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glossary menu
Every now and then we come across terminology
that leaves us scratching our heads as to the meaning of certain acronyms, buzzwords or
new IT terms emanating from our friends at Redmond (or Reading!). With this in mind, we've
put together a glossary of terms for you to use, print off or cut-n-paste to your desktop
which will help you sort out your ASPs (Active Server Pages) from your ASPs (Application
Service Provider).
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OSPF |
Open
Shortest Path First (OSPF), one of two dynamic routing protocols that Windows 2000 (Win2K)
supports, provides an efficient but complex dynamic routing mechanism in mid- to
large-sized networks. Unlike Routing Information Protocol (RIP) routers, OSPF routers keep
a map of the network that updates whenever there's a change in the network topology. OSPF
divides the network into areas connected to each other by a backbone area. Each router
keeps track of link state databases for adjacent areas. Connecting the backbone area to
other areas is the responsibility of area border routers (ABRs). |
PKCS |
Also
known as personal information exchange format (PFX), Public Key Cryptography Standards
(PKCS) #12 is an industry standard format for backing up and restoring certificates and
their private keys. Windows 2000 (Win2K) supports PKCS #12 and other cryptography
standards such as PKCS #7 and PKCS #10 as part of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
PKCS #12 lets you transport certificates and their keys from one computer to another, or
from a computer to a removable media. This standard supports the transfer of certificates
between products from the same or different vendors. |
PKI |
Public
Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a term that describes the standards, policies, and software
components that manage certificates. Electronic transactions use PKI with digital
certificates and certificate authorities to verify and authenticate participants. PKI
offers a strong authentication mechanism and simplifies administration because it lets you
issue certificates (which you can map to user accounts in AD) instead of passwords. PKI
deployment secures exchange of information over public networks such as the Internet. You
can transfer data securely using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security
(TLS), or Secure MIME (S/MIME). |
Round
robin |
Round
robin is a technique that DNS uses to distribute a load among multiple hosts. When a
client sends a query to the DNS server for a host that contains multiple resource records,
the server round robins (rotates) the order of IP addresses in the responses. |
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