"Z" Networking Definitions & Concepts...

Zero-Slot LAN .. to .. Zones List

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A condition where there is no excess time between activities. An activity with zero float is considered a critical activity. If the duration of any critical activity is increased (the activity slips), the project finish date will slip.

A zero-slot LAN is a local-area network (LAN) that uses one of the existing serial or parallel ports on the computer rather than a special network interface card (NIC) plugged into the computer's expansion bus.

Because zero-slot LANs can transmit only as fast as the computer's output port under use, they are considerably slower than networks that use network-specific hardware and software. The maximum length of each cable segment is also severely limited, so zero-slot LANs can connect only two or three computers.

The advantage of a zero-slot LAN is its low cost compared with dedicated network systems; however, the prices of newer peer-to-peer networks are beginning to negate this advantage.

A specified amount of time after a network is brought down in which the network can be brought up again with a new zone name.

The ZIP file is a popular archive format widely using on the Internet and for archiving to backup media. Like other archives, ZIP files are data containers, they store one or several files in the compressed form. After you downloaded ZIP file, you need to unpack its contents in order to use it.

A zip file is a special type of compressed archive, which is used for Internet downloads because it is compatible with different computer types. You may want to keep zip files of archived data, or files you often use on two or more computer systems. If you do this, you may exclude those file areas from your data backups. The important thing is to make sure some type of backup or archive covers all areas of your system disk.

When you compress files, the compression program or algorithm will scan the file to be compressed for repeated pieces of information. Consider this very simple example which could be part of e.g. an image file:

"111010100100100000000000000000000000000000000000000001100101001"

Compressed, the file will contain this information:

"1110101001001(insert 40 zeroes)1100101001"

When decompressing, te program or algorithm will replace the "(insert 40 zeroes)" token with 40 zeroes, restoring the file to its original form.

There are many different types of compressed files available today. The principle is the same as explained above, but each of the compression formats have its own advantages.

The difference lays in the way the uncompressed file is analyzed for repeated pieces of information. Through time, developers have found more and more clever ways to compress files better. Instead of breaking compatibility with already existing compression formats, they have invented new ones and given the formats names like ZIP, RAR, ARJ, TAR and CAB.

A popular file transfer protocol available in many off-the-shelf and shareware communications packages, as well as on many bulletin board systems (BBSs). Zmodem is similar to Xmodem and Ymodem but is designed to handle larger data transfers with fewer errors. Zmodem also includes a feature called checkpoint restart, which allows an interrupted transmission to resume at the point of interrption rather than starting again at the beginning of the transmission.

The AppleTalk session-layor protocol that is used to maintain and discover the internet-wide mapping of network number ranges to zone names; ZIP is used by NBP (Name Binding Protocol) to determine which networks contain nodes which belong to a zone.

The statically assigned socket (SAS) in each internet router to which nodes address requests for zone information and through which the internet router responds to those requests.

A complete network-range-to-zones-list mapping of the internet maintained by each internet router in an AppleTalk internet.

A collection of networks on an AppleTalk internet. A zone can consist of a single network or a number of networks.

One of the main reasons for breaking a network into a zone is to reduce the amount of searching a user has to do to find a resource on the network. For example, to use a particular printer on the network, the user can search various zones instead of searching the entire network.

Although grouping an internet into zones is usually done on some logical basis such as work loads or business departments, the zones do not have to be physically contiguous. A network in one building might be part of the same zone as a network in another building.

A data-link-dependent multicast address at which a node receives the NBP (Name Binding Protocol) broadcasts directed to its zone.

Specifies the zone names that can be chosen by nodes on the network.

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Networking "Z" Definition and Concepts

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This page was last updated on 09/18/2005
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