Non-alphabetic

1TR6: 1TR6 is a widely deployed, German- specific ISDN switch standard that existed prior to the ETSI NET3 standard.
10BASE-T: IEEE 802.3 Physical layer specification for 10-Mbps Ethernet over two pairs of Category 3, 4, or 5 UTP wire.
100BASE-FX: Proposed IEEE 802.3 Physical layer specification for 100-Mbps Ethernet over two strands of fiber.
100BASE-T: The group of proposed IEEE 802.3 Physical layer specifications for 100-Mbps over various wiring specifications.
100BASE-T4: Proposed IEEE 802.3 Physical layer specification for 100-Mbps Ethernet over four pairs of Category 3, 4, or 5 UTP wire.
100BASE-TX: Proposed IEEE Physical layer specification for 100- Mbps CSMA/CD over two pairs of Category 5 UTP or STP wire.
100VG-AnyLAN: A 100-Mbps technology under development by Hewlett- Packard that uses a demand priority network access method.
802: A set of IEEE specifications for local area networks (LANs) and metropolitan area networks (MANs).
802.1: general management and internetwork operations such as bridging.
802.2: sets standards at the logical link control sublayer of the data link layer.
802.3: CSMA/CD (Ethernet) standards, which apply at the physical layer and the media access control (MAC) sublayer.
802.4: token passing bus standards. 802.5: token ring standards.
802.6: MAN standards.
IEEE 802 standards become ANSI standards and usually are accepted as international standards.

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AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Any communication which supplements or augments speech, including words, sign systems and written sysmbols. The user indicates the symbols needed from a book, chart or electronic aid. It attempts to provide those with severe expressive disorders with an efficient communication system.
AAL: ATM Adaption Layer
AAL 3/4: An AAL enables connection-oriented transfer of connectionless data, i.e., SMDS.
AAL5: A low-overhead AAL tailored for data, such as Frame Relay and multiprotocol LAN packets.
ABM (Asynchronous Balanced Mode): A communication mode used in HDLC that allows either of two workstations in a peer-oriented point-to-point configuration to initiate a data transfer.
ABR: Area Border Routers
ABR: Available bit rate
Access Method: Generally, the method by which networked stations determine when they can transmit data on a shared transmission medium. Also, the software within an SNA processor that controls the flow of information through a network.
ACS: Access Control System
Access SecuritySystem: Remote access security software that works with network-based security servers.
Active Hub: A multiport device that amplifies LAN transmission signals.
Adapter: A board installed in a computer system, usually a PC, to provide network communication capabilities to and from that computer system. Also called a network interface card (NIC).
ADN: Advanced Digital Network.
ADRI: Advanced Distributed Recovery Intelligence
AFP (AppleTalk* Filing Protocol): Protocol that lets workstations access files from remote file servers. The protocol corresponds to layer 6 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. See OSI.
Agent: Software that receives queries and returns replies on behalf of an application. In network management systems, agents reside in all managed devices and report the values of specified variables to management stations.
AIW: APPN Implementors Workshop
AL: Attention Line
AMP: Adapter Management Protocol
ANSI: American National Standards Institute
API (Application Program Interface): Means of communication between programs to give one program transparent access to another. APIs serve various computing purposes. In networking, for example, an API offers software applications (such as a database manager) transparent access to OS/2* files,devices or interprocess communications.
APPC (Advanced Program-to-Program Communications): Implementation of SNATM LU 6.2 sessions that permits personal computers in an SNA network to communicate in real time with the mainframe host and other networks.
Applet: A small Java programthat maybe used on a Web page.
AppleTalk: An Apple* networking system that operates over STP wire at 230 Kbps.
Application layer: Layer 7 of the OSI Reference Model; implemented by various network applications, including electronic mail, file transfer and terminal emulation.
APPN (Advanced Peer-to-Peer): NetworkinSNA facility that provides distributed processing based on Type 2.1 network nodes and LU 6.2.
APPN-NN: Advanced Peer-to-Peer NetworkingNetwork Node
ARAP: AppleTalk Remote Access Protocol
ARB: Adaptor Request Blocks
Archie: A network service that searches FTP sites for files.
ARP (Address Resolution Protocol): Internet protocol for dynamically mapping Internet addresses to physical hardware addresses on LANs. Limited to LANs that support hardware broadcast.
