Network Terms "I"

Network Glossary and acronym's

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

.INF file

Files that contain the necessary Registry keys for specific policy settings. You use the System Preparation Tool and the Setup Manager Wizard to create .INF files for Windows 2000.

IAB (Internet Architecture Board)

A technical advisory group of the Internet Society responsible for setting Internet standards including publishing RFC's and overseeing the standards process. This organization governs the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA), and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF).

IAS (Internet Authentication Service)

Software services that furnish authentication and security for dial-in users.

IBGP (Internal BGP)

Internal BGP (IBGP) is used by BGP to exchange information within the autonomous system.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)

ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is a private non-profit corporation tasked with IP address space allocation, protocol assignment, and domain name system management.

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)

An Internet protocol used to report errors and control messages on behalf of IP. ICMP reports errors and provides feedback on specific conditions. ICMP messages are carried as IP datagrams and therefore are not reliable.

IDE (Integrated Device Electronics)

A standard electronic interface that allows a computer to communicate with a storage device such as the hard drive or a CD-ROM drive.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

A technical professional group that, among other contributions, develops standards (such as the 802.x series of standards) that often become national and international standards.

IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)

This organization works to develop solutions to technical problems as they occur on the Internet. They also work to develop Internet standards and protocols.

IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol)

Informs routers that hosts of a certain multicast group are available on a given network. This information is then passed to other routers so that each router that supports multicasting is aware of which host groups are on a particular network. IGMP packets are transported using IP datagrams, and are considered unreliable.

IGMP message

IGMP messages to exchange information, such as routing diagrams, with other routers.

IGMP snooping

IGMP snooping enables a switch to detect multicast patterns and multicast traffic in the overall traffic flow on a network; thus making a switch aware of Layer 3. IGMP Snooping listens to multicast join and remove messages to:

Restrict unwanted traffic flow.
Allow traffic to flow to the optimal ports.

IGP (Interior Gateway Protocol)

Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) is a routing protocol that exchanges information within an autonomous system and can be controlled by the system in which they operate. The most common examples of IGPs are Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Intermediate System-Intermediate System (IS-IS), and Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP).

IIS (Internet Information Server)

A network server that allows you to send HTML documents using HTTP. IIS installs with Windows 2000 Server. Peer Web Services (PWS) installs with Windows 2000 Professional.

IMAP4 (Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4)

Like POP3, IMAP4 is a protocol that allows a client to download messages from a server. (It does not allow you to send messages.) IMAP4 is much more powerful than POP3. For example, with IMAP4, you can open all folders in your mailbox, not just the Inbox, as well as public folders on the server.

IN record

A type of name service record that can be defined by using the DNS Console utility.

In-band management

In-band management uses a normal network connection with the server for performing management tasks. Tools such as Telnet, Remote Desktop, or SNMP provide in-band server management.

Incremental backup

A backup method that copies to tape only those files that have not been marked by the previous normal or incremental backups. After backing the files to tape, an incremental backup marks each file as having been backed up.

Individual NTFS permissions (special access permissions)

The NTFS file system provides the ability to assign individual users access rights to files and folders.

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)

A 16-bit I/O bus slot found on 286 through Pentium machines. ISA buses:

Have DIP switches and jumpers.
Have 98 pins.
Are backwards compatible with earlier 8-bit designs.
Are more likely to be paired with PCI buses rather than being replaced by EISA.
Are normally black plastic.

Infrared (IR)

Infrared (IR) wireless networking employs light waves that are outside of the visible light spectrum. IR networks are very insecure because the signals are not encrypted, and they can be easily intercepted.

Initialization aid

A hardware device that lets you reset the relays on a multi-station access unit.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

A technical professional group that, among other contributions, develops standards (such as the 802.x series of standards) that often become national and international standards.

Integrated Device Electronics (IDE)

A standard electronic interface that allows a computer to communicate with a storage device such as the hard drive or a CD-ROM drive.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

ISDN is another alternative to traditional dial-up that can be used to connect to the Internet or to directly communicate with another computer connected to the ISDN network. ISDN is more common in Europe than in the U.S. ISDN can use regular telephone wiring, but must be connected to a special ISDN network. Levels of ISDN service include:

BRI (Basic Rate Interface):
- 2 64-Kbps bearer (B) channels can transfer data up to 128 Kbps. Only one B channel is used during phone use.
- 1 16-Kbps delta (D) channel for connection control.
PRI (Primary Rate Interface):
- 23 B channels (each at 64 Kbps) for data transmission.
- 1 D channel (at 64 Kbps) for connection control.

Intel x86 machines

A computer containing an IBM-compatible processor built by Intel, Cyrix, or AMD.

