direct memory access, a technique for transferring data from main memory to a device without passing it through the CPU. Computers that have DMA channels can transfer data to and from devices much more quickly than computers without a DMA channel can. This is useful for making quick backups and for real-time applications.

A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

Specifies the format of datagrams (packets) and the addressing scheme on a network. Most networks combine IP with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which establishes a virtual connection between a destination and a source.

Interrupt Request Lines are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor

Logical adapters are groups of virtual circuits that appear to Windows as a single network adapter. If you define multiple logical adapters, Windows treats each logical adapter as a separate network adapter.

Media Access Control address, a hardware address that uniquely identifies each node of a network.

Media Access Unit, an Ethernet transceiver.

A printed circuit board that plugs into the bus of both user machines (clients) and servers in a local area network (LAN). The adapters are wired to a network hub, switch or , typically using twisted wire pair cables, although optical fibers may be used for very fast connections.

An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices. The protocol determines the following:

A device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP’s network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect.

Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path for forwarding the packets, and they use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.

Communication that takes place over a network between a single sender and a single receiver.

The Virtual Interface is the TCP/IP Loopback interface. It is provided by the Operating System to allow a computer to send packets to itself. A packet is the fundamental unit of transmission on the physical network.