Open System Services NFS SCF Reference Manual

Glossary
Open System Services NFS SCF Reference Manual—522582-001
Glossary-4
dotted-decimal notation
dotted-decimal notation. A representation for a 32-bit binary integer that consists of four
decimal (base 10) numbers separated by periods (dots), each of which represents one of
the four 8-bit values in the integer. Many Internet application programs accept dotted-
decimal notation in place of destination machine names.
ECHO. The name of a program used in the Internet to test the reachability of destinations by
sending them an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request and waiting
for a reply.
Ethernet. A popular local area network (LAN) technology invented at the Xerox Corporation
Palo Alto Research Center. An Ethernet connection itself is a passive coaxial cable; the
interconnections contain all active components. Ethernet is a best-effort delivery system
that uses carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) technology.
Xerox Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Intel Corporation developed
and published the standard for a 10-megabits/second Ethernet.
Ethernet
meltdown. An event that causes saturation or near saturation on an Ethernet. It
usually results from illegal or misrouted packets and typically lasts only a short time. As
an example, consider an Internet Protocol (IP) datagram directed to a nonexistent host
and delivered by way of hardware broadcast to all machines on the network. Gateways
receiving the broadcast will send out Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packets in an
attempt to find the host and deliver the datagram.
external data representation (XDR). The standard for a machine-independent data structure
representation developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. To use XDR, a sender translates
from the local machine representation to the standard external representation and a
receiver translates from the standard external representation to the local machine
representation.
FDDI. See fiber distributed data interface (FDDI)
.
fiber distributed data interface (FDDI). An emerging standard for a network technology
based on fiber optics. FDDI specifies a 100-megabits/second data rate using
1300-nanometer light wavelength and limits networks to approximately 200 kilometers
(km) in length, with repeaters every 2 km or less. The access control mechanism uses
token-ring technology.
filename. In the OSS environment, a component of a pathname containing any valid
characters other than a slash (/) or null. In the Guardian environment, a filename is the
set of node name, volume name, subvolume name, and file identifier characters that
uniquely identifies a file.
file server. A process running on a computer that allows programs running on remote
machines to access files on that computer. The term is often applied loosely to
computers that run file-server programs.
fileset. A logical grouping of files that, except for the root of the fileset, can be contained
only by directories within the fileset. This manual uses the term “fileset” for consistency
with other Open System Services documentation. See also file system
.