From The Linux Foundation
Application Binary Interface (ABI)
A protocol which defines the binary calling conventions and data structure interfaces of a service, allowing one or more compiled applications or libraries to interact.
Application Programming Interface (API)
A set of routines and data structures for building software applications that can function within a specified environment. These applications can then reference these routines in order to access the supporting system services.
availability
A term used to indicate the probability of a system or capability of a system to remain operable and service requests. Availability takes into account the operating time of the system or system capability and the time required for repairs or maintenance. It is typically expressed in terms the percentage of time the system remains in service (99.999% or 99.9999%, implying a downtime of 5 minutes or 30 seconds per year).
carrier grade
A term that implies a system that is designed to have increased availability and timeliness to meet the requirements of a modern communications network element.
Carrier Grade Linux Working Group
A working body comprised of openly enrolled open source software developers and equipment suppliers, and is chartered to gather requirements, establish roadmaps, publish specifications, define architectures, and sponsor the open source projects needed to achieve a true, carrier-grade Linux.
cluster
A cluster is a group of separate computers that are connected together and are used as a single computing entity to provide a service or run an application for the purposes of scalability, load balancing, and distribution of tasks.
compliance
Whether a software or hardware component fulfills the requirements of a given standard.
control plane
Part of PSTN network traffic used to setup, maintain and terminate connections.
event
An occurrence or happening, usually significant to the performance of a function, operation, or task.
exception list
The differences between a standard and an implementation.
event log
A permanent repository of system data that holds recorded notifications of system events that occur over time as system is active and servicing requests.
failover
An operational mode where the function of a system component is assumed by a standby component when the primary system component becomes unavailable because of failure or scheduled down time.
gateway
A network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocol technologies and performs the required protocol translations, such as translating from a PSTN time division multiplexed (TDM) network to an IP-based packet switched network.
hardened driver
Device driver enhanced to support continuous system operation in the event of a hardware malfunction. Hardened drivers must also be capable of detecting and reporting their failures so that the applications utilizing their services will remain available.
hard real-time
A hard real-time computer system is one where the system components can guarantee a specific response time.
heartbeat
A mechanism by which one component determines whether another component is functioning.
hardware platform
The underlying hardware, firmware, and minimum required set of devices (and their interfaces) to support a Carrier Grade Linux operating system.
Internet Protocol Security (IPSec)
IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) is a set of protocols developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force IETF) to support secure exchange of packets at the IPv6 layer.
Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6), also been called IPng (IP Next Generation), is the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP). IPv6 is a set of specifications from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that as designed as an evolutionary set of improvements to the current IP Version 4.
kernel mode
The privileged mode of the operating system where the kernel runs. This mode gives the kernel complete access to the computer.
Linux kernel
The essential part of Linux, responsible for resource allocation, low-level hardware interfaces, security, simple communications, and basic file system management.
Linux OS
The Linux kernel and associated packages that provide a complete set of software to allow functional use of a computer system.
Linux Standard Base (LSB)
The Linux Standard Base (LSB), working under the Free Standards Group (FSG), develops and promotes a set of standards with the goal to increase compatibility among Linux distributions and to enable software applications to run on any LSB-compliant Linux system.
live software upgrade
An upgrade of a software package that is performed while the system is active and serving requests.
management server
Management servers provide services such as Home Locator Register and Visitor Locator Register (for wireless networks), customer information (features authorized), etc.
middleware
Shared software layer between OS and applications providing additional services to the application in user space.
mobile IPv6 (MIPv6)
A version of IPv6 standard where a mobile node is always identified by its home address, regardless of its current point of attachment to the Internet.
node
A single unit/board, possibly with multiple CPUs.
performance
A term used to indicate the efficiency of a system while performing tasks. Performance characteristics include total throughput of an operation as well as memory and disk space efficiency. The combination of these characteristics determine the total number of activities that can be accomplished over a given amount of time.
redundancy
Duplication of hardware or data paths which exist to prevent the failure of the active system upon failure of the duplicated component.
reliability
The probability that a system or a capability of a system will continue to function without failure under given conditions for a specified period of time.
repairability
The probability that a failed system will be restored to operable condition within a specified active repair time
replicated system
A system which is configured identically to a base system for the purpose of fault tolerance, performance, or ease of service.
request
A message or other data item sent to a service or other entity that asks for an action to be performed on behalf of the sending entity.
Service Availability (tm) Forum (SAForum)
An organization working to create and promote a set of open standard interface specifications that meet user requirements for service continuity based on high availability and enabled by high reliability, repairability, and redundancy.
scalability
The ability of a software package to execute in a larger hardware environment (e.g. more processors, more dynamic memory, more storage, etc.) with proportionally increasing performance. Also, it is the ability of the operating system to efficiently manage system resources with the increasing load or complexity of the applications (e.g. more threads, more processes, more connections, etc.).
signaling server
Signaling servers handle the routing and maintain the status of calls over the network, taking the requests of user agents who want to connect to other user agents and handling the routing of these requests.
security
Security strategies are intended to prevent unauthorized access to, or control of information and systems.
serviceability
A term used to indicate the capability for a system to be maintained and updated. Often serviceability issues are measured by how easy a maintenance task can be performed or how quickly a system fault can be tracked down and repaired.
soft real-time
A soft real-time computer system is one where the system components attempt to give a specific response time but cannot guarantee that they will be able to do so in all circumstances.
user mode
Non-privileged mode of the operating system where applications are run.
user plane
Part of PSTN network traffic used to carry the actual payload between terminals.
validation
The process where the software components are evaluated to ensure that they comply with the specified requirements.
Acronyms
CGL: Carrier Grade Linux
CGL-WG: Carrier Grade Linux Working Group
DPM: Defects per Million
FHS: Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
FSG: Free Standards Group
IEEE: Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force
LKCD: Linux Kernel Crash Dump
LSB: Linux Standard Base
MIB: Management Information Base
MIPL: Mobile IPv6 for Linux
NGPT: Next Generation Posix Threads
OSDL: Open Source Development Lab
PICMG: PCI Industrial Computer Manufactures Group
POSIX: Portable Operating System Interface
PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network
RAID: Redundant Arrays of Independent Disk
RFC: Request for Comments
SCTP: Stream Control Transmission Protocol
SMP: symmetric multi-processor
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol
USB: Universal Serial Bus