Nomadix HotSpot Gateway HSG User Manual page 278

H S G ™
OT POT ATEWAY
VPN
(Virtual Private Network) A network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. For
example, there are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium
for transporting data. These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only
authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.
VxWorks ®
A real-time operating system, manufactured and sold by Wind River Systems of California, USA.
VxWorks program development requires a host machine running Unix or Windows.
W3C
(World Wide Web Consortium) An international consortium of companies involved with the Internet and
the Web. The organization's purpose is to develop open standards so that the Web evolves in a single
direction rather than being splintered among competing factions. The W3C is the chief standards body for
HTTP and HTML. See also, HTML and HTTP.
WAN
(Wide Area Network) Take two local area networks, hook them together, and you've got a WAN. Wide area
networks can be made up of interconnected smaller networks spread throughout a building, a state, a
country, or the entire globe.
WEP
(Wired Equivalent Privacy) A security protocol for wireless local area networks (WLANs) defined in the
802.11b standard. WEP is designed to provide the same level of security as that of a wired LAN. LANs are
inherently more secure than WLANs because LANs are somewhat protected by the physicalities of their
structure, having some or all of the network inside a building that can be protected from unauthorized
access. WLANs, which are over radio waves, do not have the same physical structure and therefore are
more vulnerable to tampering. WEP aims to provide security by encrypting data over radio waves so that it
is protected as it is transmitted from one end point to another.
Wi-Fi™
(Wireless Fidelity) Used generically when referring of any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b,
802.11a, dual-band, etc. The term is promulgated by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Any products tested and approved
as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each
other, even if they are from different manufacturers. A user with a "Wi-Fi Certified" product can use any
brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is certified. Typically, however, any
Wi-Fi product using the same radio frequency (for example, 2.4GHz for 802.11b or 802.11g, or 5GHz for
802.11a) will work with any other product, even if that product is not "Wi-Fi Certified."
WLAN
(Wireless Local Area Network) Also referred to as LAWN. A type of local-area network that uses high-
frequency radio waves rather than wires to communicate between nodes. See also, Node.
WMI
(Web Management Interface) The browser-based system administrators interface for all Nomadix
Gateways.
274 Glossary of Terms