Cabletron Systems 9A000 manual Glossary

GLOSSARY

VINES (Virtual Network Software) - Banyan’s network operating system based on UNIX and its protocols.

Virtual Channel Switch - a network element that connects VCLs. It termi- nates VPCs and translates VCI values. The Virtual Channel Switch is directed by Control Plane functions and relays the cells of a VC.

Virtual Path Switch - a network element that connects VPLs, it translates VPI (not VCI) values and is directed by Control Plane functions. The Virtual Path Switch relays the cells of a Virtual Path.

VPT (Virtual Path Terminator) - a system that unbundles the VCs of a VP for independent processing of each VC.

VP (Virtual Path) - a unidirectional logical association or bundle of VCs.

VPC (Virtual Path Connection) - a concatenation of VPLs between virtual path terminators (VPTs). VPCs are unidirectional.

VPDN (Virtual Private Data Network) - a private data communications net- work built on public switching and transport facilities rather than dedicated leased facilities such as T1s.

VPI (Virtual Path Identifier) - the address or label of a particular VP.

VPL (Virtual Path Link) - a means of unidirectional transport of ATM cells between the point where a VPI value is assigned and the point where that value is translated or removed.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) - a private voice communications network built on public switching and transport facilities rather than dedicated leased facilities such as T1s.

VT (Virtual Tributary) - a structure used to carry payloads such as DS1s that run at significantly lower rates than STS-1s.

WAN (Wide-Area Network) - a network that covers a large geographic area.

X.25 - a well-established data switching and transport method that relies on a significant amount of processing to ensure reliable transport over metallic media.

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