1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

client: A computer on which the remote procedure call (RPC) client is executing.

connection: Firewall rules are specified to apply to connections. Every packet is associated with a connection based on TCP, UDP, or IP endpoint parameters; see [IANAPORT].

connection blocks: A pre-allocated chunk of memory that is used to store a single connection request.

Distributed File System (DFS): A file system that logically groups physical shared folders located on different servers by transparently connecting them to one or more hierarchical namespaces. DFS also provides fault-tolerance and load-sharing capabilities.

Distributed File System (DFS) link: A component in a DFS path that lies below the DFS root and maps to one or more DFS link targets. Also interchangeably used to refer to a DFS path that contains the DFS link.

Distributed File System (DFS) root: The starting point of the DFS namespace. The root is often used to refer to the namespace as a whole. A DFS root maps to one or more root targets, each of which corresponds to a share on a separate server. A DFS root has one of the following formats "\\<ServerName>\<RootName>" or "\\<DomainName>\<RootName>". Where <ServerName> is the name of the root target server hosting the DFS namespace; <DomainName> is the name of the domain that hosts the DFS root; and <RootName> is the name of the root of a domain-based DFS.  The DFS root has to reside on an NTFS volume.

Domain Name System (DNS): A hierarchical, distributed database that contains mappings of domain names to various types of data, such as IP addresses. DNS enables the location of computers and services by user-friendly names, and it also enables the discovery of other information stored in the database.

endpoint: A network-specific address of a remote procedure call (RPC) server process for remote procedure calls. The actual name and type of the endpoint depends on the RPC protocol sequence that is being used. For example, for RPC over TCP (RPC Protocol Sequence ncacn_ip_tcp), an endpoint might be TCP port 1025. For RPC over Server Message Block (RPC Protocol Sequence ncacn_np), an endpoint might be the name of a named pipe. For more information, see [C706].

globally unique identifier (GUID): A term used interchangeably with universally unique identifier (UUID) in Microsoft protocol technical documents (TDs). Interchanging the usage of these terms does not imply or require a specific algorithm or mechanism to generate the value. Specifically, the use of this term does not imply or require that the algorithms described in [RFC4122] or [C706] have to be used for generating the GUID. See also universally unique identifier (UUID).

Interface Definition Language (IDL): The International Standards Organization (ISO) standard language for specifying the interface for remote procedure calls. For more information, see [C706] section 4.

Internet host name: The name of a host as defined in [RFC1123] section 2.1, with the extensions described in [MS-HNDS].

mailslot: A mechanism for one-way interprocess communications (IPC). For more information, see [MSLOT] and [MS-MAIL].

Microsoft Interface Definition Language (MIDL): The Microsoft implementation and extension of the OSF-DCE Interface Definition Language (IDL). MIDL can also mean the Interface Definition Language (IDL) compiler provided by Microsoft. For more information, see [MS-RPCE].

named pipe: A named, one-way, or duplex pipe for communication between a pipe server and one or more pipe clients.

NetBIOS host name: The NetBIOS name of a host (as described in [RFC1001] section 14 and [RFC1002] section 4), with the extensions described in [MS-NBTE].

Quality of Service (QoS): A set of technologies that do network traffic manipulation, such as packet marking and reshaping.

remote procedure call (RPC): A communication protocol used primarily between client and server. The term has three definitions that are often used interchangeably: a runtime environment providing for communication facilities between computers (the RPC runtime); a set of request-and-response message exchanges between computers (the RPC exchange); and the single message from an RPC exchange (the RPC message).  For more information, see [C706].

scoped share: A share that is only available to a client if accessed through a specific DNS or NetBIOS name. Scoped shares can make a single server appear to be multiple, distinct servers by providing access to a different set of shares based on the name the client uses to access the server.

server: A computer on which the remote procedure call (RPC) server is executing.

Server Message Block (SMB): A protocol that is used to request file and print services from server systems over a network. The SMB protocol extends the CIFS protocol with additional security, file, and disk management support. For more information, see [CIFS] and [MS-SMB].

share: A resource offered by a Common Internet File System (CIFS) server for access by CIFS clients over the network. A share typically represents a directory tree and its included files (referred to commonly as a "disk share" or "file share") or a printer (a "print share"). If the information about the share is saved in persistent store (for example, Windows registry) and reloaded when a file server is restarted, then the share is referred to as a "sticky share". Some share names are reserved for specific functions and are referred to as special shares: IPC$, reserved for interprocess communication, ADMIN$, reserved for remote administration, and A$, B$, C$ (and other local disk names followed by a dollar sign), assigned to local disk devices.

site: A group of related webpages that is hosted by a server on the World Wide Web or an intranet. Each website has its own entry points, metadata, administration settings, and workflows. Also referred to as web site.

standalone DFS implementation: A Distributed File System (DFS) namespace whose configuration information is stored locally in the registry of the root server.

sticky share: A share that is available after a machine restarts.

universally unique identifier (UUID): A 128-bit value. UUIDs can be used for multiple purposes, from tagging objects with an extremely short lifetime, to reliably identifying very persistent objects in cross-process communication such as client and server interfaces, manager entry-point vectors, and RPC objects. UUIDs are highly likely to be unique. UUIDs are also known as globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) and these terms are used interchangeably in the Microsoft protocol technical documents (TDs). Interchanging the usage of these terms does not imply or require a specific algorithm or mechanism to generate the UUID. Specifically, the use of this term does not imply or require that the algorithms described in [RFC4122] or [C706] has to be used for generating the UUID.

work item: A buffer that receives a user request, which is held by the Server Message Block (SMB) server while it is being processed.

MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.