Glossary
MAC (Medium Access Control) Address: A unique number that distinguishes net- work cards.
Mbps (Mega Bits Per Second): A mea- surement of millions of bits per second.
MDI/X (Media Dependent Interface/
MHz (MegaHertz): One million cycles per second.
MIB II: A database containing perfor- mance information and statistics on each device in a network.
MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second):
A measurement of processing speed.
NAT (Network Address Translation): An internet standard that enables a LAN to use one set of IP addresses for internal traffic and a second set for external traffic.
NIC (Network Interface Card): An expan- sion card connected to a computer so the computer can be connected to a network.
Packet: A block of data that is transferred as a single unit, also called a frame or a block.
Packet Filtering: Discarding unwanted network traffic based on its originating ad- dress or its type.
PCI (Peripheral Component Intercon- nect): A bus that is connected directly to the CPU.
PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) Card: Removable module that adds features to a portable computer.
Ping (Packet Internet Groper): An In- ternet utility used to determine whether a particular IP address is online.
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