G
LOSSARY
3
lobe
All network components in a specific area that physically
connect to a specific MAU or wiring hub.
lobe cable
The section of cable that attaches a ring station or network
device to a MAU or wiring hub.
MAU
Multistation access unit. A passive hub.
NDIS
Network Driver Interface Specification. A software
specification used in many operating systems to create
drivers for network NICs. NDIS drivers support multiple
protocols and multiple NICs and can be unloaded from
memory to conserve conventional DOS RAM space.
NDIS permits the high-level protocol components to be
independent of the NIC by providing a standard interface.
Windows NT and Windows 95 support NDIS 3.0 and
NDIS 4.0.
ODI
Open Data-link Interface. A MAC-level specification
developed by Novell and Apple Computer. Like NDIS, the
ODI driver supports multiple protocols and NICs and can be
unloaded from memory to conserve conventional DOS
RAM space.
OnNow/(ACPI)
A comprehensive system-wide approach to system and
device power control. OnNow is a term for a PC that is
always on but appears to be off and responds immediately
to user or other requests.
See also
ACPI.
Parallel Tasking architecture
A proprietary technique developed and patented by 3Com
that provides significant performance improvement by
allowing network interchanges of data to occur in parallel.
Book Page 3 Saturday, November 1, 1997 3:13 PM
