Glossary

Networking

802.1X

IEEE 802.1X, Port-Based Network Access Control, PNAC, Network Access Control, NAC

Requires devices to authenticate before network access is granted — the port stays locked until authentication succeeds.

Networking

Access Switch

Edge Switch, Access Layer Switch

The switch that end devices — computers, phones, APs, printers — plug into directly. Sits at the edge of the network and connects up to a distribution or core switch.

Networking

ACL

Access Control List

Rules on a network device that permit or deny traffic by source, destination, port, and protocol — how you enforce network segmentation policy.

MDM

Apple Business

Apple Business Manager, ABM

Apple's free platform for managed Apple IDs, zero-touch device enrollment, and corporate app purchasing on your own domain.

Security

Asymmetric Cryptography

Public-Key Cryptography

Uses a pair of linked keys — one to sign or encrypt, another to verify or decrypt. What one key does, only the other can undo.

Cabling

Attenuation

The loss of signal strength as it travels through a cable or fiber. Too much attenuation and the signal is too weak to be reliably decoded at the far end.

Networking

Autonegotiation

Autonegotiation is the process by which two connected Ethernet devices automatically agree on the highest speed and duplex mode both support — eliminating the need to manually configure these parameters.

Microsoft

Autopilot

Windows Autopilot

Microsoft's zero-touch Windows deployment system. New PCs configure themselves on first boot — no IT hands-on required.

Cabling

AWG

American Wire Gauge

The standard for measuring wire conductor diameter. Counterintuitively, lower AWG numbers mean thicker wire — 12 AWG is thicker than 18 AWG.

Cloud & Infrastructure

AWS

Amazon Web Services

The market-leading cloud platform by revenue and breadth — the default enterprise cloud for organizations not anchored to Microsoft or Google.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Azure

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft's cloud platform — infrastructure, platform, and software services in Microsoft's global data centers.

Cabling

Backbone Cabling

Vertical Cabling, Riser Cabling

Connects network equipment rooms, floors, and buildings to each other — the high-capacity trunk infrastructure that horizontal cabling plugs into.

WiFi

Beamforming

Directs a Wi-Fi signal toward a specific client device rather than broadcasting equally in all directions, improving signal strength and reliability for that device.

Cabling

Bend Radius

The minimum radius a cable can be bent to without degrading signal quality or risking physical damage. Exceeding it permanently impairs the cable.

Networking

BIMI

Brand Indicators for Message Identification

Displays your logo next to the sender name in Gmail, Apple Mail, and other supporting clients — requires full email authentication.

Security

Botnet

A network of malware-infected computers controlled remotely by an attacker — used to launch DDoS attacks, send spam, or spread malware without the owners' knowledge.

MDM

BYOD

Bring Your Own Device

Bring your own device — the policy and security questions around employees using personal phones and computers for work.

Cabling

Cable Management

The physical organization of cables in a rack, server room, or structured cabling installation — keeping cables routed, labeled, and accessible without restricting airflow or violating bend radius.

Cloud & Infrastructure

CDN

Content Delivery Network

A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a globally distributed network of servers that caches and serves content from locations close to end users, reducing latency and offloading traffic from the origin server.

Security

Certificate

Digital Certificate, TLS Certificate, SSL Certificate

A cryptographically signed credential that proves identity. Browsers verify a website's certificate before establishing an HTTPS connection.

Development

CI/CD

Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, Continuous Delivery

An automated pipeline where committing code triggers an automatic build, test, and deployment — Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment.

Networking

CIDR

Classless Inter-Domain Routing, Slash Notation, Subnet Notation

The notation for IP address ranges — 192.168.1.0/24 means the first 24 bits are the network, leaving 256 host addresses in that block.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Claude Code

Anthropic's agentic coding tool. Runs in your terminal, reads files, writes code, and executes commands directly in your development environment.

Hardware

CLI

Command Line Interface, Command Prompt, Terminal, Shell

A CLI (Command Line Interface) is a text-based interface for operating a computer or network device by typing commands, as opposed to using a graphical interface. SSH, terminal, and switch console access all use a CLI.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Cloud Identity

Cloud Identity Free, Google Cloud Identity

Google's standalone identity product — managed accounts and SSO without full Workspace. Free tier available for most organizations.

Hardware

CPU

Central Processing Unit, Processor

The primary processor in a computer — executes the OS, runs applications, and handles general-purpose computation. Core count determines how many tasks run simultaneously.

