Active Directory

is the Windows Server directory service arranged in a hierarchical structure used to organize resources

application streaming

provides an uninterrupted flow of data to be transferred between devices

Application virtualization (App-V)

is the practice of running software from a remote server rather than on the user's computer. It is also known as application portability

bandwidth

is the measure of data throughput over some transmission medium. We use bandwidth to judge the quality of service of any network, be it a wired or wireless, an internal or external network. Typically it is represented in megabytes per second

bandwidth management

allows you to set up a minimum and maximum megabits per second throughput for any virtual network adapter

basic input/output system (BIOS)

is the set of essential software routines that tests hardware at startup, starts the operating system, and supports the transfer of data among hardware devices. It is a chip which stores communication information for all hardware on a system

client

is a program running on a computer that performs different operations with the help of a server

desktop virtualization

enables administrators to separate the computer desktop from the physical computer using virtualization technology

Device Manager

allows for all computer-attached device properties to be viewed or changed. It is a feature offered as part of the operating system

DHCP Guard

helps safeguard against man-in-the-middle attacks by dropping DHCP server messages from unauthorized virtual machines pretending to be DHCP servers

differencing disk

is a form of storage that reduces storage space on a host machine

domain controller

is any server that houses the domain database in a given network

dynamic

refers to actions that happen as needed rather than ahead of time

dynamic disk

uses only the amount of space that's necessary and grows on demand

external switch

is associated with a specific network adapter or a team of network adapters. It requires a unique network adapter or team of adapters and provides access to the physical network infrastructure, just like a normal adapter

Fibre Channel (FC)

is a technology, developed in a joint action by INCITS and ANSI, that allows for high-speed, fiber optic connections to and from storage area networks. It supports a number of different topologies, including point-to-point, arbitrated loop, and switched f

fixed disk

is allocated all hard disk space during the creation process

high availability (HA)

refers to measures that can be implemented to prevent the entire system from failing if some components of the system fail

host

In network communications, it is a computer or node connected to a network with access to the Internet. In some cases, it can be a computer connected to any type of network, but the connotation usually revolves around Internet access (viz. the Dynamic Hos

Hyper-V

is Microsoft's hypervisor software which enables virtualization

hypervisor

is also known as Virtual Machine Monitor or Virtual Machine Manager, allows multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a host computer (known as hardware virtualization). The hypervisor presents the guest operating systems with a virtual platform a

input/output (I/O)

describes the transfer of information to and from a computer. Input can be as varied as mouse movements, typing on a keyboard or audio from a microphone, while output is anything from display on a monitor to a printout. It can also refer to communications

Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)

is the standard interface and protocol for hard drives

Integration Services

refers to a collection of services and software drivers that maximize performance and provide a better user experience within a virtual machine. They are only available for supported guest operating systems

internal virtual switches

are used to communicate between virtual machines on the host and to provide communication between the virtual machine and the host. These types of switches are often used to provide virtual-to-virtual connectivity

Internet Protocol address (IP address)

is a numerical label that is assigned to devices in a computer network. It is used to route messages on a TCP/IP network. It provides computers or devices with a unique identifier

Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI)

is a method for providing SCSI-like services using a storage area network over an IP network

load balancing

is a technique that can provide an increase in scalability and availability of servers and associated data and services through software or hardware

Logical Unit Number (LUN)

is a reference number associated to a portion of a storage system. Systems may include a disk, a portion of a disk, a disk array, or a portion of a disk array

Media Access Control (MAC) Addresses

are physical identifiers attached to different network adapters. These identifiers are permanent, or "burned in," and are usually 48-bits in length, with the first 3 bytes reserved for the manufacturer of the card and the last 3 bytes reserved as a unique

MED-V

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization

Microsoft Exchange

is a Microsoft collaboration tool used for e-mail, public folders, and custom forms

migration

the act of transitioning a Windows XP system to a Windows 7 system while retaining system settings and configurations

