Glossary
GL-2
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Configuration Guide using the CLI
A record address “A” stands for address, and refers to name-to-address mapped records in DNS.
APCF Application Profile Customization Framework. Lets the security appliance handle nonstandard
applications so that they render correctly over a clientless SSL VPN connection.
ARP Address Resolution Protocol. A low-level TCP/IP protocol that maps a hardware address, or MAC
address, to an IP address. An example hardware address is 00:00:a6:00:01:ba. The first three groups of
characters (00:00:a6) identify the manufacturer; the rest of the characters (00:01:ba) identify the
system card. ARP is defined in RFC826.
ASA Adaptive Security Algorithm. Used by the ASA to perform inspections. ASA allows one-way (inside
to outside) connections without an explicit configuration for each internal system and application. See
also inspection engine.
ASA adaptive ASA.
ASDM Adaptive Security Device Manager. An application for managing and configuring a single ASA.
asymmetric
encryption
Also called public key systems, asymmetric encryption allows anyone to obtain access to the public
key of anyone else. Once the public key is accessed, you can send an encrypted message to that person
using the public key. See also encryption, public key.
authentication Cryptographic protocols and services that verify the identity of users and the integrity of data. One of
the functions of the IPsec framework. Authentication establishes the integrity of the datastream and
ensures that it is not tampered with in transit. It also provides confirmation about the origin of the
datastream. See also AAA, encryption, and VPN.
Auto Applet
Download
Automatically downloads the clientless SSL VPN port-forwarding applet when the user first logs in to
clientless SSL VPN.
auto-signon This command provides a single sign-on method for clientless SSL VPN users. It passes the clientless
SSL VPN login credentials (username and password) to internal servers for authentication using
NTLM authentication, basic authentication, or both.
B
backup server IPsec backup servers let a VPN client connect to the central site when the primary security appliance
is unavailable.
BGP Border Gateway Protocol. BGP performs interdomain routing in TCP/IP networks. BGP is an Exterior
Gateway Protocol, which means that it performs routing between multiple autonomous systems or
domains and exchanges routing and access information with other BGP systems. The ASA does not
support BGP. See also EGP.
BLT stream Bandwidth Limited Traffic stream. Stream or flow of packets whose bandwidth is constrained.
BOOTP Bootstrap Protocol. Lets diskless workstations boot over the network as is described in RFC 951 and
RFC 1542.
BPDU Bridge Protocol Data Unit. Spanning-Tree Protocol hello packet that is sent out at configurable
intervals to exchange information among bridges in the network. Protocol data unit is the OSI term for
packet.