Security

CVE

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

The standardized system for identifying security vulnerabilities. A CVE ID like CVE-2024-1234 uniquely identifies a specific flaw across vendors, tools, and patch notes.

Cabling

Dark Fiber

Installed fiber optic cable that carries no active traffic — either spare capacity in a cable bundle or leased raw fiber that an organization equips with its own transceivers.

Security

DDoS Attack

Distributed Denial of Service, DDoS

Floods a target with traffic from thousands of compromised machines simultaneously, overwhelming it until it becomes unavailable to legitimate users.

MDM

Device Trust

The policy that sensitive systems can only be accessed from recognized, managed devices — not just a correct password.

Networking

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

Automatically assigns IP addresses and network configuration to devices when they connect — without it, every device needs a manual IP.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Disaster Recovery

DR, Business Continuity, BCP, BCDR

Disaster recovery (DR) is the set of policies, procedures, and technologies that enable an organization to restore IT systems and data after a major failure — a ransomware attack, hardware failure, natural disaster, or facility loss.

Identity

Distribution Group

An email address that delivers to a list of recipients — send to team@company.com and everyone in the group receives it.

Networking

DKIM

DomainKeys Identified Mail

Adds a cryptographic signature to outgoing email, verified by receiving servers using your public key published in DNS.

Security

DLP

Data Loss Prevention, Data Leakage Prevention

Tools and policies that prevent sensitive data from leaving your organization through unauthorized channels like email, USB drives, or cloud uploads.

Networking

DMARC

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance

Tells receiving servers what to do with email that fails authentication — reject, quarantine, or flag. The enforcement layer on top of SPF and DKIM.

Networking

DNS

Domain Name System

The internet's address book. Translates domain names to IP addresses and routes web and email traffic to the right servers.

Networking

DNSSEC

DNS Security Extensions

Adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records so resolvers can verify responses haven't been forged or tampered with.

Identity

DUNS

DUNS Number, Data Universal Numbering System

A unique nine-digit business identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet — required for Apple Business enrollment and some vendor verification processes.

Cabling

Duplex / Simplex

Simplex transmits in one direction only. Half-duplex can go both ways but not simultaneously. Full-duplex transmits and receives at the same time — the standard for modern Ethernet.

Hardware

ECC Memory

Error-Correcting Code Memory, ECC RAM

ECC (Error-Correcting Code) memory detects and corrects single-bit memory errors in real time, preventing data corruption that could crash a server or silently corrupt data. Required in all production servers.

Security

EDR

Endpoint Detection and Response, MDR

Monitors endpoints for malicious behavior, provides forensic visibility into what happened on a device, and enables remote response. It replaced traditional antivirus.

Hardware

Electrical Noise

Electrical Interference, Signal Noise, Electromagnetic Noise

Electrical noise is unwanted electrical signal interference that degrades data transmission or power quality — caused by motors, fluorescent lights, power lines, and other electrical equipment running near signal cables.

Hardware

EMI

Electromagnetic Interference, RFI, Radio Frequency Interference

EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) is interference from electromagnetic radiation that disrupts electronic devices and communications — caused by motors, radios, power lines, and other radiating sources nearby.

Hardware

Endpoint

End Device, Client Device

An endpoint is any user-facing device that connects to a network — laptops, desktops, smartphones, tablets, and workstations. In security contexts, endpoints are the primary targets of attacks and the focus of EDR and MDM solutions.

Microsoft

Entra ID

Azure Active Directory, Azure AD, AAD

Microsoft's cloud identity service — verifies who someone is and controls what they can access. Formerly called Azure Active Directory.

Virtualization

ESXi

VMware ESXi

VMware's bare-metal hypervisor — runs directly on server hardware and hosts virtual machines on top. The foundation of every vSphere deployment.

Identity

Federation

Lets one identity system trust another so users authenticate across platforms without separate credentials — the machinery underneath SSO.

Virtualization

Fibre Channel

FC, SAN, Fibre Channel SAN

Fibre Channel is a high-speed networking protocol purpose-built for storage area networks (SANs), offering lower latency and higher throughput than iSCSI but requiring dedicated FC hardware and switches.

Cloud & Infrastructure

GCP

Google Cloud Platform, Google Cloud

Google's cloud platform — strongest in data analytics, ML infrastructure, and containerized workloads. BigQuery and GKE are leading products.