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)

The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a specification for monitoring physical information about a computer. IPMI is an embedded chip on the motherboard, referred to as the baseboard management controller, which provides system information that allows the network administrator to monitor and manage a remote system, even if the remote system is not powered on.

Interactive

A system group that is not used for network administration but automatically includes a user who logs on to the computer locally. Interactive members access resources on the computer at which they are physically sitting by logging on and interacting with that computer.

Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)

Interleave ratio

Sectors on a hard disk are not consecutively numbered. Instead, they are interleaved. this gives the hard disk drive interface time to process the data before the subsequently-numbered sector passes beneath the read/write head. An interleave ratio of 1:1 has no interleave at all, a 1:2 ratio means the subsequently-numbered sector is the second sector from the current one, a 1:3 ratio means the next sector is three sectors from the current one, and so on.

Interleaving

Interleaving increases the rate at which data can be written to or read from a memory module by grouping data into contiguous blocks instead of dispersing data intermittently. The following components must be interleaving-enabled in order for interleaving to work:

Motherboard
BIOS
Memory Module

Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)

Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) is an OSI-based link-state routing protocol.

Internal BGP (IBGP)

Internal BGP (IBGP) is used by BGP to exchange information within the autonomous system.

Internal relay

Accepted domains identify the domains for which the organization is solely responsible and the SMTP domains from which the server will accept messages. There are three types of accepted domains in Exchange 2007:

Authoritative is the domain over which the Exchange server has sole responsibility. In a typical environment, the organization will have an e-mail domain of "company.com" which is hosted by the company's e-mail server. If another e-mail system or domain exists in the environment, internal and external relays are employed.
An internal relay is an e-mail domain that is hosted by another Active Directory Forest within the Exchange organization. This system uses different e-mail addresses, but all incoming mail goes through the Exchange organization.
An external relay accepts e-mail for an external organization and then delivers it to an external entity such as the Internet via the Edge Transport server.

Internal router

An internal router is located in the same area as all other interfaces. All internal routers with an area have the same are have identical LSDBs.

International Telecommunications Union (ITU)

A committee that has set most standards related to modems since the late 1980s.

Internet

A general name for the informal system of connected computers all around the world. These computers (and therefore their users) use telephone lines to send and receive data from other computers. In order to send and receive data accurately, the networking software inside the computers uses a set of commonly agreed upon protocols and computer languages.

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

Internet Authentication Service (IAS)

Software services that furnish authentication and security for dial-in users.

Internet clients

A client computer using SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, HTTP, LDAP, MIME, and/or NNTP protocols to connect to Web sites and receive and send Internet mail.

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is a private non-profit corporation tasked with IP address space allocation, protocol assignment, and domain name system management.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

This organization works to develop solutions to technical problems as they occur on the Internet. They also work to develop Internet standards and protocols.

Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)

Internet Information Server (IIS)

A network server that allows you to send HTML documents using HTTP. IIS installs with Windows 2000 Server. Peer Web Services (PWS) installs with Windows 2000 Professional.

Internet Layer

The layer in the TCP/IP protocol suite that includes four Internet protocols. They are Internet Protocol, Address Resolution Protocol, Internet Control Message Protocol, and Internet Group Management Protocol.

Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4 (IMAP4)

Internet Protocol (IP)

The protocol in TCP/IP that addresses and sends TCP packets on a network.

Internet Protocol Security (IPSec)

IPSec is a security mechanism that can be used as its own VPN protocol for network to network links or it can serve as the data encryption mechanism for other VPN protocols, such as L2TP.

IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) can be used to encrypt any traffic supported by the IP protocol. This includes Web, e-mail, telnet, file transfer, and SNMP traffic as well as countless others. IPSec is fully capable of providing a secure means to communicate for any LAN or Internet based system using TCP/IP.

IPSec is the most widely deployed VPN technology used for network to network VPN links. IPSec can be used to connect two individual systems, a system to a network, or two networks together. VPNs are used to connect trusted systems together over an untrusted network. The Internet is a common untrusted network used to connect distant networks together.

Use IPSec to encrypt data in a VPN tunnel as it passes between two communication partners. Even if someone intercepts the traffic, they will be unable to extract the contents of the messages because they are encrypted.

Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)

Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is an address family that is used to identify routing sessions for protocols that use standard IP version 4 address prefixes, such as BGP. In the IPv4 address family:

Unicast or multicast address prefixes can be specified.
Unicast routing information is advertised by default when a BGP peer is configured unless the advertisement of unicast IPv4 information is explicitly turned off.

Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)

This organization has the responsibility to coordinate all TCP/IP-related research projects.

Internet service provider (ISP)

An ISP (Internet service provider) is a company that provides Internet access and other web related services.

Internet Society (ISOC)

A global organization created in 1992. Responsible for the internetworking technologies and applications of the Internet. It is also responsible for the further development of the standards and protocols that allow the Internet to function.

