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Network Monitoring Glossary of Terms

Having a hard time keeping up with Network Monitoring jargon? We’ve got you covered. Solutions Review’s A to Z Network Monitoring glossary has definitions for over 50 of the most popular terms and acronyms. Be sure to bookmark this page and check back on a regular basis as this page will see ongoing updates. And don’t forget to check out our 2017 Network Monitoring Buyer’s Guide for a complete market overview of the top 28 Network Monitoring solutions, available here.

A

Active Directory

A directory service that Microsoft developed for Windows domain networks.

A network node that is responsible for management tasks.

A signal passed between communication processes to signify response recipience as part of a communications protocol.

A new dimension of application performance that combines three dimensions of APM, which are application topology discovery and visualization, User-defined transaction profiling, and Application component deep-dive.

An area of IT that focuses on monitoring the performance of software application programs in order to provide end-users with a quality experience.

A set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building application software. These include, but aren’t limited to, Microsoft Windows API, C++ Standard Template Library, and Java APIs.

An NM tool that allows you to detect your entire web environment, visualize it into a single interactive infographic, and learn about your network environment’s performance without ignoring performance anomaly identification.

B

A measurement of the number of bits conveyed or processed (bit-rate) that are available or consumed in metric multiples of bits per second.

An NM tool that allows you to track end-to-end user activity for all web-based applications during network user sessions.

C

An IT model that enables configurable resources (computer networks, servers, applications, etc.) from users and enterprises to allow computing capabilities, such as storage or processing, with minimal management.

The process of moving data, applications or other business elements from an organization’s onsite computers to the cloud.

System of allowing multiple entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of physical quantity variations.

An OSI network management service interface used to monitor and control different computing systems.

A software application that can control an aspect of system configuration.

D

Method of IT management that reduces the size of a single facility, or merges one or more facilities to reduce overall operating costs and reduce IT footprint.

The unauthorized transfer of data from a computer.

Gathering information about a program’s possible values, then using a control flow graph to determine optimization methods for the program.

A measurement of how much activity the server’s disks are experiencing, which is measured in terms of megabytes per second.

The main directory of domain names which are then translated into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

E

A functionality that allows you to monitor the actual end user experience of any network component on any device.

The set of people, processes, and technology focused on managing mobile devices, wireless networks, and other mobile computing services in a business context.

H

A network that connects devices with different operating systems (Apple, Microsoft, Linux, Toshiba, etc).

An organization manages (IT) resources, some in-house but uses cloud-based services for others.

I

The principal communications protocol for sending and receiving datagrams across network boundaries, connecting multiple networks together across the Internet.

The application that allows computers to store, study, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data.

L

Converting, rewriting, or porting a legacy system into a modern computer hardware platform.

Of relating to an old/previous/outdated computing system.

A license management tool that protects software products against malicious software.

A computer network that connects devices within a limited space (schools, college campuses, office buildings, etc.)

M

The use of multiple cloud computing services in a single heterogeneous architecture.

N

The continuous monitoring of a network for unusual events or trends. NBAD offers security in addition to that provided by traditional anti-threat applications such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, antivirus software and spyware-detection software.

Using a system to constantly monitor a computer network(s) for hinderances or failures in the network’s components, which are then notified to network administrators for quick remediation.

A procedure for identifying active hosts on a network, either for the purpose of attacking them or for network security assessment.

An active electronic device that is attached to a network, and it’s capable of creating, receiving, or transmitting information over a communications channel.

O

A conceptual model that characterizes and standardizes the communication functions of a telecommunication or computing system without regard to their underlying internal structure and technology. It’s presented in seven abstraction layers:

  1. Physical: Transmits and receives streams of binary sequences over a physical medium.
  2. Data Link: Two nodes connected by a physical layer reliably transmits data frames.
  3. Network: Structures and manages the addressing, routing, and traffic control of a multi-node network.
  4. Transport: Through segmentation, acknowledgment, and multiplexing, data segments between points on a network are reliably transmitted.
  5. Session: Manages communication sessions through recipient transmissions between two nodes.
  6. Presentation: The translation of data between a networking service and an application.
  7. Application: High-level Application programming interfaces (APIs)

P

The process of dividing a data packet into smaller units for transmission over the network, and this usually happens at Layer 4 of the OSI model.

Unlike Forward Secrecy, PFS is a more advanced form of FS where a key is created to encrypt and decrypt messages between client and server, but this one is valid only for one session.

A utility to determine whether a specific IP Address is available.

R

The ability to use all available enterprise data as needed and usually involves streaming data that allows users to make decisions on the fly.

The process of managing software systems through locally installed software agents that provide the ability to install new or updated software remotely, threat detection, and provide reports.

A network monitoring technology \developed to analyze the routing protocols and structures in meshed IP Networks.

How routers communicate with each other, distributing information that enables them to select routes between any two nodes on a computer network.

S

The industry standard for transmitting secure data over the Internet. It is based on a system of trusted certificates issued by certificate authorities and recognized by servers.

A contract between a service provider or vendor and the customer that defines the level of service expected. SLAs are service-based and specifically define what the customer can expect to receive.

The process of defining a structured solution that meets all of the technical and operational requirements, while optimizing common quality attributes such as performance, security, and manageability.

A software delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted and typically accessed by end-users using a client via web browser.

These are used to connect enterprise networks over large geographic distances, including data centers and branch offices of a company.

U

A functionality that tracks user activity and service transactions within your applications’ components.

W

A computer system that processes requests via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the basic network protocol used to distribute information on the internet.

A network that extends over a larger geographical distance.