| ACPI | An open standard to communicate between the operating system and hardware to enable power management features. |
| CLI | A textual interface based on the operating system, where a user typically enters commands at the command prompt to instruct the computer to perform a specific task. |
| exFAT | A file system designed for flash memory cards and memory sticks. |
| FAT | A basic disk format allowing the OS to write data as files on a disk. The original 16-bit version (FAT16, but often simply called FAT) was replaced by a 32-bit version that is almost universally supported by different operating systems and devices. |
| GPT | A modern disk partitioning system allowing large numbers of partitions and very large partition sizes. |
| HCL | Hardware Compatibility List |
| MBR | A sector on a hard disk storing information about partitions configured on the disk. |
| RAID 0 | (Striping) Taking a number of disks and merging them into one large volume. |
| RAID 1 | (Mirroring) Mirror information form one disk to another, creating two identical disks |
| RAID 5 | (Striping + Distributed Parity) Strips data across multiple drivees and adds an aspect of redundancy by distributing parity information across all disks. At least 3 disks needed. 1 can fail and be replaced at a time |
| RAID 6 | (Striping + Distributed Parity) Strips data across multiple drivees and adds an aspect of redundancy by distributing parity information across all disks. At least 4 disks needed. 2 can fail and be replaced at a time. |
| RAID 10 (RAID 1+0) | (Mirroring + Striping) combines RAID 1 and RAID 0. At least 4 drives are needed. Info is striped across 2 drives, the remaining 2 drives are mirrors of the striped drives. |
| UAC | A security system in Windows designed to restrict abuse of accounts with administrator privileges. |
| VBR | Loads the boot manager, which for Windows is bootmgr.exe. |
| AUP | A policy that governs employees' use of company equipment and Internet services. ISPs may also apply AUPs to their customers. |
| CAB | In change management, the team responsible for approving or denying RFCs. |
| CI | In change management, an asset that requires specific management procedures for it to be used to deliver the service. |
| CMDB | In change management, the database in which configuration items are stored, identified using a label and defined by their attributes. |
| CMS | The tools and databases that collect, store, manage, update, and present information about CIs. |
| ESD | electrostatic discharge |
| IDE (programming) | A programming environment that typically includes a code editor containing an autocomplete feature to help you write code, a debugger to help you find coding errors, and an interpreter that translates the script file code into machine readable code the computer can execute. |
| An IT best practice framework, emphasizing the alignment of IT Service Management (ITSM) with business needs. | ITIL |
| KB | A searchable database of product FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), advice, and known troubleshooting issues. |
| MSDS | Information sheet accompanying hazardous products or substances explaining the proper procedures for handling and disposal. |
| MTBF | The rating on a device or component that predicts the expected time between failures. |
| PDU | A device designed to provide power to devices that require power, and may or may not support remote monitoring and access. |
| RFC | In change management, the formal document submitted to the CAB that has the details of the proposed alteration. |
| RPO | The amount of data loss that a system can sustain, measured in time. See also recovery time objective. |
| RTO | The period following a disaster that a system may remain offline. See also recovery point objective. |
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedure |
| UPS | An alternative AC power supply in the event of power failure. A UPS requires an array of batteries, a charging circuit, an inverter to convert DC to AC current, a circuit to allow the system to take over from a failing power supply, and some degree of spike, surge, or brownout protection (possibly including a line conditioner). |
| regex | Strings of characters that denote a word, a set of words, or a sentence. |
| rpm | A tool for maintaining packages in Red Hat Linux systems. |
| unified file system | Everything available to the Linux OS is represented as a file in the file system, including devices. |
| XML | A system for structuring documents so that they are human- and machine-readable. Information within the document is placed within tags, which describe how information within the document is structured. |
| BCD | Windows stores information about operating systems installed on the computer in a boot configuration data store, located in \boot\bcd on the system partition. |
| BSOD | A condition that indicates an error from which the system cannot recover (also called a stop error). |
| COM+ | Microsoft's object-oriented programming architecture and operating system services for developing applications. See also Component Services. |
| PID | The number assigned to a process. |
| ICMP | IP-level protocol for reporting errors and status information supporting the function of troubleshooting utilities such as ping. |
| Applying an access control list to a switch or access point so that only clients with approved MAC addresses can connect to it. | MAC filtering |
| Similar to NAT, it maps private host IP addresses onto a single public IP address. Each host is tracked by assigning it a random high TCP port for communications. | NAPT |
