Glossary
Networking & infrastructure terms, explained.
- ASN
- Autonomous System Number — a globally unique identifier for a network that runs its own routing policy on the internet.
- BGP
- Border Gateway Protocol — the protocol networks use to exchange routing information and decide how traffic reaches its destination.
- RPKI
- Resource Public Key Infrastructure — cryptographically signs route origins so networks can reject invalid or hijacked routes.
- IRR
- Internet Routing Registry — a public database of routing policy and prefixes used to build and validate peering filters.
- Anycast
- A routing method where one IP address is announced from many locations, so users reach the nearest point of presence.
- CDN
- Content Delivery Network — a network of edge servers that cache and serve content close to users for speed and resilience.
- DDoS
- Distributed Denial of Service — an attack that floods a target with traffic from many sources to disrupt availability.
- IPv6
- The current generation of the Internet Protocol, with a vastly larger address space than IPv4.
- Peering
- An arrangement where two networks exchange traffic directly, often at an internet exchange, to improve performance and cost.
- PoP
- Point of Presence — a physical location where a network connects to the internet and serves nearby users.
- IX
- Internet Exchange — shared infrastructure where many networks meet to peer and exchange traffic efficiently.
- WHOIS
- A protocol and database for looking up who registered a domain, IP range, or autonomous system.