Networking terms

Some Networking terms:

Access Control List (ACL)

An ACL applies rules to switch ports or IP addresses available to a host or switch. The rules determine whether or not packets can flow through those ports or IPs.

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

A communications protocol used by IPv4 to map an IP address to a physical machine address.

Advanced Package Tool (APT)

Free software that installs and removes software packages from some Linux operating systems, such as Debian

Any Source Multicast (ASM)

A multicast where hosts can transmit to/from groups without any restrictions on the receivers

Application-specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)

An integrated circuit customized for a specific use

Bare metal switch

A physical network switch without a proprietary operating system. For example, a switch purchased directly from Edgecore and you can install Cumulus Linux or another open OS.

BGP Unnumbered

Unnumbered interfaces don't have unique IP addresses. For BGP, you configure unnumbered interfaces using extended next-hop encoding (ENHE).

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

An exterior gateway protocol that exchanges routing and reachability information among autonomous systems

Broadcast, Unknown Unicast, Multicast (BUM)

3 types of network traffic. Unicast involves communication from one single point to another single point. Broadcast is when information is sent from a single point to multiple points. Multicast is communication of information from multiple points to other points

 Capital Expense/Expenditure (CapEx)

The funds that a company spends on physical assets, such as equipment

Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP)

The proprietary version of LLDP

Clos architecture

Another term for a leaf/spine network

Command Line Interface (CLI)

The interface through which one interacts with a computer program

Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

The process of making continual improvement rather than a configure-and-forget mentality to IT configuration management

Continuous Integration (CI/CD)

The process of making continual improvement rather than a configure-and-forget mentality to IT configuration management

Cumulus Multichassis Aggregation Group (Cumulus MLAG)

Enables a server or switch with a two-port bond (such as a link aggregation group/LAG, EtherChannel, port group or trunk) to connect those ports to different switches and operate as if they are connected to a single, logical switch. 

Cumulus Virtual Experience (Cumulus VX)

A virtual appliance that runs on many popular hypervisors helping you preview Cumulus Networks technology

 Device Driver

A computer program that tells the OS how to communicate with a piece of hardware

Domain Name Service (DNS)

A protocol that translates domain names into IP addresses

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

A way to automatically assign IP addresses and settings to a network device