Glossary
A31003-W1040-U101-1-7619, July 2006 DRAFT
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HiPath Wireless Controller, Access Points and Convergence Software V4.0, C10/C100/C1000 User Guide
hwc_glossary.fm
Networking terms and abbreviations
MAC
Media Access Control layer. One of two sublayers that make up the
Data Link Layer of the OSI model. The MAC layer is responsible for
moving data packets to and from one Network Interface Card (NIC) to
another across a shared channel.
MAC address
Media Access Control address. A hardware address that uniquely
identifies each node of a network.
MIB
Management Information Base is a formal description of a set of
network objects that can be managed using the Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP). The format of the MIB is defined as
part of the SNMP. A MIB is a collection of definitions defining the
properties of a managed object within a device. Every managed
device keeps a database of values for each of the definitions written in
the MIB. Definition of the MIB conforms to RFC1155 (Structure of
Management Information).
MIC
Message Integrity Check or Code (MIC), also called "Michael", is part
of WPA and TKIP. The MIC is an additional 8-byte code inserted before
the standard 4-byte integrity check value (ICV) that is appended in by
standard WEP to the 802.11 message. This greatly increases the
difficulty in carrying out forgery attacks.
Both integrity check mechanisms are calculated by the receiver and
compared against the values sent by the sender in the frame. If the
values match, there is assurance that the message has not been
tampered with. (
See
WPA, TKIP and ICV).
MTU
Maximum Transmission Unit. The largest packet size, measured in
bytes, that a network interface is configured to accept. Any messages
larger than the MTU are divided into smaller packets before being
sent.
MU
Mobile Unit, a wireless device such as a PC laptop.
multicast, broadcast,
unicast
Multicast: transmitting a single message to a select group of
recipients. Broadcast: sending a message to everyone connected to a
network. Unicast: communication over a network between a single
sender and a single receiver.
NAS
Network Access Server, a server responsible for passing information
to designated RADIUS servers and then acting on the response
returned. A NAS-Identifier is a RADIUS attribute identifying the NAS
server. (RFC2138)
Term
Explanation
Table 19