Glossary of Terms
Communication Server:
A dedicated, standalone system that manages communications activities for other computers.
Cut-through:
Technique for examining incoming packets whereby an Ethernet switch looks only at the first few bytes of a packet before forwarding or filtering it. This process is faster than looking at the whole packet, but it also allows some bad packets to be forwarded.
CSMA/CD:
Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection is the Ethernet media access method. All network devices contend equally for access to transmit. If a device detects another device's signal while it is transmitting, it aborts transmission and retries after a brief pause.
Data Link:
A logical connection between two nodes on the same circuit.
Data Link Layer:
Layer 2 of the
DHCP
Short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, a protocol for assigning dynamic IP addresses to devices on a network. With dynamic addressing, a device can have a different IP address every time it connects to the network. In some systems, the device's IP address can even change while it is still connected. DHCP also supports a mix of static and dynamic IP addresses.
Dynamic addressing simplifies network administration because the software keeps track of IP addresses rather than requiring an administrator to manage the task. This means that a new computer can be added to a network without the hassle of manually assigning it a unique IP address. Many ISPs use dynamic IP addressing for
DHCP client support is built into Windows 95 and NT workstation. NT 4 server includes both client and server support.
Dial on Demand:
When a router detects the need to initiate a