Network Driver Interface Specifications (NDIS)

are used to allow multiple protocols to be bound to the same network card, such as the ability for a stack of protocols (TCP/IP) to be bound to one card

network interface card (NIC)

is an adapter installed in a computer that provides the connection point to a network. Also called a network adapter

NIC teaming

also known as network adapter teams

operating systems

is a software system which manages the interaction between users and hardware

partition

is a Windows or Mac option that is a group of dialable patterns

pass-through disks

allow a virtual machine to access any physical disk drive rather than use a virtual hard disk, providing the best performance for the virtual machine because it's equal to a physical machine

port ACLs

give you the ability to isolate virtual machines from certain types of network traffic. They act like a firewall rule that allows or denies traffic based on a Media Access Control (MAC) address or IP address

port mirroring

enables network traffic monitoring by forwarding copies of the destination or source is to another virtual machine to be used for monitoring purposes

PowerShell

is Microsoft's task automation framework, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on top of, and integrated with, the .NET Framework

presentation virtualization

is another type of virtualization that enables users to log on and run separate sessions on the server and the desktop. Applications do not run within a virtual machine but instead run on the host server

private cloud

is a type of cloud computing where the cloud platform is set up behind a firewall, and it's monitored and controlled by administrators

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)

is the method by which several disk drives are configured into a single logical disk drive. The benefits of using a RAID array are better fault tolerance, redundancy, lower latency, higher availability and higher bandwidth for writing operations. These be

random access memory (RAM)

is the most common type of computer memory used by programs to perform necessary tasks. Can be read and written by the CPU. This type of memory is volatile

RemoteApp

is a feature of Remote Desktop Services that enables the user to access a program remotely through Remote Desktop Services but have it appear as if it is running on the user's local computer. Users can run RemoteApp programs side by side with their local

Router Guard

helps protect against unauthorized routers by dropping any router advertisements and redirection messages from unauthorized virtual machines

Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)

is an interface controller that allows several peripherals to be connected to the same port on a computer

Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)

leverages rapid virtualization indexing and extended page tables for AMD-V and Intel VT, respectively. It increases the number of supported sessions

Server Core

is a barebones version of Windows Server that includes no GUI or extra applications but can serve in most of the same roles as a normal edition of Windows Server

single root I/O virtualization

enables you to configure the network adapters for the individual virtual machines to use the switch

smart paging

is a memory enhancement for virtual machines

snapshots

represent the state of a virtual machine at a specific point in time

Structured Query Language (SQL)

is a programming language used in databases for relational database management systems (RDBMS). The language was originally based on relational algebra. SQL is the most common database language, used by the IT world's two leading database server developer

storage area network (SAN)

is a high performance network that provides a block level access to data. May be implemented in either fibre channel or iSCSI implementations. Furthermore, it is an architecture to attach remote computer data storage devices to servers so the devices appe

VHDX

is a new file format for virtual hard disks used by Windows Server 2012 and later

virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

is the practice of hosting a desktop operating system within a virtual machine (VM) running on a centralized server. It supports thin client devices and manages checking in and out of virtual desktops

Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)

is a group of devices on one or more LANs that are configured so that they can communicate as if they are on the same wire or attached to the same broadcast domain, regardless of their physical location

virtual machines

are computers within a computer, implemented in software. They emulate a complete hardware system, from processor to network card, in a self-contained, isolated software environment, enabling the simultaneous operation of otherwise incompatible operating

virtual switch

is a virtualized version of a physical network switch, which forwards traffic between separate hosts that exist on the same network segment. It performs the same functionality, providing communication between virtual machines on the same or different host

virtualization

is the process which allows multiple operating system instances or servers to run on a single machine at the same time. Each virtual server or machine retains full functionality and can be rebooted independently

Different types of virtual switches

External
Internal
Private

Types of network adapters

Synthetic
Legacy