ARPANET: Advanced Research Projects Agency Network - a system developed by ARPANET in the 1960's as the first resilient large-scale packet switched network. A precursor to the Internet, it was in use between 1971 and 1990 when it was officially dismantled.
ASBR: Autonomous System Boundary Router
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASIC: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
Async (Asynchronous): A form of communication in which data is sent using start and stop bits, without regard for the time needed for transmission.Compare to synchronous transmission.
Async-Sync PPP Conversion:: Method by which PPP data sent between a computers COM port and the ISDN is converted by the terminal adapter to/from asynchronous to synchronous traffic.
AT (Asynchronous Transmission): Data transmission one character at a time, with intervals of varying lengths between transmittals. Start and stop bits at the beginning and end of each character control the transmission.
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode): A packet switching technique which uses packets, or cells, of fixed length to transmit multiple types of information (voice, video, data). Speeds vary from the 1.5 Mpbs to 622 Mbps and above. Also referred to as BISDN.
ATM Forum: An industry alliance of more than 500 companies dedicated to rapidly standardizing ATM through design and specification work.
ATM Layer: The part of the BISDN protocol stack that handles most of the ATM routing and processing.
ATM Switch: A hardware device that takes an incoming ATM cell and directs it to one or more of many potential output interfaces.
Attenuation: The decrease in magnitude of the power of a signal transmitted over a wire, measured in decibels. As attenuation increases, signal power decreases.
AU: Access Unit
AUI (Attachment Unit Interface) Cable: An IEEE 802.3 cable connecting the MAU (Media Access Unit) to a networked device; AUI also may refer to the host backpanel connector to which an AUI cable attaches.
Autonomous System (AS): In Internet (TCP/IP) terminology, a series of gateways or routers that fall under a single administrative entity and cooperate using the same Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP).
AUI: Attachment Unit Interface
Auto-partitioning: A function of all repeaters, whereby a faulty segment is automatically isolated to prevent the fault affecting the entire network. The segment is automatically reconnected by the repeater when the fault condition is rectified.

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Backbone: A LAN or WAN that interconnects intermediate systems (bridges and/or routers).
Backplane: The main bus that carries data within a device.
Balun (balanced-unbalanced): An impedance-matching device that connects a balanced line (such as a twisted-pair line) with an unbalanced line (such as a coaxial cable).
Bandwidth: Measure of the information capacity of a transmission channel. Strictly speaking, bandwidth is the difference, expressed in hertz (Hz), between the highest and lowest frequencies of the channel.
Bandwidth-on-demand: (see Dynamic bandwidth allocation)
Baseband: Transmission scheme in which the entire bandwidth, or data-carrying capacity, of a medium (such as coaxial cable) is used to carry a single digital pulse, or signal, between multiple users. Because digital signals are not modulated, only one kind of data can be transmitted at a time. Contrast with broadband.
Basic Rate ISDN: An a version of ISDN offering two 64 Kbps channels (B-channels) for speech or data and a 16 Kbps channel (D-channel) for signalling and control purposes. Aggregate data rate: (2x64)+16=144 Kbps.
Bastion Host: A machine placed on the perimeter network to provide publicly available services. Although secured against attack, it is assumed to be compromised because it is exposed to the Internet.
Baud Rate: The number of signal events per second occurring on a single communications channel. Often taken to mean bit rate, though not really accurate.
BBS: Bulletin Board System - a software package that interacts with one or more dial-up lines to allow users to communicate with other users by reading and writing messages aswell as enabling them to download and upload files.
B-Channel: The main type of channel in ISDN. It's a full duplex, 64 Kbps channel for sending data and voice. Basic Rate ISDN has two B-Channels and Primary Rate ISDN has between 6 and 30.
Beacon: Token ring frame signaling that the ring is inoperative because of a serious hard error; defective cable or faulty nodes are possible causes.
BECN: Backward Explicit Congestion Notification
BER (Basic Encoding Rule): Rule for encoding data units described in ANS.1; also, bit error rate, or the ratio of received bits that are in error.
BGP (Border Gateway Protocol): Protocol for communications between a router in one autonomous system and routers in other ASs.
Binary synchronous communication, or bisync: Character-oriented data link protocol for half-duplex applications. Usually bisync.
BISDN (Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network): Communications standard designed to handle high bandwidth applications such as video over broadband. See ATM.
