MCSE Glossary N :

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z

name
The identifier of your computer on the network.

name resolution
The process of having software translate between names that are easy for users to work with and numerical IP addresses, which are difficult for users but necessary for TCP/IP communications. Name resolution can be provided by software components such as DNS or WINS.

See also: Domain Name System (DNS); Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP); Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
name resolution service
A service, such as that provided by WINS or DNS, that allows friendly names to be resolved to an address, or other specially defined resource data used to locate network resources of various types and purposes.

See also: Domain Name System (DNS); service; Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
name server (NS) resource record
A resource record used in a zone to designate the DNS domain names for authoritative DNS servers for the zone.

See also: DNS server; Domain Name System (DNS); resource record (RR); zone
named pipe
A portion of memory that can be used by one process to pass information to another process, so that the output of one is the input of the other. The second process can be local (on the same computer as the first) or remote (on a networked computer).

See also: shared resource
namespace
A naming convention that defines a set of unique names for resources in a network. For DNS, a hierarchical naming structure that identifies each network resource and its place in the hierarchy of the namespace. For WINS, a flat naming structure that identifies each network resource using a single, unique name.

See also: Domain Name System (DNS); Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
naming context

See definition for: directory partition
NAS

See definition for: network access server (NAS)
native mode
In Windows 2000 domains, the domain mode in which all domain controllers in a domain are running Windows 2000 and a domain administrator has switched the domain operation mode from mixed mode to native mode. Native mode supports universal groups and nesting of groups. In native mode, domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier are not supported.

In Windows Server 2003 domains, native mode is referred to as Windows 2000 native, and it is one of three domain functional levels available.


See also: Active Directory; domain functionality; mixed mode; universal group
NCP

See definition for: NetWare Core Protocol
NDIS

See definition for: Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS)
NDS

See definition for: Novell Directory Services (NDS)
negative caching
In DNS, client caching of failed responses to a query. Negative caching improves the response time for successive queries for the same name.

See also: cache; Domain Name System (DNS)
Net Logon service
A user-mode service that runs in the Windows security subsystem. The Net Logon service passes the user's credentials through a secure channel to the domain database and returns the domain security identifiers and user rights for the user. In addition, the Net Logon service performs a variety of other functions related to the user logon process, such as periodic password updates for computer accounts and domain controller discovery.

See also: user mode; user rights
NetBEUI

See definition for: NetBIOS Extended User Interface (NetBEUI)
NetBIOS

See definition for: network basic input/output system (NetBIOS)
NetBIOS Extended User Interface (NetBEUI)
A network protocol native to Microsoft Networking. It is usually used in small, department-size local area networks (LANs) of 1 to 200 clients. NetBEUI can use Token Ring source routing as its only method of routing. NetBEUI is the Microsoft implementation of the NetBIOS standard.

See also: Compression Control Protocol (CCP); local area network (LAN); network basic input/output system (NetBIOS); protocol; Token Ring
NetBIOS name
A 16-byte name of a process using network basic input/output system (NetBIOS). The NetBIOS name is a name that is recognized by WINS, which maps the name to an IP address.

See also: IP address; network basic input/output system (NetBIOS); Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
Netdom
A tool that allows management of Windows domains and trust relationships from the command line.

See also: domain; trust relationship
netmask ordering
A method DNS uses to give ordering and preference to IP addresses on the same network when a requesting client queries for a host name that has multiple host address (A) type resource records. This is designed so that the client program will attempt to connect to a host using the closest (and fastest) IP address available.

See also: address (A) resource record; Domain Name System (DNS); host; IP address
NetWare Core Protocol
The file-sharing protocol that governs communications about resources (such as disk and printer), bindery, and Novell Directory Services (NDS) operations between server and client computers on a Novell NetWare network.

See also: bindery; Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX); Novell Directory Services (NDS); protocol
network access server (NAS)
The device that accepts Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connections and places clients on the network that the NAS serves.

See also: Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)
network adapter
A device that connects your computer to a network. Sometimes called an adapter card or network interface card.

See also: device
network adapter driver
A device driver that works directly with the network adapter, acting as an intermediary between the adapter and the protocol driver.

See also: device driver; network adapter
network address translation (NAT)
An Internet Protocol (IP) translation process that allows a network with private addresses to access information on the Internet.

See also: Internet Protocol (IP)
network administrator
A person responsible for planning, configuring, and managing the day-to-day operation of the network. Also called a system administrator.

See also: administrator
network basic input/output system (NetBIOS)
An application programming interface (API) that can be used by programs on a local area network (LAN). NetBIOS provides programs with a uniform set of commands for requesting the lower-level services required to manage names, conduct sessions, and send datagrams between nodes on a network.

See also: application programming interface (API); basic input/output system (BIOS); datagram; local area network (LAN); node; service
network bridge
A device that connects networks using the same communications protocols so that information can be passed from one network to the other. Also, a device that connects two local area networks (LANs), whether or not they use the same protocols. A network bridge operates at the ISO/OSI data-link layer.

