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Network Glossary with server racks in a data center
Access Control
Video Surveillance
Fire Alarm & Gas Detection
Intrusion Detection
Networking / IT

Welcome to the Network Glossary, your reference guide for key terms, definitions, and concepts used in networking and IT systems.
If you’re expanding your knowledge, explore our Video Surveillance Glossary and Access Control Glossary for more related terminology.  These resources are designed to help security professionals, integrators, and end users better understand the technologies shaping today’s security solutions.

Network Glossary

A complete A–Z reference of key networking and IT terms for security professionals and integrators.

Network Glossary Terms and Definitions

A

  • ACL

    Packet filtering rules on routers/switches.

  • Air-Gap

    Physical network separation for high security.

  • Anycast

    Same IP advertised from many sites for resilience.

  • ARP

    Resolves IP to MAC addresses on a LAN.
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C

  • Capacity Planning

    Forecasting compute, storage, and network.

  • Certificate/PKI

    Public key infrastructure for identity and trust.

  • Change Control

    Process managing production changes and rollback.

  • Client VPN

    User-initiated remote access tunnel.

  • Containers (Docker/K8s)

    Package and orchestrate apps for portability.

  • Core/Access Switch

    Two-tier architecture for campus networks.

  • CVE/CVSS

    Vulnerability IDs and severity scoring system.
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D

  • Data at Rest Encryption

    Encrypt disks/volumes where video is stored.

  • Data Classification

    Categorize data for protection and retention.

  • Data in Transit Encryption

    Encrypt traffic between cameras, servers and clients.

  • DLP

    Prevent sensitive data exfiltration.

  • DNS

    Resolves domain names to IP addresses.
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E

  • EDR/XDR

    Endpoint/extended detection and response tools.

  • Ethernet

    Wired LAN technology used by IP cameras and servers.

  • Extender (PoE)

    Device extending Ethernet/PoE beyond 100m.
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F

  • Firewall

    Controls traffic via rules; stateful inspection.
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G

  • Georedundancy

    Replicate data/services across regions.

  • GPU Passthrough

    Assign GPUs to VMs/containers for analytics.

  • Guest/VLAN Edge

    Isolated networks for visitors and IoT devices.
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H

  • Hardening Guides

    Vendor/industry baselines to reduce attack surface.

  • Health Probes

    Automated checks for service uptime.

  • High Availability Cluster

    Redundant servers that fail over on faults.
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I

  • IDS/IPS

    Intrusion detection/prevention systems.

  • IGMP Snooping

    Manages multicast streams to prevent flooding.

  • Immutable Backups

    Write-once backups protecting from ransomware.

  • IPv4/IPv6

    Internet Protocol versions; addressing and routing.

  • iSCSI/NFS/SMB

    Common storage protocols for video servers.
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K

  • Key Management Service

    Centralized encryption key lifecycle control.
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L

  • LAG/LACP

    Aggregates multiple links for bandwidth/redundancy.

  • Latency/Jitter

    Delay and its variation over time.

  • LC/SC Connectors

    Common fiber connector types.

  • Least Privilege

    Grant only the minimum necessary permissions.

  • Length Limit (100m)

    Ethernet copper max distance without extenders.

  • Load Balancer

    Distributes traffic across servers/services.
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M

  • Media Converter

    Converts copper to fiber or coax to Ethernet.

  • Micro-Segmentation

    Fine-grained policy per workload/device.

  • MTU/Jumbo Frames

    Packet size; larger frames reduce overhead on LANs.

  • Multicast/Unicast

    One-to-many vs one-to-one streaming modes.

  • Multimode/Singlemode Fiber

    Short vs long-distance optical fiber types.
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N

  • NAT/PAT

    Translates private to public addresses; ports.

  • NetFlow/sFlow

    Flow telemetry for traffic analysis.
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O

  • Observability

    Metrics, logs, traces for understanding systems.
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P

  • Packet Loss

    Dropped packets causing artifacts and stutter.

  • Patching

    Regular updates to fix vulnerabilities.

  • Penetration Testing

    Authorized simulated attacks to find weaknesses.

  • PoE (802.3af)

    Delivers up to ~15.4W per port; common for cameras.

  • PoE bt/UPoE (802.3bt)

    Up to 60-90W; multi-sensor/thermal/PTZ.

  • PoE+ (802.3at)

    Up to ~30W; powers PTZs/heaters.
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Q

  • QoS (DSCP)

    Traffic prioritization for latency‑sensitive streams.
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R

  • RADIUS/TACACS+

    Centralized authentication for admins/network access.

  • RAID 5/6/10

    Redundant disk arrays used in NVR/VMS servers.

  • Ransomware Protection

    Backup isolation, least privilege, EDR.

  • Red/Blue/Purple Team

    Attack/defense/collaborative testing functions.

  • Routing Protocols (OSPF/BGP)

    Dynamic routing for medium/large networks.

  • RTSP over TCP/UDP

    Transport choice for reliability vs latency.

  • Runbook/Playbook

    Step-by-step response or maintenance procedures.
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S

  • SD-WAN

    Policy-based WAN overlay using multiple links.

  • Secrets Management

    Secure storage/rotation of keys/passwords.

  • Service Accounts

    Non-human accounts with scoped permissions.

  • SFP/SFP+

    Fiber/copper transceivers for 1/10 Gbps links.

  • SIEM

    Security information/event management platform.

  • Site-to-Site VPN

    Permanent tunnel between locations.

  • SLA/SLO/SLI

    Service metrics and objectives for uptime/performance.

  • SNMPv3

    Encrypted/authorized monitoring of devices.

  • SSH

    Encrypted remote shell for device administration.

  • Static/DHCP

    Manual vs automatic IP addressing.

  • Storage (NAS/SAN)

    Network-attached vs storage-area networks.

  • STP/RSTP/MSTP

    Loop prevention protocols in Ethernet switching.

  • Subnet/Gateway

    Defines local network and route to other networks.

  • Switch (Managed)

    Provides VLANs, QoS, PoE budgets, port security.

  • SysHealth API

    Programmatic health/metrics export from platforms.

  • Syslog

    Centralized logging protocol for network devices/servers.
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T

  • Throughput/Goodput

    Raw vs useful data transfer rates.

  • TLS/SSL

    Encryption for HTTPS and secure services.

  • Trunk/Access Port

    Trunk carries multiple VLANs; access carries one.
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U

  • UTP/STP Cabling

    Unshielded vs Shielded twisted pair; Cat5e/6/6A/7.
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V

  • Virtualization (VMware/Hyper-V)

    Run multiple VMs per host for consolidation.

  • VLAN

    Logical LAN segmentation for isolation and broadcast control.

  • VPN (IPsec/SSL)

    Encrypted tunnels for remote access/site-to-site.

  • Vulnerability Scanning

    Continuous checks for CVEs and misconfigurations.
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W

  • Write Endurance

    SSD metric for total bytes written (TBW/DWPD).
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Z

  • Zero Trust

    Model assuming no implicit trust; verify each request.
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#

  • 802.1X

    Port-based network access control using EAP.
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This Network Glossary is part of our ongoing effort to provide educational resources for the security industry. For deeper insights, check out our related blog posts such as Networking Basics for Security Systems or Cybersecurity Best Practices.  If you have questions or want to explore product options, contact our team for expert support.

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