Bit: BIinary digiT - has only two possible values 0 or 1.
Bit error rate: Percentage of bits in a transmittal received in error.
BitNet: Because It's Time NETwork - a network, separate from the Internet, of educational institutions. Becoming less commonly used.
Bit rate: The number of bits travelling per second in a data stream.
BNC connector: Standard connector to link IEEE 802.3 10BASE2 coaxial cable to a transceiver.
BOC: Bell Operating Company (see RBOC).
Bonding: An international standard for aggregating multiple data channels into a single logical connection. Very popular in videoconferencing applications.
Bookmark: A method of marking a World Wide Web address (URL) that you wish to go back to. Known as a "hotlist" in Mosaic and "Favourites" in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
BootP: Protocol that a network workstation uses on boot up to determine the IP address of its Ethernet interfaces.
Boot PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory): Nonvolatile memory that contains information necessary for initializing a system. Boot PROM information can be transmitted over a network.
Bottlenecks: Traffic slowdowns that result when too many network nodes try to access a single node, often a server node, at once.
Bounce: To return undeliverable email to the sender. The term is sometimes used when a data packet is repeatedly sent between two routers (because of a routing problem) until it's time to live or hop count expires.
Boundary Function: Capability of SNA subarea nodes -- encountered most often in IBM 3745 high-speed communications controllers -- to offer protocol support for attached peripheral nodes.
Boundary Routing System Architecture: Software algorithms and methodology that enable a router at a central node of a wide area network to perform protocol-specific routing and bridging path table management on behalf of a router at a peripheral (leaf) node, greatly simplifying the router at the leaf node.
BPDU (Bridge Protocol Data Units): A packet to initiate communications between devices under a spanning-tree protocol. Compare PDU.
Bps: bits per second
BRASICA: Bridging Application-Specific Integrated Circuit.
BRI(Basic Rate Interface): The ISDN interface comprising two B channels and one 16 K bit/second D channel.
Bridge: A device that interconnects local or remote networks no matter what higher level protocols (such as XNS* or TCP/IP) are involved. Bridges form a single logical network, centralizing network administration. They operate at the physical and link layers of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) reference model. See SRT (source routing transparent) bridge, and STA (Spanning Tree Algorithm). Contrast with router and gateway.
Bridge/router: A device that can provide the functions of a bridge, router or both concurrently. A bridge/router can route one or more protocols, such as TCP/IP and/or XNS, and bridge all other traffic.
Broadband: One of two methods used to transmit information around a LAN, the other being Baseband. Broadband uses modems to modulate the signal before putting it onto the LAN media. Multiple frequency channels are provided which operate independently of each carrying voice, data or video.This is usually done using Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM).; Alternate definition - Usually taken to mean "faster than commonly occuring networks", so the real meaning depends on what the most common network speeds are at the time. At the moment anything operating at speeds faster than 34Mbps is referred to as broadband.
Broadband ISDN: A version of ISDN that works at Broadband speeds. This is different from Primary Rate ISDN which consists of a number of 64Kbps channels and is not a fully integrated service. The two main proposed Broadband ISDN rates are 150Mbps and 600Kbps.
Broadcast: A message forwarded to all network destinations.
Broadcast Storm: Multiple simultaneous broadcasts that typically absorb available network bandwidth and can cause network time-outs.
Buffer: Area in a device for temporary storage of data in transit; can accommodate differences in processing speeds between devices by storing data blocks until they are ready to be processed by a slower device.
BUS (Broadcast and Unknown Server): It provides the broadcast function and resolution of unknown addresses for LAN Emulation which is connection-oriented.
Bypass Mode: Operating mode on ring networks such as FDDI and token ring in which an interface has de-inserted from the ring.
Byte Order: There are two main conventions for the ordering of bytes within multi-byte integers - "big-endian" (most significant byte first) and "little-endian" (least significant byte first). This is vendor dependent, for instance SUN machines use "big-endian" where as DEC machines use "little-endian". Obviously this can cause problem when sharing sets of data between machines. Software utilities such as "dd" in Unix can be used to "byte swap" (ie convert data produced using one convention for use on a machine that uses the other).

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Caching: Speeds information processing by storing information from a transaction to use for later transactions.
CAE (Common Applications Environment): Computer environment in which applications can be ported across various manufacturers' X/Open systems. The CAE contains standards for the operating system, networking protocols, languages and data management.
