MCSE Glossary W :

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

Waiting for Call
A telephony signal that Network Connections has put the modem in Listen mode and is waiting for incoming calls.

See also: modem (modulator/demodulator); Network Connections
wake-on-LAN
A power management feature that allows a device to bring the operating system out of standby or sleep mode if there is network activity.

See also: sleep mode
WAN

See definition for: wide area network (WAN)
warning level
The point at which users are nearing their quota limit.

See also: quota limit
weak password
A password that does not provide an effective defense against unauthorized access to a resource. A weak password can be less than six characters long, contain all or part of a users account name, or contain less than three of the four following categories of characters: uppercase characters, lowercase characters, base 10 digits, and symbols found on the keyboard (such as !, @, #).

See also: password; password policy; strong password
Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
An application protocol related to Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 1.1 that allows clients to transparently publish and manage resources on the World Wide Web.

See also: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP); protocol
Web server
A computer that is maintained by a system administrator or Internet service provider (ISP) and that responds to requests from a user's browser.

See also: Internet service provider (ISP)
WebDAV

See definition for: Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
well-connected
Sufficient connectivity to make your network and Active Directory useful to clients on your network. The precise meaning of well-connected is determined by your particular needs.

See also: Active Directory; client
well-known services
Services that are so pervasive in the computer industry that standard bindings are universally recognized. These services often maintain a machine-centric status and are frequently legacy services such as those developed for use in TCP/IP networks, for example, Telnet and File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Well-known services can published in Active Directory, but because their bindings are widely known, the information is superfluous.

See also: Active Directory; binding; File Transfer Protocol (FTP); machine-centric; service; Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
wide area network (WAN)
A communications network connecting geographically separated computers, printers, and other devices. A WAN enables any connected device to interact with any other on the network.

See also: device; local area network (LAN)
wildcard character
A keyboard character that can be used to represent one or many characters when conducting a query. The question mark (?) represents a single character, and the asterisk (*) represents one or more characters.

wildcarding
In DNS, the supported use of wildcard characters such as the asterisk (*) in domain names for DNS queries that resolve to multiple names. When wildcarding is used, DNS servers must support resolving name queries that use wildcard characters, and resolvers must be able to parse multiple records from any resource record sets (RRsets) issued in wildcard query responses.

See also: DNS server; domain name; Domain Name System (DNS); resource record set (RRset); wildcard character
Windows Catalog
A Web site that lists hardware and software that is designed for use with Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server products, and products in the Windows Server 2003 family. You can use this site to help you decide whether to purchase a particular device or program, to help you evaluate whether a particular computer would support an upgraded operating system, or for similar decisions about hardware and software.

See also: device; Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)
Windows Clustering
A feature of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, that provides the complementary clustering technologies, Network Load Balancing clusters, and server clusters.

See also: cluster; Network Load Balancing cluster; server cluster
Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL)
Provides compatibility testing services to test hardware and drivers for Windows operating systems.

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
A software service that dynamically maps IP addresses to computer names (network basic input/output system (NetBIOS) names). This enables users to access resources by name instead of requiring them to use IP addresses that are difficult to recognize and remember.

See also: IP address; network basic input/output system (NetBIOS); resource; service; WINS proxy; WINS resource
Windows Logo Program
A certification program to help customers identify systems, hardware, and software that meet a baseline definition of platform features and quality goals and ensure a good user experience of Windows.

See also: signed driver; unsigned driver
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
A management infrastructure in Windows that supports monitoring and controlling system resources through a common set of interfaces and provides a logically organized, consistent model of Windows operation, configuration, and status.

See also: resource
Windows Management Instrumentation filter
A query that is based on Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and used to filter the effect of a Group Policy object (GPO). WMI filters are written in WMI Query Language (WQL) and are evaluated on the target computer or user. If the filter evaluates to true, then the GPO is applied. Otherwise, the GPO is not applied. WMI filters are useful for exception management.

See also: Group Policy Management console (GPMC); Group Policy object (GPO); Group Policy object link
Windows Media Services
Software that provides multimedia support, allowing you to deliver content using Advanced Streaming Format over an internet or the Internet.

See also: multimedia streaming
Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA)
A common set of interfaces that connect front-end applications with back-end services.

See also: service
Windows Support Tools
Tools that administrators, developers, or support personnel can use to diagnose and troubleshoot operating system configuration problems. Although Windows Support Tools are included on the operating system CD, they are not guaranteed or supported by Microsoft, and they must be installed separately from the operating system.

WINS

See definition for: Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
WINS proxy
A computer that listens to name query broadcasts and responds for those names not on the local subnet. The proxy communicates with a WINS server to resolve names and then caches them for a specific time period.

See also: subnet; Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
WINS resource
A resource type that provides Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) from a cluster.

See also: cluster; resource types; Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
Winsock
Windows Sockets. An application programming interface (API) standard for software that provides a TCP/IP interface under Windows.

See also: application programming interface (API); Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
wireless communication
Communication between a computer and another computer or device without wires. The form of wireless communication provided as part of the Windows operating system uses infrared (IR) light to transmit files. Radio frequencies, as used by cellular and cordless telephones, are another form of wireless communication.

See also: infrared (IR); infrared device; infrared port
WMI

See definition for: Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
WMI filter

See definition for: Windows Management Instrumentation filter
workgroup
A simple grouping of computers, intended only to help users find such things as printers and shared folders within that group. Workgroups in Windows do not offer the centralized user accounts and authentication offered by domains.

See also: authentication; domain; user account
working set
For a process, the amount of physical memory assigned to the process by the operating system.

See also: process
World Wide Web
A system for exploring the Internet by using hyperlinks. When you use a Web browser, the Web appears as a collection of text, pictures, sounds, and digital movies.

See also: internet
WOSA

See definition for: Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA)