Generally a list of permissions to objects, e.g., read, write, delete, for users or system processes.
Active Directory
A hierarchical directory service built on DNS in which workgroup and individual names can be found, and associated together with privileges.
access switch
Access hubs and switches working at the desktop layer connect workstations and servers to the network and provide MAC address filtering, bandwidth sharing, and bandwidth switching (moving data from one network to another).
administrator
A role assigned to users allowing specific actions (create, read, update, and delete) in a specified domain. There are business, site, domain/user, technical, and audit admins. For example, an administrator with an audit role in a sub-domain can view the hierarchy, business policies, and resources, and can also generate site and domain compliance reports for its accessible domains.
agent
DSC software, running on an OverDrive appliance, that manages network devices such as routers and switches. See DSC (device service controller).
aggregation switch
A switch that provides aggregate or group networks.
B
business policy
The controlling mechanism that provides network connectivity in terms of resources, ports, protocols, schedules, and connection topologies.
C
connection topology
A network configuration that allows resources or collections to communicate in a specify arrangement: all together, individually to all others (full mesh, bidirectional); server-to-client (spoke-initiated hub and spoke, or peer to peer); hub and spoke but bi-directional, such as for remote desktop help; or just a single peer-to-peer pair, whether peer initiated or bi-directional).
command center
The client UI interface to OverDrive, previously called an admin console, management portal, or policy workbench.
collection
A group of resources with some common purpose or function, allowing multiple resources to be managed, as for example, a collection of users from multiple sites who need access to something regardless of where they are located. Formerly, group.
D
device
Networking hardware such as a switch or router.
distribution switch
A device working at the workgroup or distribution layer (as defined by Cisco to include LAN-based routers and layer 3 switches), to make sure that packets are routed between subnets and VLANs.
DSC (device service controller)
Software running on Linux appliances. The DSC manages devices acting as edge routers, firewalls, distribution switches, and access switches. While these roles are logically singular, OverDrive can assign multiple devices to roles and can manage any resulting network redundancy by duplicating and rebuilding configurations where necessary. Formerly, agent.
DSC server
An appliance with one or more DSCs on it.
domain
The main organizational concept in the command center, domains exist in a hierarchy, much like directories in a file system. Since all objects in the system exist in a domain, the entire set of configuration items also has a hierarchical structure.
An XML document specifying configuration information for clouds, domains, VMs, and so on.
metapolicy
A set of constraints and rules imposed on connections as they are being built to support the business policies, allowing them to be tuned. See Installing OverDrive.
MSP (managed service provider)
Comparable to a reseller, an MSP provides services to a client, such as installing, configuring, and helping to mange OverDrive networks.
N
network access policy
Defining access to a LAN resource for one or more network identities organized by the LDAP tree, as for example, by membership in a security group.
network identities
Mappings to LDAP distinguished names, therefore able to represent an individual or a group in Microsoft Active Directory.
NSVE (network services virtualization engine)
The NSV Platform engine that analyzes business and network access policies and produces requests for the DSCs to reconfigure the devices they control so that the VPNs specified by the NSVE will be provisioned appropriately. Formerly, policy server.
P
policies
OverDrive uses two types of policies to manage resources. Network access policies define entitlements and access management on a network. Business policies give one set of resources access to another set of resources.
The TCP/UDP port or IP protocol permitted in a policy. All network services use one or more ports and one or more protocols for communication. For the users on a given network to use a service, the OverDrive NSV platform must be configured to allow network traffic for the service. There are a number of standard ports that are predefined in the OverDrive environment, e.g., http, telnet, and ICMP. The predefined object ANY allows network communications on any port and protocol. Formerly, application.
R
resource
An abstract definition of a a single host or a network subnet, instantiated as a LAN, a desktop machine, a mail server, laptop, or so on, with an IP address and subnet mask, and assigned to a single site. Resources may be moved from one site to another. They can include local resources, collections, VLANs, and network identities.
roles
A logical grouping of devices, typically to specify which ones can be managed by a particular admin user.
S
site
A logical collection of devices, normally thought of as in a geographical or virtual geographic location. A site consists of a DSC and one or more OverDrive-managed devices; it has one or more resources affiliated with it and can be configured with a set of subnets or VLANs. (With private tagged MPLS VLANs or frame relay networks, a single OverDrive site may be dispersed across multiple physical campuses but still have a single logical edge.)
subnet
Networked computers and devices with a common IP routing prefix such as 192.168.
V
VLAN (virtual LAN)
An abstraction of switch VLANs which could be managed as layer 2 802.1Q trunks (end-to-end VLANs) or in routed LAN environments (where the traffic on the LAN is routed among local switch VLANs at both the access and distribution layer). In OverDrive, VLANs are defined for an entire domain. Once one exists, it can be made available to some or all sites within that domain. OverDrive lets an administrator specify a list of VLANs permitted at a site or on specific devices.
VM (virtual machine)
A computer environment such as those provided by VMware that allows one operating system to run on a host operating system as if it were stand-alone.
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