Glossary

Based on the emerging IEEE 802.12 standard for transmitting IEEE 802.3 Ethernet frame information at 100 Mbits per second. 100VG-AnyLAN technology supports network design rules and topology of Ethernet 10Base-T networks. IEEE 802.5 frame format is not supported at initial release.

Four pair 100 ohm balanced cable meeting or exceeding the category 3 specifications in ISO/IEC 11801.

Name of the interface that corresponds to a given Internet address on a system. Refer to the network map in appendix B for example usage.

A cable consisting of multiple twisted pairs. Bundled cable in this standard indicates a cable with 25 unshielded copper twisted pairs, category 3 or better, that may contain up to six 4-UTP links.

Used interchangeably with lobe cable; card cables attach at one end to a token ring card in the system and at the other end to a wall jack or TAU.

A number that uniquely identifies a device within a class. A class of devices is a logical grouping of similar devices.

A multi-level hub topology where higher-level hubs are connected through their local ports to the cascade ports of lower-level hubs.

A round robin arbitration method to provide LAN access based on message priority level. Demand priority is hub arbitrated, where the end nodes request permission to transmit and the hub determines who may do so, depending on the priority of the traffic. Each request is labelled with either a normal-priority level-- for normal data packets, or a high priority level--for packets supporting time-critical applications.

A field in the message packet format identifying the end node(s) to which the packet is being sent.

Files kept in the /dev directory that identify the LAN driver, card, and data link protocol. Each device file has a name and device number to uniquely identify the above characteristics.

Data Link Provider Interface. An industry-standard definition for message communications to STREAMS-based network interface drivers.

The I/O card that contains the EISA bus, which connects EISA cards to the main system bus.

A computer bus that connects EISA cards to the main system bus.

A 10 Mbps LAN, developed by Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel, and Xerox Corporation, upon which the IEEE 802.3 network is based.

An identifier assigned by the system according to the physical location (slot) of the card in the hardware backplane. On Series 700 and Series 800 systems, the I/O subsystem identifies each LAN card by its hardware path.

Name of system on the network. Refer to the network map in appendix B for example usage.

Central to the 100VG-AnyLAN network is the 100VG-AnyLAN hub, also referred to as a repeater. All 100VG-AnyLAN network devices connect to the 100VG-AnyLAN hub.

A 100 megabit-per-second LAN. described by the ANSI/IEEE802.12 Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, which uses a Demand Priority Access Method. Demand priority is hub arbitrated, where the end nodes request permission to transmit and the hub determines who may do so, depending on the priority of the traffic. The demand priority access method eliminates network collisions.

A 10 megabit-per-second LAN, described by the ANSI/IEEE 802.3 Standard for Local Area Networks, which uses a CSMA/CD network access method. Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) gives every node on the coaxial cable equal access to the network.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. A national association, whose activities include publishing standards applicable to various electronic technologies. The IEEE technical committees are numbered and grouped by area. For example, the 800 committees study local area network technologies. The 802.3 committee produced the standard for a CSMA/CD local area network, which has been adopted by ANSI. The 802.5 committee produced the standard for a Token Ring local area network which has been adopted by ANSI.

The network address of a computer node. This address identifies both which network the host is on and which host it is. Refer to the Installing and Administering LAN/9000 Software manual for detailed information about network addressing.

See Internet Address glossary entry.

See Local Area Network.

A data communications system that allows a number of independent devices to communicate with each other.

The network to which a node is directly attached.

Unique value that identifies an individual hardware device.

Largest amount of data that can be transmitted through that interface. This value does not include the LLC or MAC headers.

A communication path through which messages can be sent and received. A hardware network interface has a hardware device associated with it, such as a LAN or FDDI card. A software network interface does not include a hardware device, for example the loopback interface. For every IP address instance, there must be one network interface configured.

A unique ID assigned by the system for the network management of each network interface.

Any point in a network where services are provided or communications channels are interconnected. A node could be a workstation or a server processor.

A sequence of binary digits that is transmitted as a unit in a computer network. A packet usually contains control information plus data.

A specification for coding messages exchanged between two communications processes.

A 32-bit mask which, when AND'd with an internet address, determines a subnetwork address. When the internet address is AND'd with the subnet mask, the ones in the host portion of the subnet mask will "overwrite" the corresponding bits of the host portion of the internet address, resulting in the subnet address. Refer to the Installing and Administering LAN/9000 Software manual for detailed information about subnet masks.

Small discrete physical networks connected via gateways which share the same network address space. Refer to the Installing and Administering LAN/9000 Software manual for detailed information about subnetworks and subnet addressing.

The physical and logical geometry governing placement of nodes in a computer network. Also, the layout of the transmission medium for a network.