Glossary - 3Com OfficeConnect 3CR856-95 User Manual

G
LOSSARY
10BASE-T
The IEEE specification for 10 Mbps Ethernet over Category 3, 4
or 5 twisted pair cable.
100BASE-TX
The IEEE specification for 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet over Category
5 twisted-pair cable.
3DES
Triple DES (See DES). 3DES is an extremely secure encryption
system that works by applying the DES encryption ststem three
times on the same message using different keys. It is typically
used in miltary applications where it is expected that the VPN
traffic will be intercepted and an effort made to decode it.
Auto-negotiation
Some devices in the OfficeConnect range support
auto-negotiation. Auto-negotiation is where two devices sharing
a link, automatically configure to use the best common speed.
The order of preference (best first) is: 100BASE-TX full duplex,
100BASE-TX half duplex, 10BASE-T full duplex, and 10BASE-T
half duplex. Auto-negotiation is defined in the IEEE 802.3
standard for Ethernet and is an operation that takes place in a
few milliseconds.
Bandwidth
The information capacity, measured in bits per second, that a
channel can transmit. The bandwidth of Ethernet is 10 Mbps, the
bandwidth of Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps.
Category 3 Cables
One of five grades of Twisted Pair (TP) cabling defined by the
EIA/TIA-586 standard. Category 3 is voice grade cable and can
only be used in Ethernet networks (10BASE-T) to transmit data at
speeds of up to 10 Mbps.
Category 5 Cables
One of five grades of Twisted Pair (TP) cabling defined by the
EIA/TIA-586 standard. Category 5 can be used in Ethernet
(10BASE-T) and Fast Ethernet networks (100BASE-TX) and can
transmit data up to speeds of 100 Mbps. Category 5 cabling is
better to use for network cabling than Category 3, because it
supports both Ethernet (10 Mbps) and Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)
speeds.
Client
The term used to described the desktop PC that is connected to
your network.
DES
Data Encryption Standard. DES is one of the encryption protocols
that can be used by an IPSec Virtual Private Network. It is a
strong encryption standard only currently exceeded in security by
3DES.
DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This protocol
automatically assigns an IP address for every computer on your
network. Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0
contain software that assigns IP addresses to workstations on a
network. These assignments are made by the DHCP server
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