Development

GitHub

Git

A platform for hosting and managing code with Git version control — it stores the project, tracks every change, and serves as the source of truth a hosting platform deploys from.

Hardware

GPU

Graphics Processing Unit, Graphics Card, Video Card

A processor with thousands of small cores optimized for parallel computation. Originally designed for graphics, GPUs now drive AI inference and training, and any workload requiring massive parallel processing.

Hardware

HDD

Hard Disk Drive, Hard Drive, Spinning Drive, Mechanical Drive

Stores data on spinning magnetic platters read by a mechanical arm. Highest capacity per dollar of any storage medium, but significantly slower than SSDs and susceptible to physical shock.

Hardware

Hertz

Hz, MHz, GHz, Frequency

Hertz (Hz) is the unit of frequency — one cycle per second. In IT, it appears as CPU clock speed (GHz), network cable bandwidth ratings (MHz), and radio frequency bands for Wi-Fi (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz).

Security

HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, HTTP over TLS

HTTP secured with TLS encryption. Protects web traffic from interception and verifies the server's identity via a certificate. Every public-facing site should be HTTPS-only.

Virtualization

Hyper-V

Hyper-V is Microsoft's native hypervisor, built into Windows Server and Windows 10/11 Pro, for creating and running virtual machines on a physical host.

Networking

ICMP

Internet Control Message Protocol, Ping, Traceroute

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is a network-layer protocol used for diagnostics and error reporting — best known as the protocol behind the ping command.

Cabling

IDF

Intermediate Distribution Frame, Telecom Room, Telecom Closet, TR

A secondary network equipment room that aggregates horizontal cabling from a floor or zone and connects it back to the main distribution frame via backbone cabling.

Microsoft

Intune

Microsoft Intune

Microsoft's cloud platform for managing and securing every device in your organization — enforcing policies regardless of where they are.

Networking

IPsec

Internet Protocol Security

Encrypts and authenticates IP traffic at the network layer — the foundation of site-to-site VPN tunnels.

Networking

IPv4

The standard internet addressing scheme. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers written as four octets — like 192.168.1.1.

Networking

IPv6

IPv4's successor — 128-bit addresses providing enough unique IPs for every device on earth. Written as eight groups of hex digits separated by colons.

Virtualization

iSCSI

Internet Small Computer System Interface

iSCSI is a storage networking protocol that carries SCSI storage commands over standard TCP/IP Ethernet, allowing servers to access block-level storage on a NAS or SAN as if it were a locally attached disk.

Networking

Jumbo Frames

Ethernet frames larger than the standard 1500-byte MTU — reduces per-packet overhead for high-throughput workloads like storage transfers.

Identity

JumpCloud

Cloud-based directory that manages identities, devices, and app access — the cloud-native equivalent of Active Directory.

Identity

JumpCloud AI Gateway

AI Gateway

JumpCloud's governance and audit layer for AI agents — it routes an organization's AI access to business systems through a single controlled path that can be logged, reviewed, and permissioned, the same way human access is.

Cabling

Keystone Jack

The termination module behind a wall plate or patch panel port — the component an RJ45 plug connects into, with the cable punched down on the back side.

Networking

L2TP

Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, L2TP/IPsec

L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) is a VPN tunneling protocol that provides the tunnel framework but no encryption on its own — it's almost always paired with IPsec (L2TP/IPsec) to add security.

Networking

LACP

Link Aggregation Control Protocol, LAG, Link Aggregation Group, Port Channel, NIC Teaming, Bonding

Combines multiple physical links into a single logical link — adding bandwidth and surviving a single cable failure. Two 10Gbps links become one 20Gbps.

Networking

LAN

Local Area Network

A network connecting devices within a defined physical area — a single office, building, or campus.

Networking

Latency

Ping, Round-Trip Time, RTT, Delay

Latency is the time it takes for a packet to travel from source to destination. High latency causes delay in real-time applications like VoIP and video conferencing; it doesn't reduce throughput but makes interactive communication feel sluggish.

Networking

Layer 1

Physical Layer, OSI Layer 1, L1

Layer 1 is the physical layer of the OSI network model — the actual cables, connectors, electrical signals, and light pulses that carry bits between devices. If Layer 1 is broken, nothing above it works.

Security

Least Privilege

Every account gets exactly the access its job requires — nothing more. Limits the blast radius of a compromise or insider mistake.

