Glossary-3
Coaxial to Decryption
Coaxial An Ethernet media type which consists of a core of electrically conductive
material surrounded by several layers of insulation and shielding.
Concentrator A network device which allows multiple network ports in one location to
share one physical interface to the network.
Congestion An estimation or measure of the utilization of a network, typically
expressed as a percentage of theoretical maximum utilization of the
network.
Connectivity The physical connection of cabling or other media to network devices.
The coupling of media to the network.
Crossover A length of multi-stranded cable in which the transmit wire(s) of one end
is/are crossed over within the cable to connect to the receive wire(s) of
the other end. Crossovers are used to connect devices to like devices,
ensuring that transmit and receive connections are properly made.
Crosstalk A corruption of the electrical signal transmitted through a Shielded or
Unshielded Twisted Pair cable. Crosstalk refers to signals on one strand
or set of strands affecting signals on another strand or set of strands.
CSMA/CD Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection. CSMA/CD is the
basis for the operation of Ethernet networks. CSMA/CD is the method
by which stations monitor the network, determine when to transmit data,
and what to do if they sense a collision or other error during that
transmission.
Data Information, typically in the form of a series of bits, which is intended to
be stored, altered, displayed, transmitted, or processed.
Data Loop A condition caused by the creation of duplicate paths which network
transmissions could follow. Data loops are created by the use of
redundant connections between network segments or devices. Ethernet
networks cannot effectively function with data loops present. To allow
the creation of fault-tolerant networks, data loops are automatically
detected and eliminated by the Spanning Tree algorithm.
DB15 A 15-pin connector used to terminate transceiver cables in accordance
with the AUI speciļ¬cation.
DB9 A 9-pin connector, typically used in Token Ring networks and for serial
communications between computers.
Decryption The translation of data from an encrypted (see encryption) form into a
form both recognizable and utilizable by a workstation, node, or network
device.