Computer Networking and IT Services Industry Terminology

AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting)

A foundational security framework that verifies identity (authentication), grants appropriate privileges (authorization), and records user actions (accounting).

Enable AAA with RADIUS on the core switches; The VPN gateway defers to AAA for user logins; Audit AAA accounting logs to trace config changes.

Asset Management (ITAM)

The processes and tools to inventory, track, and optimize the lifecycle, cost, and compliance of hardware, software, and cloud assets.

Reconcile ITAM records with CMDB before decommissioning servers; Use ITAM to track license usage for audit; ITAM reports show underutilized switches we can redeploy.

BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)

The internet’s path-vector routing protocol used to exchange routes between autonomous systems and large enterprise networks.

We advertise our public prefixes to both ISPs via BGP; Apply BGP communities to influence upstream routing; Use BGP local preference to keep traffic on the primary circuit.

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A distributed platform of edge servers that caches and serves content closer to users to improve latency and availability.

Offload static assets to the CDN to reduce origin load; Geo-restrict content using CDN policies; Enable CDN TLS termination for performance.

Change Management (ITSM)

A structured process for planning, assessing risk, approving, and implementing production changes to reduce incidents.

Submit a change request for the firewall firmware upgrade; CAB approved a maintenance window for the core switch cutover; Rollback plan is required for all high-risk changes.

CMDB (Configuration Management Database)

An authoritative repository of configuration items (CIs) and their relationships supporting ITSM processes like incident, problem, and change.

Link the router CI to all dependent services in the CMDB; Use CMDB relationships to assess blast radius of a change; Auto-discover CIs from network scans into the CMDB.

DDoS Mitigation

Techniques and services that detect, absorb, and filter volumetric and application-layer distributed denial-of-service attacks.

Swing traffic through a scrubbing center during an attack; Enable BGP Flowspec to drop attack vectors; Always-on DDoS protection for our ecommerce site.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

A protocol that dynamically assigns IP addresses and options (gateway, DNS) to clients.

Reserve a DHCP lease for the printer’s MAC address; Scope exhaustion caused client connectivity issues; Use DHCP relay on the switch SVI to reach the server.

DNS (Domain Name System)

The hierarchical, distributed naming system that maps domain names to IP addresses and other records.

Add an A and AAAA record for the new API endpoint; Use split-horizon DNS for internal vs external names; Enable DNSSEC validation on resolvers.

Encryption (At-Rest and In-Transit)

Cryptography protecting stored data (at-rest) and data traversing networks (in-transit) using keys and protocols like AES and TLS/IPsec.

Enforce TLS 1.2+ for all web apps; Encrypt backups at-rest with KMS-managed keys; Use IPsec tunnels for site-to-site links.

Firewall (NGFW)

A security device or service that controls traffic based on policies; next-gen firewalls add app awareness, IDS/IPS, and TLS inspection.

Block outbound SSH except for admins; Create an app-based rule for Office 365; Enable NGFW IPS signatures for CVE coverage.

High Availability (HA)

Design patterns that minimize downtime through redundancy, clustering, and rapid failover.

Run firewalls in an active-standby HA pair; Deploy dual upstream ISPs for internet HA; Use database clustering for HA at the data tier.

Hybrid Cloud

An architecture that spans on-premises infrastructure and public cloud, requiring consistent networking, identity, and security policies.

Extend the network with IPsec to our VPC; Use consistent IAM across data center and cloud; Place latency-sensitive apps on-prem, burst stateless services to cloud.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

Cloud-delivered compute, storage, and networking where customers manage OS and above.

Migrate VMs from on-prem to IaaS; Use autoscaling groups for web servers; Control egress costs with NAT gateway planning.

IAM (Identity and Access Management)

Policies and tools to manage digital identities and govern access based on least privilege.

Federate SSO to SaaS apps with SAML/OIDC; Replace static keys with short-lived tokens; Review IAM roles quarterly for access creep.

IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection/Prevention System)

Systems that detect (IDS) and optionally block (IPS) malicious network or host activity via signatures and anomaly analysis.

