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246 APPENDIX E: GLOSSARY
Layer 2 Data Link layer in the ISO 7-Layer Data Communications Protocol. This
is related directly to the hardware interface for network devices and
passes on traffic based on MAC addresses.
Layer 3 Network layer in the ISO 7-Layer Data Communications Protocol. This
layer handles the routing functions for data moving from one open
system to another.
Link Aggregated
Group (LAG)
Aggregates ports or VLANs into a single virtual port.
Link Aggregation See Port Trunk.
Management
Information Base
(MIB)
An acronym for Management Information Base. It is a set of database
objects that contains information about a specific device.
MD5 Message Digest
Algorithm
An algorithm that is used to create digital signatures. It is intended for
use with 32 bit machines and is safer than the MD4 algorithm, which
has been broken. MD5 is a one-way hash function, meaning that it
takes a message and converts it into a fixed string of digits, also called
a message digest.
Multicast Switching A process whereby the switch filters incoming multicast frames for
services for which no attached host has registered, or forwards them to
all ports contained within the designated multicast VLAN group.
Network Time
Protocol (NTP)
NTP provides the mechanisms to synchronize time across the network.
The time servers operate in a hierarchical-master-slave configuration in
order to synchronize local clocks within the subnet and to national time
standards via wire or radio.
Out-of-Band
Management
Management of the network from a station not attached to the
network.
Port Authentication See IEEE 802.1X.
Port Mirroring A method whereby data on a target port is mirrored to a monitor port
for troubleshooting with a logic analyzer or RMON probe. This allows
data on the target port to be studied unobstructively.
Port Trunk Defines a network link aggregation and trunking method which
specifies how to create a single high-speed logical link that combines
several lower-speed physical links.