Security

Let's Encrypt

Certbot

A free certificate authority — paired with the Certbot tool — that automatically issues and renews the TLS certificates that serve a site securely over HTTPS.

Networking

LLDP

Link Layer Discovery Protocol

Protocol where devices advertise their identity to neighbors — how switches track ports and VoIP phones learn their VLAN.

Networking

Loopback Detection

Loop Guard, Loop Protection

A switch feature that detects and blocks Layer 2 loops on access ports — where STP isn't running or a user accidentally connected two ports.

Cabling

Low-Voltage Wiring

Structured cabling infrastructure for data, voice, security, and AV systems — anything running at 50 volts or less, distinct from line-voltage electrical work.

Networking

MAC Address

Media Access Control Address, Hardware Address, Physical Address

A permanent hardware identifier assigned to a network interface at the factory — identifies the device itself, not its location.

Security

Man-in-the-Middle Attack

MITM, On-Path Attack, Adversary-in-the-Middle

Intercepts communication between two parties who believe they're talking directly. TLS encryption and certificate validation are the primary defenses.

MDM

Managed Apple ID

An Apple account your organization creates and controls through Apple Business on your domain — you can reset, reassign, or revoke it.

Cloud & Infrastructure

MCP vs. API

Model Context Protocol, Application Programming Interface

APIs define how software communicates with software. MCPs (Model Context Protocol) let AI models connect to tools directly — no custom integration code needed.

MDM

MDM

Mobile Device Management

Centrally manages and secures your device fleet — laptops, phones, tablets — enforcing policies and enabling remote wipe regardless of location.

Security

MDR vs. EDR

Managed Detection and Response, Endpoint Detection and Response

EDR monitors device behavior for threats and enables active response — the evolution of antivirus. MDR adds a 24/7 analyst team on top.

Security

MFA

Multi-Factor Authentication, Two-Factor Authentication, 2FA

Requires more than a password to sign in — typically a password plus a code from your phone. A stolen password alone isn't enough.

WiFi

MIMO

Multiple Input Multiple Output

Uses multiple antennas on both transmitter and receiver to send multiple data streams simultaneously over the same frequency, multiplying throughput without additional spectrum.

Cabling

MTP/MPO Connector

MTP, MPO, Multi-Fiber Push On

High-density fiber optic connectors that terminate 12, 24, or more fibers in a single plug — used for high-speed backbone connections and data center trunk cabling.

WiFi

MU-MIMO

Multi-User MIMO, Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output

Extends MIMO to serve multiple client devices simultaneously rather than one at a time, effectively multiplying the useful throughput of a single access point.

Networking

Multicast

Delivers traffic to multiple subscribed recipients using a single stream — between broadcast (everyone) and unicast (one recipient).

Networking

NAT

Network Address Translation

Lets multiple devices share a single public IP — how your entire office accesses the internet through one IP assigned by your ISP.

Power

NEMA Connector

NEMA Plug, Power Connector

Standardized power plugs and receptacles used in North America. The NEMA numbering system encodes voltage, amperage, and locking vs straight-blade type.

Security

NGFW

Next-Generation Firewall

Goes beyond port and protocol filtering to inspect application-layer traffic, enforce user-based policies, detect intrusions, and block threats in real time.

Networking

NTP

Network Time Protocol

NTP (Network Time Protocol) synchronizes clocks across networked devices, keeping servers, switches, and workstations within milliseconds of accurate time — essential for log correlation, Kerberos authentication, and certificate validity.

Hardware

NVMe

Non-Volatile Memory Express, NVMe SSD, M.2 NVMe

Connects SSDs directly to the CPU via PCIe, delivering far higher throughput and lower latency than SATA. The standard interface for high-performance storage in modern workstations and servers.

Identity

OIDC

OpenID Connect

A modern SSO standard built on OAuth 2.0 — like SAML but uses JSON instead of XML, designed for both web and mobile apps.

Identity

Okta

Cloud-based identity platform for enterprise SSO, MFA, and app integration — neutral, not tied to Microsoft or Google.

Cloud & Infrastructure

OneDrive vs. SharePoint

OneDrive, SharePoint

Microsoft 365 storage split by ownership — OneDrive is personal, SharePoint is team-owned. (Google equivalents: My Drive and Shared Drives.)

Power

PDU

Power Distribution Unit, Rack PDU, Intelligent PDU

Distributes power from a single feed to multiple devices in a rack. The power strip for server infrastructure — built for the density, reliability, and monitoring requirements of production environments.