See also: local area network (LAN); protocol
Network Connections
A component you can use to gain access to network resources and functionality, whether you are physically at the network location or in a remote location. By using the Network Connections folder you can create, configure, store, and monitor connections. Formerly called Network and Dial-up Connections or Dial-Up Networking.

Network Control Protocol
A protocol within the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) suite that negotiates the parameters of an individual local area network (LAN) protocol such as TCP/IP or Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX).

See also: Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX); local area network (LAN); Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP); Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Network DDE service
A service that provides network transport and security for dynamic data exchange (DDE) conversations.

See also: dynamic data exchange (DDE); service
Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS)
A Microsoft/3Com specification establishing a common shared interface for Microsoft operating systems to support protocol-independent transport of multiple network transport protocols (such as TCP/IP, NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, and AppleTalk). NDIS allows more than one transport protocol to be bound and to operate simultaneously over a single network adapter.

See also: Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX); Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX); NetBIOS Extended User Interface (NetBEUI); Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Network File System (NFS)
A service for distributed computing systems that provides a distributed file system, eliminating the need for keeping multiple copies of files on separate computers.

See also: service
network gateway
A device that connects networks using different communications protocols so that information can be passed from one network to the other. A network gateway both transfers information and converts it to a form that is compatible with the protocols being used by the receiving network.

See also: device; protocol
network ID
A number used to identify the systems that are located on the same physical network bounded by routers. The network ID should be unique to the internetwork.

See also: router
Network Information Service (NIS)
A service for distributed computing systems that provides a distributed database system for common configuration files.

See also: service
Network Load Balancing
A Windows network component that uses a distributed algorithm to load-balance Internet Protocol (IP) traffic across a number of hosts, helping to enhance the scalability and availability of mission-critical, IP-based services, such as Terminal Services, Web services, virtual private networking, and streaming media. It also provides high availability by detecting host failures and automatically redistributing traffic to the surviving hosts.

See also: availability; cluster; host; scalability
Network Load Balancing cluster
Up to 32 Web servers from which Network Load Balancing presents a single IP address to Web clients and among which Network Load Balancing distributes incoming Web requests.

See also: IP address; Network Load Balancing; Web server
network media
The type of physical wiring and lower-layer protocols used for transmitting and receiving packets, for example, Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), and Token Ring.

See also: packet; protocol; Token Ring
Network Name resource
The name of a device that exists on a network and is supported as a cluster resource by a Resource DLL provided with Windows.

See also: Resource DLL
Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP)
A member of the TCP/IP suite of protocols used to distribute network news messages to NNTP servers and clients (newsreaders) on the Internet. NNTP is designed so that news articles are stored on a server in a central database, thus enabling a user to select specific items to read.

See also: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
network number
In the Macintosh environment, the routing address or range of addresses assigned to the physical network that AppleTalk Phase 2 routers use to direct information to the appropriate network. Also called network range and cable range.

See also: router
network partition
A state in which one or more of the nodes in a cluster cannot communicate with the other cluster nodes.

See also: cluster; node
network place
A folder on a Web server. You can view files and folders on Web servers just as you would view files and folders on network servers. However, when you save a file to a network place, the file is saved on a Web server, not on your computer's hard disk. You can create network places by using the Add Network Place Wizard, which is located in My Network Places. Network places are available only on Web servers that support Web Extender Client (WEC), FrontPage extensions, and Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV) protocols.

See also: Web server
Network Service account
A predefined local account that is used to start a service and provide the security context for that service. The name of the account is NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService. The Network Service account has limited access to the local computer and authenticated access (as the computer account) to network resources.

See also: access control list (ACL); Local Service account; Local System account; service
network-to-network interface (NNI)
An interface that defines how switches in a network communicate with each other.

network/bit-masked identifier
An IP address that includes a subnet bit-mask. Active Directory uses the subnet bit-mask to recognize sites and establish how replication of directory information will occur.

See also: Active Directory; IP address; replication; site; subnet
NFS

See definition for: Network File System (NFS)
NIS

See definition for: Network Information Service (NIS)
NNI

See definition for: network-to-network interface (NNI)
NNTP

See definition for: Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP)
No Override
In Group Policy in the Windows Server 2003 family, to force the Group Policy object (GPO) links of the parent container to take precedence over the GPO links of the child containers. By default, the GPO links that are closest to the user or computer (links to the child container) have higher precedence than GPO links higher up (links to the parent container). Enforcement causes GPOs that are linked in parent containers to take precedence instead. In Group Policy Management console (GPMC), Enforce is used instead of No Override.

See also: block inheritance; Enforce; Group Policy; Group Policy Management console (GPMC); Group Policy object link; inheritance; precedence
node
For tree structures, a location on the tree that can have links to one or more items below it.

For local area networks (LANs), a device that is connected to the network and is capable of communicating with other network devices.

For server clusters, a computer system that is an active or inactive member of a cluster.


