IT Glossary - N - ITU Online IT Training
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IT Glossary
Key Terms To Know In The IT Industry

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Network Virtualization

The process of abstracting network resources, such as hardware and software, to create a virtual network that is independent of the underlying physical infrastructure.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking

Network Visibility

The ability to monitor, manage, and analyze network traffic and performance across all parts of the network, often using specialized tools and software.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, IT Management

Network Vulnerability Assessment

The systematic examination of a network or network component for security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Security

Networked Application

An application that uses network resources to perform its functions, typically involving client-server interactions over the internet or other networks.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development, Networking

Networking Protocol

A set of rules and conventions for communication between network devices, including protocols for error handling and data transmission.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Protocols

Neural Network

A computational model inspired by the structure and function of the human brain, capable of learning complex patterns and relationships from data.

You will find this term commonly used in AI

Next Generation Networking (NGN)

A broad term to describe key architectural evolutions in telecommunication core and access networks that will be deployed over the next 5–10 years.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Telecommunications

Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW)

An advanced type of firewall that provides capabilities beyond traditional firewalls, including deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and application-level traffic inspection.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Security

Next-Generation Network (NGN)

A broad term that refers to the technical architecture of telecommunications networks that evolve beyond traditional telephony to support a wide range of services, including voice, video, and data over IP.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Telecommunications

NFV (Network Functions Virtualization)

A network architecture concept that uses IT virtualization technologies to virtualize entire classes of network node functions into building blocks that may connect, or chain together, to create communication services.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Virtualization

Nginx (Pronounced as "Engine-X")

An open-source web server that also serves as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy, and HTTP cache.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Web Development

Nibble

A unit of digital information that consists of four bits, or half of an eight-bit byte.

You will find this term commonly used in Computer Science, Data Representation

NIC Teaming

The process of grouping multiple network interface cards (NICs) together to function as a single logical interface for the purpose of providing redundancy or increased bandwidth.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Hardware

Nightly Build

An automated process in software development where a new version of the software, incorporating the latest changes, is built every night.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development, Continuous Integration

Nimble Storage

A company that provides predictive flash storage solutions designed to eliminate the gap between storage capacity and the need for the data speed and performance.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Storage, Hardware

NIS (Network Information Service)

A client-server directory service protocol for distributing system configuration data such as user and host names between computers on a computer network.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Security

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)

A U.S. federal agency that develops and promotes measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life.

You will find this term commonly used in General IT, Standards

Nitro Enclaves

A technology provided by AWS that allows customers to create isolated compute environments to protect and securely process highly sensitive data.

You will find this term commonly used in Cloud Computing, Security

NLB (Network Load Balancer)

A type of load balancer that distributes traffic across multiple servers based on network variables such as IP address and port number to optimize resource use, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid overload.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Performance Management

NLP (Natural Language Processing)

NLP is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on the interaction between computers and humans through natural language. It enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language.

You will find this term commonly used in AI

Nmap (Network Mapper)

An open-source network scanner used to discover devices and services on a computer network, thereby providing a map of the network.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Security

NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol)

A protocol used for the distribution, inquiry, retrieval, and posting of news articles using a reliable stream-based mechanism, typically used for Usenet newsgroups.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Applications

No-Code Development Platform

A platform that allows for the development of software applications without the need to write code, enabling non-programmers to create applications using graphical interfaces and configuration.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development, Innovation

Node

A device or data point in a network, such as a computer, printer, or router.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking

Node Balancing

The process of distributing load evenly across nodes in a network or system to ensure no single node is overwhelmed, thereby enhancing performance and reliability.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Performance Management

Node.js

An open-source, server-side platform built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine for building fast and scalable network applications.

You will find this term commonly used in General IT, Networking

Noise

In the context of information technology, noise refers to unwanted or irrelevant signals or data that interfere with the transmission or processing of useful information. It can degrade the quality of communication or introduce errors in data processing.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, General IT

Non-repudiation

A security measure that ensures the integrity and origin of transmitted data, preventing the sender from denying responsibility for the message.

You will find this term commonly used in Security, Cybersecurity

Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)

A computer memory design used in multiprocessor systems, where the access time depends on the memory location relative to the processor.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Architecture

Non-Volatile Memory

Computer memory that retains its stored data even when powered off, such as flash memory and ROM.

You will find this term commonly used in General IT

Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM)

A type of memory that retains its data even when power is turned off, commonly used for storing configuration settings.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Data Storage

Non-Volatile Storage

A type of computer memory that can retain the stored information even when not powered.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Storage, Hardware

Normal Form

In database theory, a property of a relational database schema, a measure of the database's freedom from certain kinds of anomalies and redundancies.

You will find this term commonly used in Databases, Design Principles

Normalization

The process of organizing data in a database to reduce redundancy and improve data integrity.

You will find this term commonly used in Data Management, Databases

North-South Traffic

Network traffic that flows to and from the data center (or cloud) and the wider internet or other remote networks, in contrast to East-West traffic, which flows within a data center.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, Data Center

Norton Antivirus

An antivirus or anti-malware software product developed by NortonLifeLock.

You will find this term commonly used in Cybersecurity

NoSQL

NoSQL, or "Not Only SQL," refers to a type of database management system that provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases.

You will find this term commonly used in General IT

NoSQL Database

A non-relational database that allows for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases.

You will find this term commonly used in Databases, Data Management

Not Only SQL (NoSQL)

An approach to database design that provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases.

You will find this term commonly used in Databases, Data Management

Notification Service

A service that provides notifications to users or applications, typically through email, SMS, or webhooks, to alert them of events or changes in a system.

You will find this term commonly used in Software Development, Applications

Novell NetWare

A discontinued network operating system developed by Novell, widely used in the 1990s.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking

NP-Complete (Non-deterministic Polynomial-time Complete)

A classification of problems in computational complexity theory that are as hard as the hardest problems in NP (Non-deterministic Polynomial-time), and for which a solution can be verified in polynomial time.

You will find this term commonly used in Computer Science, Theory

NTP Server

A server that uses the Network Time Protocol to provide time synchronization to clients and devices on the network, ensuring accurate and consistent time across an organization.

You will find this term commonly used in Networking, IT Management

Null Pointer

In programming, a pointer that does not point to any object or function, often used to signify the absence of a value or to terminate a linked list.

You will find this term commonly used in Programming, Software Development

Numeric Keypad

A keypad that is dedicated to the input of numbers, commonly found as a part of a computer keyboard or as a standalone device.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, User Interface

NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)

A specification for accessing solid-state drives (SSDs) attached through the PCI Express (PCIe) bus, offering high throughput and low latency.

You will find this term commonly used in Hardware, Data Storage

NX bit (No eXecute bit)

A technology used in computers to segregate areas of memory for use by either storage of processor instructions (code) or for storage of data, a means of preventing certain types of malicious software from executing.

You will find this term commonly used in Security, Hardware

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