| A network service provided by router or proxy server to map private local addresses to one or more publicly accessible IP addresses. | NAT |
| An RDP technology requiring users to authenticate before a server session is created. | NLA |
| Another term for NAT overloading or NAPT. | PAT |
| Symmetric encryption technologies, such as those used for WEP, require both parties to use the same private key. This key must be kept a secret known only to those authorized to use the network. | PSK |
| A feature of a network adapter that allows the computer to boot by contacting a suitably configured server over the network (rather than using a local hard disk). | PXE |
| Systems that differentiate data passing over the network that can reserve bandwidth for particular applications. | QoS |
| Used to manage remote and wireless authentication infrastructure. Users supply authentication information to client devices, such as wireless access points. | RADIUS |
| A method of mitigating the risk of using Remote Desktop. | RDPRA Mode |
| For a wireless signal, an index level calculated from the signal strength level. | RSSI |
| TCP/IP application protocol supporting remote command-line administration of a host (terminal emulation) | telnet (Runs over TCP port 23) |
| Mechanism used in the first version of WPA to improve the security of wireless encryption mechanisms, compared to the flawed WEP standard. | TKIP |
| A protocol framework allowing network devices to autoconfigure services, such as allowing a games console to request appropriate settings from a firewall. | UPnP |
| Remote access tool and protocol. VNC is the basis of macOS screen sharing. | VNC |
| Where a host has a compatible network card, a network server can be configured to transmit a "magic packet" that causes the host to power up. | WoL |
| A mechanism for encrypting data sent over a wireless connection. WEP is considered flawed (that is, a determined and well-resourced attack could probably break the encryption). Apart from problems with the cipher, the use and distribution of a pre-shared key (effectively a password) depends on good user practice. Has been replaced by WPA. | WEP |
| An improved encryption scheme for protecting Wi-Fi communications, designed to replace WEP. | WPA |
| Mechanism for auto-configuring a WLAN securely for home users. On compatible equipment, users just have to push a button on the access point and connecting adapters to associate them securely. | WPS |
| A large wireless network, such as a cellular data network or line-of-sight microwave transmission. | WWAN |
| The database that contains the users, groups, and computer accounts in a Windows Server domain. | AD DS |
| On a Windows domain, per-user and per-computer settings can be deployed through this, attached to Active Directory Containers. This can be used to configure security settings such as password policy, account restrictions, firewall status, and so on. | GPO |
| A command line tool that displays the RSoP for a computer and user account. | gpresult |
| A command line tool to apply a new or changed policy immediately. When used with the /force option, it causes all policies (new and old) to be reapplied. | gpupdate |
| The Windows local security account database where local system account information is stored. | SAM |
| Modern encryption suite providing symmetric encryption | AES |
| Framework for negotiating authentication methods, supporting a range of authentication devices. | EAP |
| A means of ensuring endpoint security—ensuring that all devices connecting to the network conform to a "health" policy (patch level, anti-virus/firewall configuration, and so on). | NAC |
| Asymmetric encryption provides a solution to the problem of secure key distribution for symmetric encryption. Under this system, keys are issued as digital certificates by a Certificate Authority (CA). | PKI |
| A cryptographic hashing algorithm created to address possible weaknesses in MDA | SHA |
| Within an ACL, a record of subjects and the permissions they hold on the resource. | ACE |
| The permissions attached to or configured on a network resource, such as folder, file, or firewall. | ACL |
| Licenses required for clients accessing software services from a server, purchased per server (with a limited number of simultaneous users) or per seat (specifying each unique device or user). | CAL |
| Team with responsibility for incident response. | CIRT/CSIRT |
| Software that can identify data that has been classified and apply "fine-grained" user privileges to it (preventing copying it or forwarding by email, for instance). | DLP |
| Copyright protection technologies for digital media. | DRM |
| full disk encryption | FDE |
| The process of managing information over its lifecycle, from creation to destruction. | ICM |
| Information security standard for organizations that process credit or bank card payments. | PCI DSS |
| Information that identifies someone as the subject of medical and insurance records, plus associated hospital and laboratory test results. | PHI |
| Data that can be used to identify or contact an individual | PII |
| An alternative to RADIUS developed by Cisco. | TACACS+ |
| A specification for hardware-based storage of digital certificates, keys, hashed passwords, and other user and platform identification information. Essentially, it functions as a smart card embedded on a motherboard. | TPM |
| A system that works out a device's location by triangulating its proximity to other radio sources, such as Wi-Fi access points or Bluetooth beacons. | IPS |
| A password that is generated for use in one specific session and becomes invalid after the session ends. | OTP |