CAPI: In Europe, CAPI (Common Application Interface) provides a common ISDN software platform for communication applications.
CAU (Controller Access Unit): A managed concentrator on a token ring network -- essentially, an intelligent version of an MAU. Handles the ring in/ring out function.
CCITT: Comit� Consultatif International T�l�graphique et T�l�phonique (Consultative Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone) An international organization that develops communications standards known as "Recommendations" for all internally controlled forms of analogue and digital communication ("Recommendation X.25" for example).
Client/Server: A distributed system model of computing that brings computing power to the desktop, where users (clients) access resources held on servers.
CCS: Common Channel Signaling
CDDI(Copper Distributed Data Interface): FDDI over UTP or STP copper media.
CEC: Communications Engine Controller, the main processor for the NETBuilder II.
Cell relay: Network transmission format that uses small packets of uniform size, called cells. The fixed-length cells can be processed and transmitted by hardware at very high speeds. Acts as a basis for SMDS Interface Protocol and ATM.
Chaining: In SNA, a grouping of RUs (Request/Response Units) to aid error recovery.
Channel Aggregation: Channel aggregation combines multiple physical channels into one logical channel of greater bandwidth. With BRI ISDN connections, channel aggregation would combine the two 64 K bit B channels into a single, logical 128 K bit channel.
CHAP: Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
Cheapernet: The IEEE 802.3 10BASE2 standard (or cable used in such installations). Thinnet, another term for the standard, specifies a less expensive, thinner version of traditional Ethernet cable.
CICS (Customer Information Control System): An IBM application subsystem that permits transactions entered at remote terminals to be processed concurrently by user applications.
CIR (Committed Information Rate): The transport speed the frame relay network will maintain between service locations.
Circuit-Switched Network: Network that establishes a physical circuit temporarily, until it receives a disconnect signal.
CLNP (Connectionless Network Protocol): See Connectionless Network Service.
Clock: Any of the sources of timing signals used in isochronous data transmission.
CMIP/CMIS (Common Management Information Protocol/Services): An OSI-based protocol that provides standard ways to manage large multivendor networks.
CMOL: CMIP Over LLC
CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
CMOT (CMIP Over TCP/IP): An Internet standard defining the use of CMIP (an OSI- based protocol) over TCP for managing TCP/IP networks.
CMT (Connection Management): Process in FDDI for controlling the transition of the ring through its various operating states (off, connect, active, etc.), under the X3T9.5 specification.
CNAP: Computer and Network Advisory Panel.
CO (Central Office): A local telephone company office which connects to all local loops in a given area and where circuit switching of customer lines occurs.
CO-IPX: Connection Oriented IPX. A native ATM protocol based on IPX under development by Novell.
Collapsed Backbone: Network architecture under which the backplane of a device such as a hub performs the function of a network backbone; the backplane routes traffic between desktop nodes and between other hubs serving multiple LANs.
Common Carrier: Licensed utility that provides communications services at government-regulated rates.
Compression: Reducing the size of a data set to lower the bandwidth or space required for transmission or storage.
Concentrator: Device that serves as a wiring hub in star-topology network. Sometimes refers to a device containing multiple modules of network equipment.
Conditioned analog line: Analog line to which devices have been added to imrpvoe the electrical signal.
Congestion: Excessive network traffic.
Congestion Control: In a frame relay network, the mechanisms (see BECN and FECN) designed to limit excessive traffic and provide network switches with a means of alerting the access node (e.g., a router) to slow its transmission.
Connection (or Call) Spoofing:: The concept of mimicking correct responses to keep level requests alive at the local end of a temporarily broken connection is called connection (or call) spoofing. Call spoofing saves connect time charges by allowing the call to be disconnected without causing the NOS to time-out the client/host connection. It also enhances data throughput by keeping the line clear of these network administration packets.
Connectionless Communications: A form of packet-switching that relies on global addresses in each packet rather than on predefined virtual circuits.
Connectionless Network Service (CLNS): Packet-switched network where each packet of data is independent and contains complete address and control information; can minimize the effect of individual line failures and distribute the load more efficiently across the network.
Connection-oriented Communications: A form of packet-switching that requires a predefined circuit from source to destination to be established before data can be transferred.
Connectivity system: A collection of network devices that are logically related and managed as a single entity.