Enable inline IPS on the data center edge; Tune IDS to reduce false positives; Send IDS alerts to the SIEM for correlation.

IEEE 802.1X

Port-based network access control using EAP for authenticating devices/users, typically with a RADIUS server.

Enforce 802.1X on all access switch ports; Use MAB fallback for headless IoT devices; Tie 802.1X results to dynamic VLAN assignment.

Incident Management (ITSM)

A process for rapidly restoring normal service after an interruption, including triage, escalation, and communication.

Open a P1 incident for the WAN outage; Follow the major incident bridge protocol; Post-incident review identifies monitoring gaps.

IP Address Management (IPAM)

Planning, tracking, and managing IP address spaces, subnets, and assignments; often integrated with DHCP/DNS.

Allocate a /24 for the new office; Use IPAM to avoid overlapping subnets; Sync IPAM with DHCP to reserve device addresses.

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)

A widely adopted framework of best practices for IT service management.

Align the service catalog to ITIL definitions; Implement ITIL problem management after recurring WAN failures; Measure incident SLAs per ITIL guidance.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

Quantifiable metrics that indicate how effectively objectives are being achieved.

Track MTTR as a KPI for the NOC; Set a KPI of 99.95% network availability; Monitor change success rate as a quality KPI.

LAN (Local Area Network)

A network confined to a limited area (office, campus) using Ethernet switching and VLANs.

Segment finance on a separate VLAN within the LAN; Upgrade to 10G uplinks in the LAN core; Enable portfast for access ports on the LAN.

Load Balancer

A device or service that distributes traffic across multiple servers, often performing health checks and TLS termination.

Use L7 load balancing for path-based routing; Terminate TLS at the load balancer to offload servers; Enable sticky sessions for legacy apps.

MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)

An authentication method requiring two or more factors (something you know, have, or are).

Enforce MFA for VPN and admin portals; Replace SMS codes with authenticator apps; Use FIDO2 keys for phishing-resistant MFA.

MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)

A high-performance forwarding technique that uses labels to create VPNs and engineer traffic.

Run L3VPN over the MPLS WAN; Use MPLS-TE for critical voice traffic; Migrate sites from MPLS to DIA plus SD-WAN.

MSP (Managed Service Provider)

A company that remotely manages a customer’s IT infrastructure and end-user systems under a subscription model.

Our MSP handles 24x7 network monitoring; The MSP contract includes patching and backups; Escalate network tickets to the MSP NOC.

MTTR (Mean Time To Repair/Restore)

An operations metric measuring the average time to restore service after an incident.

Reduce MTTR with better runbooks; MTTR spiked after the router OS upgrade; Automate failover to improve MTTR.

NAC (Network Access Control)

Controls device access to networks based on identity and posture, often leveraging 802.1X and agent checks.

Quarantine non-compliant laptops via NAC; Enforce posture checks for AV and patch levels; Apply dynamic VLANs based on NAC policy.

NAT (Network Address Translation)

A method to translate private IP addresses to public IPs, commonly through PAT for outbound internet access.

Configure PAT on the firewall for branch users; Use static NAT for the public web server; Implement NAT64 in IPv6-only segments.

NetFlow/sFlow/IPFIX

Flow telemetry protocols exporting summarized traffic metadata for visibility and capacity planning.

Send NetFlow to the collector for analytics; Use sFlow on switches to sample traffic; Build dashboards from IPFIX fields like app and bytes.

NOC (Network Operations Center)

A team or facility that monitors, operates, and maintains networks and services 24/7.

The NOC handles first-line incident triage; NOC escalated a BGP flap to engineering; Staff the NOC during the maintenance window.

OSPF (Open Shortest Path First)

A link-state interior gateway routing protocol for IP networks that uses areas and LSAs.

Divide the campus into OSPF Area 0 and Area 10; Tune OSPF cost to prefer the fiber path; Investigate OSPF adjacency drops on the core.

PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)

The systems and processes for issuing, managing, and revoking digital certificates and keys.

Use an internal PKI to sign device certificates; Rotate certificates before expiry; Enforce mutual TLS with client certs.