Security

Phishing

A social engineering attack that tricks people into revealing credentials or downloading malware — typically via email. The most common initial access vector in enterprise breaches.

Power

PoE

Power over Ethernet, PoE+, PoE++

Delivers DC power over an Ethernet cable alongside data, eliminating the need for a separate power outlet at devices like IP phones, access points, and security cameras.

Power

Power Redundancy

Using multiple independent power paths to ensure equipment keeps running when a single power source, circuit, or UPS fails.

Networking

PTP

Precision Time Protocol, IEEE 1588

PTP (Precision Time Protocol, IEEE 1588) synchronizes clocks with sub-microsecond accuracy — orders of magnitude more precise than NTP — used in financial trading, broadcast media, and industrial control systems.

Hardware

PTZ Camera

Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera

A PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera is a remotely controllable security or AV camera that can pan (rotate horizontally), tilt (move vertically), and zoom optically — as opposed to a fixed-position camera with a set field of view.

Networking

QoS

Quality of Service

Techniques that prioritize latency-sensitive traffic — VoIP, video — so it isn't degraded when the network is under load.

Cabling

Rack Unit

U, RU, 1U, 2U

The standard measurement for server rack height — 1U equals 1.75 inches. A 42U rack is the most common server rack size.

Networking

RADIUS

Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service

Centrally validates credentials for network access — VPNs, Wi-Fi, and 802.1X port authentication. The backend that decides who gets in.

Hardware

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks

Combines multiple drives into a single logical volume for redundancy, performance, or both. The RAID level determines how data is distributed and how many drives can fail before data is lost.

Security

Ransomware

Malware that encrypts a victim's files and demands payment for the decryption key. Modern attacks also exfiltrate data first — threatening to publish it if the ransom isn't paid.

Hardware

RDIMM

Registered DIMM, Registered Memory, Buffered DIMM

An RDIMM (Registered DIMM) is a server memory module with a register chip that buffers the command and address signals between the CPU memory controller and the DRAM chips, allowing higher memory capacity per channel.

Development

Repository

Repo, Git repository

The container for a project's code and its complete change history.

Cabling

RJ11

Phone Jack, Telephone Jack, 6P2C

The small 6-pin connector used for telephone lines — narrower than an RJ45 Ethernet jack and wired for voice rather than data.

Cabling

RJ45

Ethernet Jack, 8P8C

The standard 8-pin connector used for Ethernet — the rectangular plastic plug on every Ethernet cable and the matching jack on switches, routers, and computers.

Cloud & Infrastructure

SaaS

Software as a Service

SaaS (Software as a Service) is software delivered over the internet and run by the vendor — you access it via a browser or app rather than installing and maintaining it yourself. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Salesforce are SaaS.

Identity

SAML

Security Assertion Markup Language

The protocol behind enterprise SSO — log into your identity provider once and gain access to connected apps without separate credentials.

Identity

SCIM

System for Cross-domain Identity Management

The standard for automating user provisioning. SAML handles authentication; SCIM handles creating and disabling accounts.

Networking

SD-WAN

Software-Defined Wide Area Network

Intelligently routes traffic across multiple internet circuits instead of relying on one expensive leased line.

Identity

Service Account

A non-human account used as owner of record for systems and tools — not tied to any individual employee.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Shared Drive vs. My Drive

Shared Drive, My Drive, Google Shared Drive

Google Workspace storage split by ownership — My Drive is personal, Shared Drives are team-owned. (Microsoft equivalents: OneDrive and SharePoint.)

Security

SIEM

Security Information and Event Management

Collects and correlates log data from across your environment — servers, firewalls, endpoints, cloud — to detect threats and anomalies.

Power

Single-Phase Power

The standard electrical supply for most residential and small commercial environments — 120V or 240V delivered on a single alternating current waveform.

WiFi

SmartZone

Ruckus SmartZone

Ruckus's enterprise wireless LAN controller platform for centrally managing large fleets of access points — handling configuration, RF coordination, roaming, and monitoring across a single deployment.

Networking

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

The protocol mail servers use to send email. Your primary SMTP address is the authoritative address of record — distinct from any aliases on the same mailbox.

Networking

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is the standard protocol for monitoring and managing network devices — querying switches, routers, UPSes, and servers for performance data and receiving alerts when something goes wrong.

