Glossary (n-z) FAQ from HomeNetHelp.com

(A) A device which forwards packets between networks. The forwarding decision is based on network layer information and routing tables, often constructed by routing protocols.

(A) The unit of data sent across a network. "Packet" is a generic term used to describe a unit of data at any layer of the OSI protocol stack, but it is most correctly used to describe application layer data units ("application protocol data unit", APDU

(A) The process of resolving IP addresses to NetBIOS computer names

(A) Network Address Translation. Changes IP addresses in packets and edits needed IP header information "on the fly." Records the mapping between original and replacement addresses.

(A) Network Interface Card

(A) Peripheral Component Interconnect. A high-performance, 32-bit or 64-bit bus designed to be used with devices that have high bandwidth requirements, such as the display subsystem

(A) Personal Digital Assistants. A lightweight palmtop computer designed to provide specific functions like personal organization as well as communications. More advanced models also offer multimedia features. Many PDA devices rely on a pen or other pointing device for input instead of a keyboard or mouse. For data storage, a PDA relies on flash memory

(A) Plain Old Telephone Service.

(A) Point-to-Point Protocol. A data link protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force for dialup telephone connections, such as between a computer and the Internet.

(A) Point to Point Tunneling Protocol. Early (and widely deployed) tunneling protocol, partially superceded by L2TP.

(A) Remote Access Server

(A) Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

(A) Simple Network Management Protocol.

(A) Universal Serial Bus. A bidirectional, isochronous, dynamically attachable serial interface for adding peripheral devices such as game controllers, serial and parallel ports, and input devices on a single bus. (This serial protocol runs at 1-12 megabits per second.)