Internetwork

A network that consists of multiple network segments. Each segment is defined by a separate network address. Internetworks are connected by routers that maintain tables with the addresses of each segment on the network.

Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX)

IPX/SPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange) is an older communication protocol used to interconnect clients and servers on a Novell NetWare operating system environment. IPX is a connectionless packet protocol that operates at the Network layer of communication. SPX is a transport layer protocol that sits on top of the IPX layer providing connection-oriented services between network nodes.

InterNIC

The Internet organization that has the responsibility to allocate all IP addresses.

Interprocess communications mechanisms

The methods by which tasks and processes to exchange data under a multitasking operating system. Mailboxes, queues, semaphores, shared memory, and signals are all IPC mechanisms.

Interrupt Request Line (IRQ)

A physical line that devices use to send signals to the processor when they want to send or receive information.

Intersite connection object

A connection object whose source and target replication partners exist in different sites.

Intersite replication

Replication between sites.

Intersite Topology Generator (ISTG)

A domain controller whose Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) establishes inbound intersite Connection objects for all bridgehead servers in a site.

Intranet

An intranet is a private network that happens to employ Internet information services.

Intrasite connection object

A connection object whose source and target replication partners exist in the same site.

Intrasite replication

Replication within a site.

Inverse lookup

The process used to resolve the host name associated with a known IP address when a host resolver sends a request to a name server.

IP (Internet Protocol)

The protocol in TCP/IP that addresses and sends TCP packets on a network.

IP Address

A unique address assigned to each computer (workstation or server) on an IP network so they can communicate with each other. IP addresses are usually written in dotted-decimal notation. Each address is made up of four 'octets' separated by periods. A typical IP address is written in decimal format. An IP address can be assigned permanently to a single computer (static) or assigned on a session basis by a service such as DHCP (dynamic).

IP multicasting

IP multicasting is a very efficient and effective tool for transmitting large amounts of data to multiple destinations.

Ipconfig

A TCP/IP utility. Type "ipconfig" at the command prompt to display the TCP/IP information for the computer.

IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface)

IPSec (Internet Protocol Security)

IPSec is a security mechanism that can be used as its own VPN protocol for network to network links or it can serve as the data encryption mechanism for other VPN protocols, such as L2TP.

IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4)

Unicast or multicast address prefixes can be specified.
Unicast routing information is advertised by default when a BGP peer is configured unless the advertisement of unicast IPv4 information is explicitly turned off.

IPv6

A new packet structure that has 128-bit source and destination IP addresses, which are four times larger than the current Ipv4. Ipv6 also provides for a simplified header format and supports time-dependent traffic for use with voice and video that require specified bandwidth. Ipv6 is also extensible to provide for additional headers if needed.

IPX/SPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange)

IRQ (Interrupt Request Line)

A physical line that devices use to send signals to the processor when they want to send or receive information.

IRTF (Internet Research Task Force)

This organization has the responsibility to coordinate all TCP/IP-related research projects.

ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)

A 16-bit I/O bus slot found on 286 through Pentium machines. ISA buses:

Have DIP switches and jumpers.
Have 98 pins.
Are backwards compatible with earlier 8-bit designs.
Are more likely to be paired with PCI buses rather than being replaced by EISA.
Are normally black plastic.

ISCSI

iSCSI is a network protocol that encapsulates storage device communication data into IP packets for transmission over an Ethernet connection allowing IP-connected hosts to access a Storage Area Network (SAN). iSCSI provides the benefits of a FC SAN without the cost of fibre channel hardware. Using Ethernet and iSCSI, you can create a very powerful, very fast SAN using off-the-shelf, commodity-grade Ethernet hardware such as Cat5/5e cabling and Ethernet switches.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

BRI (Basic Rate Interface):
- 2 64-Kbps bearer (B) channels can transfer data up to 128 Kbps. Only one B channel is used during phone use.
- 1 16-Kbps delta (D) channel for connection control.
PRI (Primary Rate Interface):
- 23 B channels (each at 64 Kbps) for data transmission.
- 1 D channel (at 64 Kbps) for connection control.

IS-IS (Intermediate System to Intermediate System)

Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) is an OSI-based link-state routing protocol.

ISOC (Internet Society)

ISP (Internet service provider)

An ISP (Internet service provider) is a company that provides Internet access and other web related services.

ISTG (Intersite Topology Generator)

A domain controller whose Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) establishes inbound intersite Connection objects for all bridgehead servers in a site.

ITU (International Telecommunications Union)

A committee that has set most standards related to modems since the late 1980s.

IUSR_computername

The standard Internet guest account that the server uses to allow anonymous connections to your Windows Internet server. When you install IIS or PWS, this file is automatically created.