Glossary
GL-15
User Guide for Cisco Secure Access Control System 5.3
OL-24201-01

R

RDN (LDAP) The Relative Distinguished Name (frequently but incorrectly written as Relatively Distinguished
Name). The name given to an attribute(s) that is unique at its level in the hierarchy. RDNs may be
single valued or multi-valued in which case two or more attributes are combined using '+' (plus) to
create the RDN e.g. cn+uid. The term RDN is only meaningful when used as part of a DN to uniquely
describe the attributes on the path UP the DIT from a selected entry (or search start location) to the
directory root (or more correctly the Root DSE). More info.
referral (LDAP) An operation in which the LDAP server returns to an LDAP client the name (typically in the form of
an LDAP URL) of another LDAP server that might be able to provide the information requested by
the LDAP client.
Remote
Authentication
Dial-In User Service
(RADIUS)
RADIUS is a client/server protocol and software that enables remote access servers to communicate
with a central server to authenticate dial-in users and authorize their access to the requested system or
service. RADIUS allows a company to maintain user profiles in a central database that all remote
servers can share. It provides better security, allowing a company to set up a policy that can be applied
at a single administered network point. Having a central service also means that it's easier to track
usage for billing and for keeping network statistics.
RFC (Request for
Comments)
A series of memoranda that encompass new research, innovations, and methodologies applicable to
Internet technologies.
Role A set of typical administrator tasks, each with an associated set of permissions. An administrator can
have more than one predefined role, and a role can apply to multiple administrators.
root (LDAP) The root entry (a.k.a base, suffix) is one of many terms used to describe the topmost entry in a DIT.
The Root DSE is a a kind of super root.
Root DSE (LDAP) Conceptually the top most entry in a LDAP hierarchy - think of it as a super root and normally
invisible i.e. not accessed in normal operations. Sometimes confused with root or base or suffix. DSE
stands for DSA Specific Entry and DSA in turn stands for Directory System Agent (any directory
enabled service providing DAP or LDAP access). Information about the rootDSE may be obtained in
OpenLDAP by querying the OpenLDAProoDSE classobject and will provide information about
protocol versions supported, services supported and the naming-context(s) or DIT(s) supported.
rootdn (LDAP) The rootdn is a confusingly named directive in the slapd.conf file which defines a superuser which can
bypass normal directory access rules.
RPM (RedHat
Package Manager)
An RPM is a downloadable software package that is installable on Linux distributions that use RPM
as their package management format.

S

SAN (Subject
Alternative Name)
Extension within certificate information.