Intelligent Input/Output (I/O) Special Interest Group. A group of leading enterprise vendors defining a technical specification as a standard interface for high-performance I/O systems. http://www.i2osig.org/
Internet Architecture Board. A technical advisory group of the Internet Society, providing oversight of the standards development for protocols and procedures used by the Internet. See also IETF, ISOC. http://www.iab.org/iab/
the 150-ohm impedance shielded twisted pair premises wiring systems sold by International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation.
A four-position connector used in the IBM Cabling System.
Internet Control Message Protocol. Extension to the Internet Protocol (IP) that allows for generation of error messages, test packets, and informational messages related to IP.
A graphic symbol on a user interface display.
Internet Control Protocol. Protocol that tracks the internet address of nodes, routes outgoing messages, and recognizes incoming messages.
Intermediate distribution frame. A metal rack for cable connections located in an equipment room or closet. Provides the connection between the main distribution frame (MDF) and individual phone wiring.
Internetwork Datagram Protocol.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Professional organization that acts as a coordinating body for electrical, electronic, computing, and communications standards. It ensures that systems from different manufacturers communicate with minimum adjustments, enabling a device from one vendor to exchange messages with devices from other vendors. http://www.ieee.org/
IEEE standards developed by an IEEE subcommittee specifically addressing LAN/MAN standards such as Ethernet, token ring, and various LAN configurations. http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/index.html
The IEEE standard that specifies the link layer control (LLC) portion of the data link layer (DLL) for various media access methods. See also DLL, LLC.
the IEEE standard for Ethernet networks; in full, ANSI/IEEE Standard 802.3. It includes rules for configuring Ethernet LANs, the types of media that can be used, and how the elements of the network should interact.
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/3/index.html
the IEEE standard for token ring networks. Covers rules for configuring token ring LANs, the types of media that can be used, and how the elements of the network should interact.
Internet Engineering Task Force. An international group of network professionals and vendors providing technical contributions to the engineering and evolution of the Internet, with oversight by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). See also IAB. http://www.ietf.org/
Internet Group Management Protocol. A protocol in the IP suite that allows a host to register its local network with the local router to receive any datagrams sent to that router and targeted to a group with a specific IP multicast address. Bay Networks routers support IGMP version 2.
Interior Gateway Protocol. Term applied to any protocol used to increase network reachability and distribute routing information within an autonomous system. Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocols are common IGPs. See also OSPF, RIP.
Interior Gateway Routing Protocol. Proprietary protocol used by Cisco Systems.
Interim Inter-switch Signaling Protocol. A standardized signaling protocol to enable switched virtual circuits (SVCs) between switches in a private ATM network using static routes. Based on UNI 3.1 with optional support for UNI 3.0.
Integrated local area communications controller.
Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. Established, formerly regulated telecommunications companies.
Intelligent Link Interface. A link module and processor board pair that receives packets or frames, then bridges, routes, switches, or filters them. ILIs fit into Bay Networks Backbone Node hardware platforms and exchange traffic and data over a 2- or 4-way bus called a Packet Parallel Express (PPXTM).
Interim Local Management Interface. An ATM Forum signaling and addressing protocol.
Information Management System. An IBM hierarchical database management system for mainframes.
Interactive Multimedia Teleconferencing Consortium. Nonprofit corporation involved in the development and implementation of multimedia teleconferencing issues, based upon international standards, primarily those developed by the ITU. See also ITU, VoIP Forum. http://www.imtc.org/
The transmission of signaling information at some frequency or frequencies that lie within a carrier channel normally used for information transmission.
A light in a display, often an LED. The state of the light indicates information about the device to which it is attached.
Expansion bus commonly used in PCs that controls peripheral components.
The point where inbound data flows enter a system. See also egress.
Interoperability Technology Association for Information Processing.
Manageable hub, meaning that each port on the hub can be configured, monitored, and enabled or disabled by a network operator from a hub management console. Hub management can also include processing functions and information gathering of network parameters such as the number or types of transmitted packets, the number of errors, or the number of collisions. See also manageable hub, active hub, passive hub.
A network module that provides a single-channel connection from a local concentrator to a central concentrator.
A crossover implemented through internal circuitry in a device.
A transceiver (equivalent to an IEEE 802.3 MAU) implemented as part of the internal circuitry of an Ethernet network interface card; also called onboard transceiver.
Now ITU-T; International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications sector. See also ITU, ITU-T.
A worldwide voluntary federation of national standards organizations, founded in 1946, responsible for creating international standards in many areas, including computers and communications. Members are the national standards organizations of member countries, including ANSI for the United States. Known in networking for its Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) seven-layer reference model, which specifies how dissimilar computing devices such as network interface cards, bridges, and routers exchange data over a network. See also OSI. http://www.iso.ch/welcome.html
A computer network that joins many government and university and private computers together over phone lines (mostly T1s and T3s), serving organizations such as the National Science Foundation and Advanced Research Projects Agency. The worldwide Internet that has evolved from the network developed as the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Internet and the TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) it uses. See also IP, TCP.
A 32-bit Internet Protocol (IP) source or destination address. See also Class A/B/C address, IP address.
A collection of two or more packet-switching networks that may be dissimilar, interconnected by routers that allow them to function logically as a single, large network.
