AFS: Andrew File System. A network file system which supports, amongst other, a global namespace, encryption, caching, etc.

DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This service allows a device to dynamically receive an IP address from a pool of addresses, instead of requiring the device to have a fixed IP address. This is ideal for devices like laptops, which will not all be connected to the network at all times.

EECE: Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering.

IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol. The successor of the POP protocol and is used to retrieve email messages from a central email server. Supports more advanced features such as folders, encryption, etc.

LAN: Local Area Network. A computer network connecting a number of buildings. For example, the University network on main campus is considered a LAN.

NFS: Network Filesystem. This is a method for one machine to share (“export”) a disk with another machine on the network.

POP: Post Office Protocol. The original protocol developed to retrieve email messages from a central email server. It is recommended that IMAP be used instead of POP.

SSH: Secure Shell. A means of communicating between two computers using an encrypted connection.

VPN: Virtual Private Network. An implementation and encapsulated protocol suite that allows, amongst other, a remote machine to connect to a corporate / enterprise network use encrypted tunnel connections through a firewall.

Client: A computer or program that makes use of a server's functionality.

Cluster: a group of computing nodes, all configured alike

Load balancing: selecting less-busy node for a session

Node: a single server that is a member of a cluster

Server: A computer or a program that provides some common functionality for others to use. A “master” or “primary” server is the main source for a given service. A “slave” or “secondary” server is the backup source for a given service; if the master server goes down, the slave takes up its task.

Session: a logged-on user’s desktop and memory space; can have multiple sessions on a single node.