QoS (Quality of Service)

Traffic management policies that prioritize, shape, or police packets to meet performance targets.

Mark voice with DSCP EF and prioritize; Apply QoS shaping on WAN egress; Police bulk transfers to protect interactive apps.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

Cloud-delivered applications accessed over the internet, with the provider managing the stack.

Migrate email to a SaaS suite; Enforce SSO and MFA for all SaaS apps; Review SaaS usage for license optimization.

SASE (Secure Access Service Edge)

A cloud-delivered architecture converging networking and security (e.g., SD-WAN, SWG, CASB, ZTNA) with centralized policy.

Route branch traffic to the SASE fabric; Replace legacy VPN with SASE ZTNA; Apply DLP policies via SASE.

SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN)

An overlay WAN that uses centralized control to steer traffic across multiple transports based on performance and policy.

Bond DIA and LTE for active-active paths; Use application-aware routing for SaaS; Centralize configuration via the SD-WAN controller.

SDN (Software-Defined Networking)

An approach that separates the control plane from the data plane for centralized, programmable network control.

Push intent via the SDN controller; Automate VLAN provisioning with APIs; Use EVPN underlay with SDN overlays.

SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)

A platform that aggregates logs and events, correlates them, and surfaces security alerts for investigation.

Forward firewall and IDS logs to the SIEM; Build correlation rules for brute-force attempts; Send SIEM alerts to the SOC for response.

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

A contract defining service targets (e.g., uptime, response time) and remedies if they are not met.

The ISP SLA guarantees 99.9% uptime; Measure ticket response time against the SLA; Include penalties for missed SLAs in the MSA.

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

A protocol for monitoring and managing network devices using MIBs and OIDs; v3 adds security.

Poll interface counters via SNMP; Enable SNMPv3 with auth and priv; Use traps for link-down alerts.

SOC (Security Operations Center)

A team and facility dedicated to detecting, investigating, and responding to security incidents.

The SOC runs 24x7 monitoring; SOC analysts triage SIEM alerts; The SOC coordinates incident response playbooks.

TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)

A financial estimate of direct and indirect costs over the lifecycle of a solution, including CapEx, OpEx, and risk.

Compare MPLS vs SD-WAN on TCO, not just circuit price; Include support and egress fees in TCO; TCO modeling justified the firewall refresh.

TLS (Transport Layer Security)

A cryptographic protocol providing confidentiality and integrity for application traffic; successor to SSL.

Enforce TLS 1.2+ across all endpoints; Use mutual TLS between services; Monitor for weak ciphers in TLS handshakes.

VLAN (Virtual LAN)

Layer 2 segmentation that groups ports or APs into separate broadcast domains using tags like 802.1Q.

Put IoT devices on an isolated VLAN; Trunk VLANs between access and distribution; Use private VLANs for tenant isolation.

VoIP (Voice over IP)

Real-time voice communication carried over IP networks using protocols like SIP and RTP.

Prioritize VoIP with QoS EF; Power IP phones with PoE; Troubleshoot VoIP jitter on the WAN link.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

Encrypted tunnels that provide secure connectivity for users or sites over untrusted networks.

Deploy IPsec tunnels between branches; Offer SSL VPN for remote users; Replace legacy VPN with ZTNA where possible.

WAN (Wide Area Network)

A network that spans cities, regions, or countries connecting multiple sites using various transports.

Replace MPLS with DIA plus SD-WAN; Monitor WAN latency and packet loss; Diversify WAN with 5G failover.

Wi‑Fi 6/6E (802.11ax)

The latest enterprise Wi‑Fi standard offering OFDMA, higher efficiency, and 6 GHz spectrum with 6E.

Enable 6 GHz SSIDs for low-interference channels; Use WPA3 for Wi‑Fi 6 security; Plan AP density for Wi‑Fi 6 OFDMA gains.

Zero Trust

A security model that assumes no implicit trust; continuously verifies identity, device, and context, and enforces least privilege and microsegmentation.

Replace flat networks with Zero Trust segmentation; Enforce continuous verification for admin access; Use ZTNA for app access instead of full-tunnel VPN.