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Glossary

Common Cumulus Linux and NetQ Terminology

The following table covers some basic terms used throughout the NetQ user documentation.

Term Definition
Agent NetQ software that resides on a host server that provides metrics about the host to the NetQ Telemetry Server for network health analysis.
Bridge Device that connects two communication networks or network segments. Occurs at OSI Model Layer 2, Data Link Layer.
Clos Multistage circuit switching network used by the telecommunications industry, first formalized by Charles Clos in 1952.
Device UI term referring to a switch, host, or chassis or combination of these. Typically used when describing hardware and components versus a software or network topology. See also Node.
Event Change or occurrence in network or component that can trigger a notification. Events are categorized by severity: error, info, warning, and debug.
Fabric Network topology where a set of network nodes interconnects through one or more network switches.
Fresh Node that has been silent for the last 90 seconds.
High Availability Software used to provide a high percentage of uptime (running and available) for network devices.
Host A device connected to a TCP/IP network. It can run one or more virtual machines.
Hypervisor Software which creates and runs virtual machines. Also called a virtual machine monitor.
IP Address An Internet Protocol address comprises a series of numbers assigned to a network device to uniquely identify it on a given network. Version 4 addresses are 32 bits and written in dotted decimal notation with 8-bit binary numbers separated by decimal points. Example: 10.10.10.255. Version 6 addresses are 128 bits and written in 16-bit hexadecimal numbers separated by colons. Example: 2018:3468:1B5F::6482:D673.
Leaf An access layer switch in a Spine-Leaf or Clos topology. An Exit-Leaf is a switch that connects to services outside of the data center such as firewalls, load balancers, and internet routers. See also Spine, Clos, Top of Rack, and Access Switch.
Linux Set of free and open-source software operating systems built around the Linux kernel. Cumulus Linux is one of the available distribution packages.
Node UI term referring to a switch, host, or chassis in a topology.
Notification Item that informs a user of an event. Notifications are received through third-party applications, such as email or Slack.
Peer link Link, or bonded links, used to connect two switches in an MLAG pair.
Rotten Node that has been silent for 90 seconds or more.
Router Device that forwards data packets (directs traffic) from nodes on one communication network to nodes on another network. Occurs at the OSI Model Layer 3, Network Layer.
Spine Used to describe the role of a switch in a Spine-Leaf or Clos topology. See also Aggregation switch, End of Row switch, and distribution switch.
Switch High-speed device that receives data packets from one device or node and redirects them to other devices or nodes on a network.
Telemetry server NetQ server that receives metrics and other data from NetQ agents on leaf and spine switches and hosts.
Top of Rack Switch that connects to the network (versus internally); also known as a ToR switch.
Virtual Machine Emulation of a computer system that provides all the functions of a particular architecture.
Web-scale A network architecture designed to deliver capabilities of large cloud service providers within an enterprise IT environment.
Whitebox Generic, off-the-shelf, switch or router hardware used in Software Defined Networks (SDN).

Common Cumulus Linux and NetQ Acronyms

The following table covers some common acronyms used throughout the NetQ user documentation.

Acronym Meaning
ACL Access Control Link
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASN Autonomous System Number
BGP/eBGP/iBGP Border Gateway Protocol, External BGP, Internal BGP
CLAG Cumulus multi-chassis Link Aggregation Group
DHCP Dynamic Host Control Protocol
DNS Domain Name Server
ECMP Equal Cost Multi-Path routing
EVPN Ethernet Virtual Private Network
FDB Forwarding Data Base
GNU “GNU’s Not Linux”
HA High Availability
IGMP Internet Group Management Protocol
IPv4/IPv6 Internet Protocol, version 4 or 6
LACP Link Aggregation Control Protocol
LAN Local Area Network
LLDP Link Layer Data Protocol
MAC Media Access Control
MIB Management Information Base
MLAG Multi-chassis Link Aggregation Group
MLD Multicast Listener Discovery
NTP Network Time Protocol
OOB Out of Band (management)
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
RFC Remote Function Call
SDN Software-Defined Network
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
SSH Secure SHell
SQL Structured Query Language
STP Spanning Tree Protocol
TCP Transport Control Protocol
ToR Top of Rack
UDP User Datagram Protocol
URL Universal Resource Locator
USB Universal Serial Bus
VLAN Virtual Local Area Network
VNI Virtual Network Instance
VPN Virtual Private Network
VRF Virtual Routing and Forwarding
VRR Virtual Router Redundancy
VTEP VXLAN Tunnel EndPoint
VXLAN Virtual Extensible Local Area Network
ZTP Zero Touch Provisioning