Control System: Control Systems measure environmental changes and perform actions in response to those changes.
CONS (Connection-Oriented Network Service): An OSI protocol for packet-switched networks that exchange information over a virtual circuit (a logical circuit where connection methods and protocols are pre-established); address information is exchanged only once. CONS must detect a virtual circuit between the sending and receiving systems before it can send packets.
Contention: Network access method where devices compete for the right to access the physical medium.
Convergence: When all routers on a network use a consistent perspective of the network topology.
CoreBus: The chassis backbone in the NETBuilder II
COS: Class Of Service
COSP: Connection-Oriented Session Protocol
CPCS: Common Part Convergence Sublayer
CPE (Customer Premises Equipment): Terminating equipment, such as terminals, phones and modems, supplied by the phone company, installed at customer sites and connected to the phone company network.
CPN: Customer Premises Network
CSMA/CD (Carrier-Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection): Channel access method used by Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 in which devices transmit only after finding the data channel clear for some period of time. When two devices transmit simultaneously, a collision occurs and the colliding devices delay their retransmissions for a random length of time.
CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit): A digital interface unit that connects end user equipment to the local digital telephone loop.
Custom Signaling: ISDN signaling protocols used in AT&T and Northern Telecom switches prior to the advent of the National ISDN 1 standard.
CWIS: Campus-Wide Information System.

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DA: Destination MAC Address
DAC (Dual Attached Concentrator; also digital-to-analog converter): A device that is attached to and allows access to both rings in an FDDI network.
DANTE: Delivery of Advanced Network Technology in Europe - an organisation based in Cambridge, England. For more information see the DANTE web site.
DAS (Dual-Attached Station): A station with two connections to an FDDI network, one to each logical ring. If one of the rings should fail, the network automatically reconfigures to continue normal operation.
DASD: Direct Access Storage Device
Data flow control layer: Layer 5 of the SNA architectural model.
Data link control layer: Layer 2 in the SNA architectural model.
DCE (Data Communications -- or Data Circuit- terminating --Equipment): A communications device that can establish, maintain and terminate a connection (for example, a modem). A DCE may also provide signal conversion between the data terminal equipment (DTE) and the common carrier's channel. Contrast DTE.
D-Channel: D-Channels are the 16 Kbps (basic rate) or 64 Kbps (primary rate) full duplex ISDN signaling channels which carries messages between the customer equipment and the public switch. Messages can communicate call request information (phone numbers) and incoming call information, for example.
DDS: Digital Data Service
DECNet*: Digital Equipment Corporation's proprietary network architecture.
Dedicated line: A transmission circuit installed between two sites of a private network and "open," or available, at all times.
Default route: Entry in a routing table that can re-direct any frames for which the table has no definitive listing for the next hop.
Delay: Amount of time a call spends waiting to be processed.
Demodulation: Opposite of modulation; the process of retrieving data from a modulated carrier wave.
DES: Data Encryption Standard - an encryptian scheme approved for use within the US by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Designated router: In OSPF, each multiaccess network with at least two attached routers has a designated router. The designated router has special duties in the running of the protocol, such as generating a link state advertisement for the multiaccess network. This concept helps reduce the number of adjacencies required on a multiaccess network, which cuts routing protocol traffic and the size of the topological database.
Dial up: A type of communication that is established by a switched-circuit connection using the telephone network.
Digital modem:: A digital modem accepts an analog call over a 64 K bit ISDN channel and interprets it via software as a call originated by an analog modem. This process generally requires the use of a DSP to break the analog signal into an equivalent digital bit stream.
DLC (Data Link Control): The SNA layer responsible for transmission of data between two nodes over a physical link.
DLCI (Data Link Connection Identifier): A value in frame relay that identifies a logical connection.
DLSw Data Link Switching: It is a method of encapsulating, or tunneling, Logical Link Control Type 2 (LLC2) packets from LAN-based SNA and NetBIOS applications, enabling them to traverse a non-SNA backbone. Specified in FRC 1434.
DLCX: Data Link Control Exchange
DLUR/DLUS: Dependent LU Requester/Dependent LU Server
DMA: Direct Memory Access
DMA: Distributed Management Architecture
Domain (Domain Name): Part of the DNS naming hierarchy which identifies a particular network or sub-network. The unique address that identifies a network or Internet site consist of two or more domains, separated by dots, starting with the most specific and ending with the most general. Any given network may have more than one Domain Name, but any one Domain Name can only apply to one network.