(1) Linking individual local area networks together to form a single internetwork. Sometimes called an enterprise network because it interconnects computer networks throughout the entire enterprise.
(2) A method of linking hubs by repeating all packets from one hub to the other hub.
Modules (or standalone units), such as bridges or routers, that connect individual local area networks together.
The ability of software and hardware on multiple machines from multiple vendors to communicate successfully.
A private corporate network providing Internet-like functions and applications to internal users. Occasionally referred to as intranetwork. See also Extranet.
A cell where the header is declared by the header error control (HEC) process to contain errors.
A distributed backbone that uses a local area network for the backbone but is physically contained in a small area, such as an equipment room. Most common in token ring environments where two-port bridges are connected to a backbone 16 Mb/s ring in the computer room.
the topology used by computer networks, in which groups of stations are connected to a central concentrator, like branches of a tree, and the concentrators at the centers of these branches are in turn connected to a higher-level concentrator in a tree; also called hierarchical star topology.
Input/output (interface). Transferring data and control information between a CPU and a peripheral device.
Internet Protocol. Part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols defined in RFC 791. Describes the software responsible for routing packets and addressing devices.The standard is used for sending the basic unit of data, an IP datagram, through an internetwork. Provides an unreliable, connectionless data delivery service on a "best-effort" basis.
Internet Protocol address. The 32-bit (4 byte) address, defined by the Internet Protocol in STD 5, RFC 791, used to represent a point of attachment in a TCP/IP internetwork. An IP address consists of a network portion and a host portion to make routing more efficient. It is usually represented in dotted-decimal notation. See also Class A/B/C address, dot address, network address, subnet address.
Interprocess Communication Protocol. The exchange of data between one program and another within the same computer or over a network. A protocol that guarantees a response to a request.
Internet Protocol Control Packet. Specialized IP over PPP network control protocol packet.
Internet Protocol Encapsulation of X.25.
Interpacket gap. An idle period between two packets in the IEEE 802.3 standard.
Standard IETF communications protocols addressing multimedia data transmission over the Internet, as well as via other communications services and networks. See also IETF.
An international, multivendor forum accelerating the adoption of the IETF IP Multicast standard. http://www.ipmulticast.com/
Integrated Private Network-to-Network Interface. An emerging multiple link state protocol, being developed as an extension to the PNNI ATM routing protocol. It will be used for effective route determination and distribution in hybrid LAN/ATM internetworks.
Internet Protocol Security. An emerging standard, this Bay Networks supported tunneling protocol offers strong encryption, support for IP address translation, and packet-by-packet authentication. Special ISP services are not required.
Internetwork Packet Exchange. The Novell NetWare protocol that provides datagram delivery of messages. IPX facilitates communications between end stations on geographically dispersed LANs supporting a large range of applications and provides the network layer functions of addressing and routing to facilitate communications between a client and a NetWare server.
Internetwork Packet Exchange Control Protocol.
Internet Packet Exchange Wide Area Network. Novell NetWare specification/protocol.
Industry standard architecture. An expansion bus commonly used in PCs that accepts the plug-in boards that control video display, disks, and other peripherals. Most PC expansion boards on the market are ISA.
Integrated Services Digital Network. An international telecommunications network, based on a set of communications standards, for digital transmission of voice, video, and data over WANs. ISDN interfaces also provide LAN connections and remote access capability. ISDN has two types of service: BRI (basic rate interface) and PRI (primary rate interface). See also BRI, PRI.
Integrated Services Digital Network basic rate interface. See BRI.
Integrated Services Digital Network primary rate interface. See PRI.
Intermediate System to Intermediate System.
International Organization for Standardization. A voluntary federation of international standards organizations, founded in 1946, responsible for creating international standards in many areas, including computers and communications. Its members are the national standards organizations of member countries, including ANSI for the United States. Known in networking for its Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) seven-layer reference model, which specifies how dissimilar computing devices such as network interface cards, bridges, and routers exchange data over a network. See also OSI.
http://www.iso.ch/welcome.html
International Organization for Standardization reference model (ISO 7498:1984) for Open Systems Interconnection. A standard modular approach to network design that divides a complex set of functions into functional layers. Starting from the innermost layer, these layers are: physical, link, network, transport, session, presentation, and application.
An international standard that represents ANSI/IEEE 802.3.
Internet Society. A nonprofit, international organization focusing on Internet standards, education, and policy issues. http://info.isoc.org/index.html
Signals that are dependent on some uniform timing or carry their own timing information embedded as part of the signal.
A board that is not connected to a backplane segment or ring.
A host module cluster that is not connected to a backplane segment or ring.
In a token ring hub, a module-level ring that is not associated with a backplane ring. Only one cluster can operate on an isolated ring.
A segment within a hub or concentrator that does not connect to any other segment, either locally or through the chassis backplane.
Internet service provider. A company that provides users with a network connection to the Internet through SLIP or PPP connections to enable end users to run software such as a Web browser on their PCs or workstations.
Interrupt service routine. Routine that processes a service interrupt before returning control to the suspended process.
International Telecommunication Union. United Nations organization that develops and standardizes worldwide telecommunications. http://www.itu.ch/
International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications sector. International organization that defines standards for telegraphic and telephone equipment, having replaced the CCITT as the leading telecommunications standards organization.