MAC address (Media Access Control address) In a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is your computer's unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it's the same as your Ethernet address.) When you're connected to the Internet from your computer (or host as the Internet protocol thinks of it), a correspondence table relates your IP address to your computer's physical (MAC) address on the LAN. The MAC address is used by the Media Access Control su...

SSID - service set identifier SSID is short for service set identifier. SSID is a case sensitive, 32 alphanumeric character unique identifier attached to the header of packets sent over a wireless local-area network (WLAN). The SSID acts as a password when a mobile device tries to connect to the basic service set (BSS) -- a component of the IEEE 802.11 WLAN architecture. The SSID differentiates one WLAN from another, so all access points and all devices attempting to connect to a spec...

Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is an Internet software utility for transferring files that is simpler to use than the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) but less capable. It is used where user authentication and directory visibility are not required. TFTP uses the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) rather than the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TFTP is described formally in Request for Comments (RFC) 1350.  

E-mail (electronic mail or email) E-mail (electronic mail) is the exchange of computer-stored messages by telecommunication. (Some publications spell it email; we prefer the currently more established spelling of e-mail.) E-mail messages are usually encoded in ASCII text. However, you can also send non-text files, such as graphic images and sound files, as attachments sent in binary streams. E-mail was one of the first uses of the Internet and is still the most popular use. A large percentage...

Encapsulation In general, encapsulation is the inclusion of one thing within another thing so that the included thing is not apparent. Decapsulation is the removal or the making apparent a thing previously encapsulated. 1) In object-oriented programming, encapsulation is the inclusion within a program object of all the resources need for the object to function - basically, the methods and the data. The object is said to "publish its interfaces." Other objects adhere to these interfaces to ...

User Authentication User authentication is the verification of an active human-to-machine transfer of credentials required for confirmation of a user’s authenticity; the term contrasts with machine authentication, which involves automated processes that do not require user input. User authentication is performed in almost all human-to-computer interactions other than guest and automatically logged in accounts. Authentication authorizes human-to-machine interactions on both wired and wireless...

ICMP Protocol ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is an error-reporting protocol network devices like routers use to generate error messages to the source IP address when network problems prevent delivery of IP packets. ICMP creates and sends messages to the source IP address indicating that a gateway to the Internet that a router, service or host cannot be reached for packet delivery. Any IP network device has the capability to send, receive or process ICMP messages. ICMP is not a tr...

HOW A RADIUS SERVER WORKS A RADIUS server utilizes a central database to authenticate remote users. RADIUS functions as a client-server protocol, authenticating each user with a unique encryption key when access is granted. How a RADIUS server works depends upon the exact nature of the RADIUS ecosystem. Below is an overview of how RADIUS servers work. First, the user initiates authentication to the network access server (NAS). The network access server then requests either a usernam...