Bus Definition
In a computer or on a network, a bus is a transmission path on which signals are dropped off or picked up at every device attached to the line. Only devices addressed by the signals pay attention to them; the others discard the signals. According to Winn L. Rosch, the term derives from its similarity to autobuses that stop at every town or block to drop off or take on riders
In general, the term is used in two somewhat different contexts:
(1) A bus is a network topology or ...
Read More
Multicast Definition
Multicast Definition
Multicast is communication between a single sender and multiple receivers on a network. Typical uses include the updating of mobile personnel from a home office and the periodic issuance of online newsletters. Together with anycast and unicast, multicast is one of the packet types in the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6).
Multicast is supported through wireless data networks as part of the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) technology.
Multicast is also used for pro...
Read More
Message Definition
Message Definition
(1) Using e-mail , a message is an individual piece of mail.(2) In computer systems in general, a message is an information unit that the system sends back to the user or system operator with information about the status of an operation, an error, or other condition.
(3) Using some telecommunication or data access methods, a message can be the unit of information or data that is transmitted from one program or user to another.
(4) In messaging , which is the f...
Read More
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)
IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is a set of specifications from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that's essentially an upgrade of IP version 4 (IPv4). The basics of IPv6 are similar to those of IPv4 -- devices can use IPv6 as source and destination addresses to pass packets over a network, and tools like ping work for network testing as they do in IPv4, with some slight variations.The most obvious improvement in IPv6 over IPv4 is that IP...
Read More
Backplane Definition
Backplane Definition
A backplane is an electronic circuit board containing circuitry and sockets into which additional electronic devices on other circuit boards or cards can be plugged; in a computer, generally synonymous with or part of the motherboard.
Read More
Multiplexing Definition
Multiplexing Definition
Multiplexing (or muxing) is a way of sending multiple signals or streams of information over a communications link at the same time in the form of a single, complex signal; the receiver recovers the separate signals, a process called demultiplexing (or demuxing).
Networks use multiplexing for two reasons:
To make it possible for any network device to talk to any other network device without having to dedicate a connection for each pair. This requires shared media;...
Read More
high-performance computing (HPC)
high-performance computing (HPC)
High-performance computing (HPC) is the use of parallel processing for running advanced application programs efficiently, reliably and quickly. The term applies especially to systems that function above a teraflop or 1012 floating-point operations per second. The term HPC is occasionally used as a synonym for supercomputing, although technically a supercomputeris a system that performs at or near the currently highest operational rate for computers. So...
Read More
Bottleneck Definition
Bottleneck Definition
A bottleneck, in a communications context, is a point in the enterprise where the flow of datais impaired or stopped entirely. Effectively, there isn't enough data handling capacity to handle the current volume of traffic.A bottleneck can occur in the user network or storage fabric or within servers where there is excessive contention for internal server resources, such as CPU processing power, memory, or I/O (input/output). As a result, data flow slows down to t...
Read More
QoS (quality of service) Definition
QoS (quality of service) Definition
Quality of service (QoS) refers to any technology that manages data traffic to reduce packet loss, latency and jitter on the network. QoS controls and manages network resources by setting priorities for specific types of data on the network.
Enterprise networks need to provide predictable and measureable services as applications -- such as voice, video and delay-sensitive data -- traverse the network. Organizations use QoS to meet the traffic requirements ...
Read More
Failover Definition
Failover Definition
Failover is a backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component (such as a processor, server, network, or database, for example) are assumed by secondary system components when the primary component becomes unavailable through either failure or scheduled down time. Used to make systems more fault-tolerant, failover is typically an integral part of mission-critical systems that must be constantly available. The procedure involves automatically offloadin...
Read More