Category: Networking Acronyms

RA registration authority. Optional PKI entity (separate from the CAs) that does not sign either digital certificates or CRLs but has responsibility for recording or verifying some or all of the information (particularly the identities of subjects) needed by a CA to issue certificates and CRLs and to perform other certificate management functions. RADIUS Remote [...]

Q.2931 ITU-T specification, based on Q.931, for establishing, maintaining, and clearing network connections at the B-ISDN user-network interface. The UNI 3.1 specification is based on Q.2931. See also Q.931 and UNI. Q.920/Q.921 ITU-T specifications for the ISDN UNI data link layer. See also UNI Q.922A ITU-T specification for Frame Relay encapsulation.

p2mp point-to-multipoint. Communication between a series of receivers and transmitters to a central location. Cisco p2mp typically is set up in three segments to enable frequency re-use. Cisco offers MMDS, U-NII, and LMDS systems in p2mp. p2p point-to-point. Communication between one receiver and one location. P2p has a higher bandwidth than p2mp for reasons including [...]

OAKLEY Key establishment protocol (proposed for IPsec but superseded by IKE) based on the Diffie-Hellman algorithm and designed to be a compatible component of ISAKMP. OC optical carrier. Series of physical protocols (OC-1, OC-2, OC-3, and so on), defined for SONET optical signal transmissions. OC signal levels put STS frames onto multimode fiber-optic line at [...]

NAK negative acknowledgment. Response sent from a receiving device to a sending device indicating that the information received contained errors. name server Server connected to a network that resolves network names into network addresses. NAS network access server. A platform (or collection of platforms, such as an AccessPath system) that interfaces between the packet world [...]

MAC Media Access Control. Lower of the two sublayers of the data link layer defined by the IEEE. The MAC sublayer handles access to shared media, such as whether token passing or contention will be used. MAC address Standardized data link layer address that is required for every port or device that connects to a [...]