Glossary
Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. RouteFinderVPN RF760/660/600VPN User Guide (PN S000323D) 180
HTTPS (aka, S-HTTP) – Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol, a secure way of transferring information over the World Wide
Web. HTTPS refers to the entry (e.g., https://192.168.2.100) used for an S-HTTPS connection. S-HTTPS is the IETF RFC
that describes syntax for securing messages sent using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which forms the basis for
the World Wide Web. S-HTTP provides independently applicable security services for transaction confidentiality,
authenticity/integrity and non-repudiability of origin. S-HTTP emphasizes maximum flexibility in choice of key management
mechanisms, security policies and cryptographic algorithms by supporting option negotiation between parties for each
transaction.
ICMP – The Internet Control Message Protocol notifies the IP datagrams sender about abnormal events. ICMP might
indicate, for example, that an IP datagram cannot reach an intended destination, cannot connect to the requested service, or
that the network has dropped a datagram due to old age. ICMP also returns information to the transmitter, such as end-to-
end delay for datagram transmission.
IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) – The international standards body that has standardized the IP protocol and most
of the other successful protocols used on the Internet. The IETF web page is at http://www.ietf.org/.
IKE (Internet Key Exchange) – A hybrid Internet protocol used to establish a shared security policy and authenticated
“keys” for services, such as IPSec, that require keys.
IP – The Internet Protocol (IP) is the basic protocol for the transmission of Internet information. It has been in use virtually
unchanged since 1974. It establishes and ends connections, as well as recognizing errors. By using NAT and Masquerading,
private networks can be mapped onto official IP addresses. This way, the Ipv4 address space will still last a long time.
Standard Internet open protocols include:
Protocol Function
TCP/IP basic network communication
HTTP browsing
NFS File Service
IMAP4/SMTP Mail Service
DNS Naming Service
DNS/LDAP Directory Services
Bootp/DHCP Booting Services
SNMP Network Administration
IP Address – A 32-bit number that identifies the devices using the IP protocol. An IP address can be unicast, broadcast, or
multicast. See RFC 791 for more information. Every host has a clear IP address, comparable with a telephone number. An
IP address consists of four decimal numbers between 1 and 254, divided by dots (e.g., a possible IP address is 212.6.145.0.
At least one name of the form xxx belongs to every IP address (e.g. xxx). This defines a computer with the name ox that is in
the sub domain xxx of the sub domain xxx of the domain xxx. Like with IP addresses, the individual name parts are divided
by dots. However, as opposed to IP addresses, IP names are not limited to four parts. Also, several IP names can be
assigned to one IP address; these are referred to as aliases.
IP Header – The part of the IP packet that carries data used on packet routing. The size of this header is 20 bytes, but
usually the IP options following this header are also calculated as header. The maximum length of the header is 60 bytes.
The header format is defined in RFC 791.
IP Packet – A self-contained independent entity of data carrying sufficient information to be routed from the source to the
destination computer without relying on any earlier exchange between this source and destination computer and the
transporting network. The Internet Protocol (IP) is defined in RFC 791.
IP Payload – The part of the IP packet that carries upper level application data.
IPSec (IP Security) – A set of IETF standards that provide authentication and encryption for IP-based and Internet-based
VPNs.
Key – A data string which, when combined with source data (packet) using a special algorithm, produces output that cannot
be read without that specific key. Key data strings are typically 40-168 bits in length.
Key Agreement – A process used by two or more parties to agree upon a secret symmetric key.
Key Exchange – A process used by two more parties to exchange keys in cryptosystems.
Key Generation – The act or process of creating a key.
Key Management – The various processes that deal with the creation, distribution, authentication, and storage of keys.
Key Pair – Full key information in a public-key cryptosystem; consists of the public key and private key.
L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol) – A security protocol that facilitates the tunneling of PPP packets across an
intervening network in a way that is highly-transparent to both end-users and applications. L2TP is defined in IETF RFC
2661.