DNS: Domain Name System, maps Internet Protocol addresses to named computers via a set of distributed databases which are automatically updated.
DPA: Demand Protocol Architecture
DPAM: Demand Priority Access Method
DQDB (Distributed Queue Dual Bus): Communication protocol proposed by IEEE 802.6 committee for use in MANs.
DRA: Distributed Repeater Architecture
DRI (Distributed Recovery Intelligence): The ability to track down a network problem and automatically isolate the malfunctioning node.
Drop cable: A cable that connects a network device such as a computer to a physical medium such as an Ethernet network. Drop cable is also called transceiver cable because it runs from the network node to a transceiver (a transmit/receiver) attached to the trunk cable. Compare AUI cable.
DS (Digital Signal): Standard specifying the electrical characteristics for data transmission over four-wire telco circuits. DS1 is 1.544 Mbps and DS3 is 44.736 Mbps. Also referred to as T1 and T3.
DS-1: Digital (transmission) System 1, or Digital Signal level 1; refers to the 1.44 Mbps (U.S.) or 2.108 Mbps (Europe) digital signal carried on a T1 circuit.
DS-3: Digital (transmission) System 3, or Digital Signal level 3; refers to the 44 Mbps digital signal carried on a T3 circuit.
DSP: A digital signal processor (DSP) is a CPU that is tailored to handle complex mathematical functions.
DSPU: Downstream Physical Unit
DSU/CSU (Data service unit/channel service unit): A data service unit/channel service unit connects an external digital circuit to a digital circuit on the customers premises. The DSU converts data into the correct format, and the CSU terminates the line, conditions the signal, and participates in remote testing of the connection.
DTE (Data Terminal Equipment): End-user equipment, typically a terminal or computer, that can function as the source or destination point of communication on the network. Contrast DCE.
DTR: Data Terminal Ready (modems)
DTR: Dedicated Token Ring
Dual-attached servers: Servers attached to both paths of an FDDI ring for load balancing and redundancy.
Dual homing: Method used to connect a DAS or DAC to a pair of concentrators on an FDDI ring; used when server or station availability is critical in a network.
DXI Data Exchange Interface: Allows a DTE (such as a router) and a DCE (such as an ATM DSU) to provide an ATM UNI for networks.
Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation:: The ability to add and drop B channels based on the sending of threshold data levels. Specifically, the ability to raise a call over a 2nd B channel when the first B channel becomes saturated and to drop the call when data rates decline.
Dynamic routing: Routing that adjusts automatically to changes in network topology or traffic.

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E-1: European designation for T-1.
E-3: European designation for T-3.
EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code): An 8-bit data-exchange code used in IBM* mainframes, other computer systems, and associated communications equipment. EBCDIC and ASCII are the two most widely used data codes.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange): Method for passing database information and other transactions in standard form electronically between locations or organizations.
EDL: Ethernet Data Link
EEPROM: Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol)(TCP/IP): The service by which gateways exchange information about what systems they can reach; generally, an exterior gateway protocol is any internetworking prototcol for passing routing information between autonomous systems.
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture): PC bus systems that is an alternative to IBM's Micro Channel Architecture (MCA). The EISA architecture, backed by an industry consortium headed by Compaq*, is compatible with the IBM AT bus; MCA is not.
E-mail Attachment: A binary file attached to an e-mail message carrying more complex information, for example, a document with formatting codes, images or sound.
Encapsulation: Wrapping a data set in a protocol header. For example, Ethernet data is wrapped in a specific Ethernet header before network transit. Also, a method of bridging dissimilar networks where the entire frame from one network is simply enclosed in the header used by the link-layer protocol of the other network.
Encryption: Applying a specific algorithm to data so as to alter the data's appearance and prevent other devices from reading the information. Decryption applies the algorithm in reverse to restore the data to its original form.
End system: End-user device on a network. Also, a nonrouting host or node in an OSI network.
Enterprise network: Larger network connecting most major points in a company. Differs from a WAN in that it is typically private and contained within a single organization.
Entity: Individual, manageable device in a network. Also, OSI terminology for a layer protocol machine. An entity within a layer performs the functions of the layer within a single computer system, accessing the layer entity below and providing services to the layer entity above at local service access points.
EPROM