See also: local area network (LAN); server cluster
non-Windows
Operating systems that are not Windows-brand operating systems.

nonauthoritative restore
A restore operation performed on an Active Directory domain controller in which the objects in the restored directory are not treated as authoritative. The restored objects are updated with changes held on other domain controllers in the domain.

See also: Active Directory; authoritative restore
noncontainer object
An object that cannot logically contain other objects. For example, a file is a noncontainer object.

See also: container object; object
noncontiguous namespace
A namespace based on different DNS root domain names, such as that of multiple trees in the same forest.

See also: domain name; Domain Name System (DNS); forest; namespace
nonhubbed mode
A mode in which asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) Address Resolution Protocol/multicast address resolution service (ARP/MARS) does not forward multicast and broadcast traffic for multicast group clients. In this mode, the service returns a dynamic listing of ATM hosts currently registered for the multicast group address to requesting clients. Clients then use this list to initiate and establish their own point-to-multipoint virtual connections with each of the members in the multicast list.

See also: Address Resolution Protocol (ARP); asynchronous transfer mode (ATM); hubbed mode; multicast address resolution service (MARS); multicast server (MCS)
nonpaged memory
Memory that cannot be paged to disk. Paging is the moving of infrequently used parts of a program's working memory from random access memory (RAM) to another storage medium, usually the hard disk.

See also: paging file; random access memory (RAM)
nonpaged pool
Operating system memory that is never paged to disk. Paging is the moving of infrequently used parts of a program's working memory from RAM to another storage medium, usually the hard disk. In Task Manager, the amount of memory used by a process, in kilobytes.

See also: paging file; Task Manager
nonrepudiation
A basic security function of cryptography that ensures that a party in a communication cannot falsely deny that a part of the communication occurred. Without nonrepudiation, someone can communicate and then later deny the communication or claim that the communication occurred at a different time.

See also: cryptography
nontransitive trust
A trust relationship in a multiple-domain environment that is restricted to just two domains. For example, if domain A has a nontransitive trust with domain B, and domain B trusts domain C, then there is no trust relationship between domain A and domain C. Nontransitive trusts can be one-way or two-way.

See also: forest; nontransitive trust; one-way trust; trust relationship; two-way trust
normal backup
A backup that copies all selected files and marks each file as having been backed up (in other words, the archive attribute is cleared). With normal backups, you need only the most recent copy of the backup file or tape to restore all of the files. You usually perform a normal backup the first time you create a backup set.

See also: copy backup; daily backup; differential backup; incremental backup
notification area
The area on the taskbar to the right of the taskbar buttons. The notification area displays the time and can also contain shortcuts that provide quick access to programs, such as Volume Control and Power Options. Other shortcuts can appear temporarily, providing information about the status of activities. For example, the printer shortcut icon appears after a document has been sent to the printer and disappears when printing is complete.

See also: taskbar
notify list
A list maintained by the primary master for a zone of other DNS servers that should be notified when zone changes occur. The notify list is made up of IP addresses for DNS servers configured as secondary masters for the zone. When the listed servers are notified of a change to the zone, they will initiate a zone transfer with another DNS server and update the zone.

See also: DNS server; IP address; primary master; zone; zone transfer
Novell Directory Services (NDS)
On networks running Novell NetWare 4.x and higher, a distributed database that maintains information about every resource on the network and that provides access to these resources.

See also: resource
Nslookup
A command-line tool used to diagnose DNS infrastructure.

See also: Domain Name System (DNS)
NTFS file system
An advanced file system that provides performance, security, reliability, and advanced features that are not found in any version of file allocation table (FAT). For example, NTFS guarantees volume consistency by using standard transaction logging and recovery techniques. If a system fails, NTFS uses its log file and checkpoint information to restore the consistency of the file system. NTFS also provides advanced features, such as file and folder permissions, encryption, disk quotas, and compression.

See also: FAT32; file allocation table (FAT); file system
NTFS permissions
The settings that administrators apply to access control entries (ACEs) for managing access to files and folders under the NTFS file system. Take Ownership is an example of an NTFS permission.

See also: access control entry (ACE); access control list (ACL); NTFS file system; permission
NTGATEWAY
A group of NetWare servers. Accounts used to create a gateway must belong to this group.

See also: gateway
NTLM authentication protocol
A challenge/response authentication protocol. The NTLM authentication protocol is supported in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and the Windows Server 2003 family, but it is not the default. It was the default authentication protocol for earlier versions of Windows.

See also: authentication; protocol
null modem cable
Special cabling that eliminates the modem's need for asynchronous communications between two computers over short distances. A null modem cable emulates modem communication.

See also: modem (modulator/demodulator)
null password

See definition for: blank password
NWLink

See definition for: NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol (NWLink)
NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol (NWLink)
The Microsoft implementation of the Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX) protocol used on NetWare networks. NWLink allows connectivity between Windows-based computers and NetWare networks running IPX/SPX. NWLink also provides network basic input/output system (NetBIOS) functionality and the Routing Information Protocol (RIP).

See also: Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX); network basic input/output system (NetBIOS); Routing Information Protocol over IPX (RIPX)