glossary.adoc

Glossary

The Glossary lists terms and acronyms used in this document, and includes both industry terms and application-specific terms. If a general industry concept or practice has been implemented in a specific way within the product, that is noted as well.

A record

A (for "Address") records map the hostname to the numeric IP address. For Zimbra, the A record is the IP address for the Zimbra server.

ABQ

The Allow/Block/Quarantine function provided by the NG Modules gives system administrators control over which devices are allowed to sync via ActiveSync.

Account Policy

Class of Service as exposed in Zimbra administration console.

AD

Microsoft Active Directory Server. Used in {product-name} as an optional choice for authentication and GAL, along with OpenLDAP for all other {product-name} functions.

Alias

An “also known as” email address, which should be routed to a user at a different email address.

Attribute

Contains object-related data for directory server entries. Attributes store information such as a server host name or email forwarding address.

Authentication

Process by which user-supplied login information is used to validate that user’s authority to enter a system.

Blacklist

Anti-spam term, indicates a known bad IP address. This could be one that has been hijacked by spammers, or also one from a poorly maintained but legitimate site that allows mail relaying from unauthorized parties.

BLOB

Binary Large Object.

Class of Service (COS)

Describes an object in the {product-name} LDAP data schema, which contains settings for things like user mail quotas. Each {product-name} account includes a COS, and the account inherits all the settings from the selected COS.

CLI

Command-Line Interface. Used to refer to the collective set of {product-name} command-line tools, such as zmprov.

Cluster

A type of network configuration for high availability, using clusters of servers (nodes). If one server fails or drops off the network, a spare takes over.

Contacts

Within {product-name}, Contacts are a user-interface feature listing that user’s personal collection of address and contact information.

Conversation

Within {product-name}, Conversations are a user-interface feature that presents email threads (emails sharing the same subject line) as a single Conversation listing. Users can expand the Conversation to view all emails within it.

DHTML

Dynamic HTML. A technology employed in the {product-short} {web-client}.

DNS

Domain Name System is an Internet directory service. DNS is how domain names are translated into IP addresses and DNS also controls email delivery. Correctly configured DNS is required for Postfix to route messages to remote destinations

Edge MTA

Generic term used to refer to any mail transfer agent that is the first line of defense in handling incoming email traffic. Functions that may occur on the Edge MTA include spam filtering.

Entry

An item in the directory server, such as an account or mail host.

Ephemeral Data

Data which is short lived or fast changing in nature. Login timestamps, authentication tokens, etc.

Failover

Takeover process where a spare server machine detects that a main server is unavailable, and the spare takes over processing for that server.

FQDN

Fully qualified domain name. The hostname and the path to the host. For example, www.zimbra.com is a fully qualified domain name where www is the host, zimbra is the second-level domain, and .com is the top level domain.

GAL

Global Address List, the Outlook version of a company directory. Lists contact information, including email addresses, for all employees within an organization.

Global Configuration

A {product-name} object containing default settings for servers and Class of Service.

High Availability

Abbreviated as HA, high availability refers to the availability of resources in a computer system in the wake of component failures in the system.

HTTP

HyperText Transfer Protocol, used along with SOAP for UI integration.

IMAP

Internet Message Access Protocol is a method of accessing mail from a remote message store as if the users were local.

Store

Within {product-name}, a directory area that stores all the indexing information for mail messages on a particular mailbox server.

Indexing

The process of parsing incoming email messages for search words.

Java

Java is an industry standard object-oriented programming language. Used for the core {product-name} application server.

JavaScript

Scripting largely developed by Netscape that can interact with HTML source code. Technology used in the {product-short} {web-client}.

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, an industry standard protocol used for authentication.

LMTP

Local Mail Transfer Protocol, used for transferring messages from Postfix MTA to the {product-name} server for final delivery.

Mailbox Server

Alternative term for {product-name} server.

MAPI

Messaging Application Programming Interface. A system built into Microsoft Windows to enable different email applications to work together.

Message Store

Within {product-name}, a directory area that stores the mail messages on a particular mailbox server.

MDA

Mail Delivery Agent, sometimes known as a mail host. The {product-name} server functions as an MDA.

Metadata

Data that describes other data, rather than actual content. Within {product-name}, metadata consists of user folders, threads, message titles and tags, and pointers.

MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a specification for formatting non-ASCII Internet message content such as image files. Format used to store messages in Message Store.

MTA

Message Transfer Agent. MTA is a program that delivers mail and transports it between machines. A {product-name} deployment assumes both the Postfix MTA and an edge MTA.

MX Record

Mail eXchange. An MX record is an entry in a domain name database that identifies the mail server that is responsible for handling emails for that domain name. The email system relies on DNS MX records to transmit emails between domains. When mail is processed, the MX record is checked before the A record for the destination address.

OOTO

Common shorthand for “out of the office”, used when sending vacation messages.

Open Source

Refers to software created by groups of users for non-commercial distribution, where source code is published rather than proprietary.

OS

Operating system, such as Linux, UNIX, or Microsoft Windows.

POP

Post Office Protocol is used to retrieve email from a remote server over TCP/IP and save it to the local computer.

Provisioning

The process of creating accounts or other data, usually in batch or automated fashion.

RBH

Real-time black hole. Usually refers to web sites that, as a public service, provide lists of known bad IP addresses from which mail should be blocked, because the servers are either known to be spammers, or are unsecured and exploited by spammers.

Redo Logs

Detailed transaction log for the {product-name} server, used for replay and replication.

SAN

Storage Array Network. A high-availability data storage area.

Schema

Describes the data structures in use for by directory services at a particular organizational site.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. Used in {product-name} deployments between the Edge MTA and the Postfix MTA.

SNMP

Simple Network Monitoring Protocol. Used by monitoring software to pick up critical errors from system logs.

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol, an XML-based messaging protocol used for sending requests for Web services. The {product-name} servers use SOAP for receiving and processing requests, which can come from {product-name} command-line tools or {product-name} user interfaces.

Spam

Unsolicited commercial email. Spammers refer to their output as “bulk business email”.

SQL

Structured Query Language, used to look up messages in the Message Store.

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer.

Tags

A {product-short} {web-client} feature. Users can define tags and apply them to mail messages for searching.

TCO

Total Cost of Ownership. {product-name} reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) by reducing requirements for server hardware, OS licensing fees, supporting application license fees, disk storage requirements, and personnel (IT, help desk, consulting).

TLS

Transport Layer Security.

UCE

Unsolicited commercial email, also known as spam.

Virtual Alias

A type of mail alias recognized in the Postfix MTA.

Whitelist

Anti-spam term for a known good mail or IP address. Mail coming from such an address may be “automatically trusted”.

XML

eXtended Markup Language.

Zimbra administration console

The {product-name} administrator interface.

Zimbra Web Client

Refers to any of the end-user interfaces provided over the Web as part of a Zimbra server.