WiFi

SonosNet

Sonos Mesh, Sonos Wireless

Sonos's proprietary wireless mesh network that lets speakers talk directly to each other on their own 2.4GHz radios, separate from your Wi-Fi — far more reliable than putting each speaker on Wi-Fi individually.

WiFi

SonosNet Root

Sonos Root, Wired Root

The Sonos speaker that's wired to your network and bridges the SonosNet mesh to the rest of your infrastructure. Every wireless Sonos meshes back to it.

Networking

Spanning Tree Protocol

STP, RSTP, Rapid Spanning Tree, 802.1D

Prevents Layer 2 switching loops by blocking redundant paths — without it, a loop causes a broadcast storm that takes down the network.

Networking

SPF

Sender Policy Framework

A DNS record listing which servers are authorized to send email for your domain — receiving servers check it to block impersonation.

Hardware

SSD

Solid-State Drive, Flash Drive, Flash Storage

Stores data in flash memory chips with no moving parts. Dramatically faster than HDDs for random I/O, more reliable under physical stress, and more expensive per terabyte.

Security

SSH

Secure Shell

The standard protocol for encrypted remote command-line access to servers and network devices. Replaced Telnet and rlogin, which transmitted credentials in plaintext.

Networking

SSL VPN

Remote network access over HTTPS using TLS — works through any firewall since it runs on port 443.

Identity

SSO

Single Sign-On

Sign in once and access all connected applications — one identity instead of separate credentials for each service.

Networking

Stacking

Switch Stacking, Stack

Connects multiple physical switches so they operate as a single logical switch with one management interface, one configuration, and shared MAC and IP address tables.

Identity

Super Admin

Global Administrator, Global Admin

Highest-privilege account on a platform — manages every user, changes any setting, grants or revokes all access.

Networking

SVI

Switched Virtual Interface, VLAN Interface

A virtual interface on a Layer 3 switch that serves as the default gateway for a VLAN — enables inter-VLAN routing without a separate router.

Hardware

Synology

A manufacturer of network-attached storage (NAS) and SAN appliances running the DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, used for file serving, backup, virtualization storage, and directory services.

Networking

Syslog

Syslog is the standard protocol for forwarding log messages from network devices and servers to a central logging system, providing a persistent record of events for troubleshooting and security analysis.

Networking

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a connection-oriented transport protocol that guarantees reliable, ordered delivery of data between two endpoints. It's the foundation of web, email, and file transfer traffic.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Team Folder

Team-owned storage — content belongs to the organization, not an individual, and persists when people leave.

Cloud & Infrastructure

Tenant

Your organization's isolated container within a cloud platform — your users, settings, and data in Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or similar.

Power

Three-Phase Power

Delivers three alternating current waveforms 120° apart on three conductors — more efficient power delivery for high-density equipment, and the standard for data center electrical distribution.

Security

TLS

Transport Layer Security, SSL, SSL/TLS

The cryptographic protocol that encrypts data in transit between two parties. It's the "S" in HTTPS — and the protocol behind VPNs, secure email, and most encrypted network traffic.

Security

TOTP

Time-Based One-Time Password

The rotating six-digit code in an authenticator app — the most common second factor for MFA.

Security

TPM

Trusted Platform Module

A hardware security chip that stores cryptographic keys, verifies boot integrity, and enables BitLocker encryption and device attestation. Required for Windows 11.

Networking

UDP

User Datagram Protocol

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a connectionless transport protocol that sends datagrams without establishing a connection or guaranteeing delivery — trading reliability for speed and lower overhead.

Hardware

Unbuffered RAM

UDIMM, Unbuffered DIMM, Non-ECC RAM

Unbuffered RAM (UDIMM) connects directly to the CPU memory controller without a register chip, offering lower latency but limiting the number of modules per channel — standard in consumer and workstation PCs, not used in production servers.

Power

UPS

Uninterruptible Power Supply

Provides battery backup that keeps equipment running through a brief power outage and allows for a controlled shutdown if power isn't restored.

Security

Vault

A folder within a password manager for organizing and sharing credentials — the unit that controls who can access what.

Development

Vercel

A hosting platform — from the makers of Next.js — that automatically builds and deploys a site whenever new code is pushed to its connected GitHub repository.

Development

Vibe Coding

AI-assisted development

A style of software development where you describe what you want in plain language and an AI model writes the code — working iteratively through conversation rather than by hand.

