Glossary
About this glossary
Networking terminology can be extremely confusing to beginners because the terminology is neither logical nor consistent. There are three reasons. First, because no single theory explains all of networking, the terminology is not derived from one underlying theoretical framework. Second, because many groups and organizations have developed and standardized networking technologies, there are variations in terminology. Third, practitioners have invented informal terms and abbreviations that are often used in place of formal technical terms.This glossary includes terminology used in practice as well as technical terms found in literature. The definitions are brief - they include neither detailed explanations of terms nor examples. Instead, the definitions are meant to refresh the reader's memory by giving an overview of the general concept associated with each term.
Acronyms and terms are listed in alphabetical order, with the expansion of
an acronym given in parenthesis.
For example, the acronym MTU is followed by the expansion,
(Maximum Transmission Unit)
Using the electronic glossary
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