions also address the security and privacy of health data. The standards are meant to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's health care system by encouraging the widespread use of electronic data interchange in the U.S. health care system.
LAN:
Local Area Network - A network connecting computers in a relatively small area such as a building.
LTO:
LTO is a magnetic tape data storage technology originally developed in the late 1990s as an open standards alternative to the proprietary magnetic tape formats that were available at the time. Seagate, Hewlett-Packard, andIBM initiated the LTO Consortium, which directs development and manages licensing and certification of media and mechanism manufacturers. The standard form-factor of LTO technology goes by the name "Ultrium", the original version of which was released in 2000 and could hold 100 GB of data in a single cartridge. The most recent version was released in 2007 and can hold 800 GB in the same size cartridge. Since 2002, LTO has been the best selling "super tape" format and is widely used with small and large computer systems, especially for backup. Its popularity can be attributed to both the innovative technology developed as well as the attractive pricing.
MAC:
Media Access Control - the globally unique hardware address of an Ethernet network interface card.
NAS:
A NAS unit is essentially a self-contained computer connected to a network, with the sole purpose of supplying file-based data storage services to other devices on the network. The operating system and other software on the NAS unit provide the functionality of data storage, file systems, and access to files, and the management of these functionalities. The unit is not designed to carry out general-purpose computing tasks, although it may technically be possible to run other software on it. NAS units usually do not have a keyboard or display, and are controlled and configured over the network, often by connecting a browser to their network address. The alternative to NAS storage on a network is to use a computer as a file server. In its most basic form a dedicated file server is no more than a NAS unit with keyboard and display and an operating system which, while optimised for providing storage services, can run other tasks; however, file servers are increasingly used to supply other functionality, such as supplying database services, email services, and so on.
SAN:
A storage area network (SAN) is an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes) to servers in such a way that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system. Although the cost and complexity of SANs are dropping, they are still uncommon outside larger enterprises.
SDLT:
SDLT (previously called CompacTape) is a magnetic tape data storage technology developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1984 onwards. In 1994 the technology was purchased by Quantum Corporation, who currently manufactures drives and licenses the technology and trademark. A variant with higher capacity is called Super DLT (SDLT). The lower cost "value line" was initially manufactured by Benchmark Storage Innovations under license from Quantum. Quantum acquired Benchmark in 2002.
Sniffer:
A program used to capture data across a computer network. Used by hackers to capture user id names and passwords. Software tool that audits and identifies network traffic packets. Is also used legitimately by network operations and maintenance personnel to troubleshoot network problems.
SSID:
A service set identifier is a sequence of characters that uniquely names a wireless local area network (WLAN).
MAC address:
In a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is your computer's unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it's the same as your Ethernet address.)
Static IP:
A static IP address is a number that is assigned to a computer to be its permanent address on the network.
Subnet:
A subnet is an identifiably separate part of a network. Typically, a subnet may represent all the machines at one geographic location, in one building, or on the same local area network (LAN).
Symantec Ghost:
Ghost is a disk cloning program, originally produced by Binary Research, but purchased by Symantec in 1998. The Ghost program launched the market for disk-cloning software. The name Ghost originated as an acronym for "General Hardware-Oriented System Transfer".
Murray Haszard wrote Ghost in 1995, building on experience with a parallel and serial file-copying program previously produced by Binary Research.
WAP:
Wireless Application Protocol - standard for accessing the internet with wireless devices.
WEP:
Wired Equivalent Privacy is a security protocol, specified in the IEEE Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) standard, 802.11b, which is designed to provide a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a level of security and privacy comparable to what is usually expected of a wired LAN.
Wi-Fi:
Wireless Fidelity - A standard that ensures equipment from different manufacturers works together with reasonable certainty.
WLAN:
Wireless Local Area Network - Refers to wireless networks between computers within one building or a group of buildings.