Virtualization

Virtual Machine

VM, Guest, Guest OS

A software-based emulation of a physical computer. Multiple VMs run simultaneously on one physical host, each with its own OS, sharing CPU, RAM, and storage through a hypervisor.

Networking

VLAN

Virtual Local Area Network

A logical segment on a physical switch that isolates traffic between device groups — separate networks without extra hardware.

Networking

VLAN Tagging

802.1Q, Dot1Q

The mechanism for labeling Ethernet frames with a VLAN ID so switches know where traffic belongs. Defined by the IEEE 802.1Q standard.

Networking

VLAN Trunking & VTP

VTP, VLAN Trunking Protocol, Trunk Port

Trunk ports carry multiple VLANs on a single link between switches. VTP (Cisco) propagates VLAN definitions across switches automatically.

Virtualization

VMware

The dominant enterprise virtualization platform. VMware vSphere runs multiple isolated VMs on a single physical server — maximizing hardware utilization.

Networking

Voice VLAN

A dedicated VLAN for VoIP traffic, separate from data — ensures calls get priority and aren't degraded by data network congestion.

Networking

VoIP

Voice over IP, IP Telephony

Transmits telephone calls as digital data packets over an IP network rather than dedicated telephone circuits — the technology behind virtually all modern business phone systems.

Cloud & Infrastructure

VPC

Virtual Private Cloud

A VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) is a logically isolated network within a public cloud provider where you define your own IP addressing, subnets, routing, and security policies — your private network environment inside AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Networking

VPN

Virtual Private Network

Creates an encrypted tunnel between two endpoints over the public internet — used for remote access to corporate resources and connecting offices without leased lines.

MDM

VPP

Volume Purchase Program

Apple's Volume Purchase Program — buy apps centrally with licenses owned by the company, not individuals. Licenses return to the pool when someone leaves.

Security

Vulnerability Scanning

Automatically probes systems for known security weaknesses — unpatched software, misconfigurations, default credentials — and reports them prioritized for remediation.

Networking

WAN

Wide Area Network

A network spanning multiple locations — branch offices to headquarters, or your office to the internet. Your internet circuit is a WAN link.

WiFi

WAP

Wireless Access Point, Access Point, AP

The device that creates a Wi-Fi network — bridges wireless clients to the wired Ethernet infrastructure and is managed individually or via a controller.

Hardware

Wavelength

Wavelength is the physical distance between two peaks of a wave. In networking, it refers to the wavelength of light used in fiber optic transceivers — different wavelengths travel different distances and enable WDM (multiple channels on one fiber).

WiFi

Wi-Fi 6

802.11ax, WiFi 6

The current mainstream Wi-Fi standard — introduces OFDMA and improved MU-MIMO for better performance in high-density environments with many simultaneous connected devices.

WiFi

Wi-Fi 6E

802.11ax 6GHz, WiFi 6E

Extends Wi-Fi 6 into the 6GHz frequency band, adding up to 7 new 160MHz channels completely free of the congestion that plagues 2.4GHz and 5GHz in dense environments.

WiFi

Wi-Fi 7

802.11be, WiFi 7, Extremely High Throughput

The newest Wi-Fi standard — delivers up to 46Gbps theoretical throughput via 320MHz channels, multi-link operation across bands, and 4K-QAM.

WiFi

Wi-Fi Roaming

The process by which a wireless device transitions from one access point to another as it moves through a space, ideally without dropping connections or interrupting ongoing sessions.

WiFi

WLAN

Wireless LAN, Wireless Local Area Network

The wireless portion of a local area network — the collection of access points, SSIDs, and RF infrastructure that provides wireless connectivity within a physical space.

WiFi

WPA3

Wi-Fi Protected Access 3, WPA3-Personal, WPA3-Enterprise

The current Wi-Fi security standard, replacing WPA2. Closes key WPA2 vulnerabilities including offline dictionary attacks against captured handshakes, and adds forward secrecy.

Security

Zero Trust

Zero Trust Architecture, ZTA, Never Trust Always Verify

A security model that assumes no user, device, or connection should be trusted by default — every access request is verified based on identity, device health, and context.

Security

Zero-Day Attack

Zero-Day, 0-day

Exploits a vulnerability unknown to the vendor — or known but not yet patched. Since no fix exists, traditional patch-based defenses are ineffective.

MDM

Zero-Touch Provisioning

Devices that configure themselves on first boot — enroll in management, pull down policies and apps, and are ready without IT ever touching them.