Terms, briefly explained.
The technical terms you come across in our articles, in one or two sentences. In an article you also see the explanation when you hover over an underlined word.
- AS number (ASN)
- Unique number of a network (autonomous system) on the internet. Needed to pass your own routes to other networks over BGP.
- AS-SET
- Object in an IRR database listing which AS numbers sit behind a network. Providers build prefix filters from it.
- ASPA
- Autonomous System Provider Authorization: an RPKI object in which you declare your upstreams, so others can detect route leaks and forged paths.
- BFD
- Bidirectional Forwarding Detection: a lightweight protocol that notices within a second that a link has stopped working, so BGP can fail over faster.
- BGP
- Border Gateway Protocol: the routing protocol networks on the internet use to tell each other which IP space they can reach.
- Blackholing (RTBH)
- Dropping all traffic to one attacked IP address so the rest of your network stays reachable. The last resort during a DDoS attack.
- CAMT.053
- International XML format for bank statements. The successor to MT940 and the format Odoo recommends for importing statements.
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier of a known vulnerability, such as CVE-2024-12368.
- DDoS attack
- An attack in which many systems send traffic to one target at the same time, so the connection or service gives way.
- Digipoort
- The Dutch government's digital mailbox, run by Logius. VAT returns sent with SBR reach the tax authority through Digipoort.
- DMARC
- DNS record that tells receivers what to do with mail that cannot be proven to come from your domain: nothing, quarantine or reject (p=reject).
- ECMP
- Equal-Cost Multi-Path: a router spreads traffic across several equally good paths at once instead of choosing one.
- Edge
- The border of a network: the routers and firewalls where traffic to and from the internet enters. That is where DDoS mitigation belongs.
- Escalation matrix
- Overview of who to call during an incident, through which channel, and who is next if they do not respond, per supplier and per service.
- EVPN
- Ethernet VPN: a technique for extending Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks across a shared IP network, for example from your rack to an internet exchange or another site.
- FlowSpec
- BGP extension for distributing filter rules, such as "drop UDP traffic to port 123 for this address", instead of blackholing a whole address.
- Full table
- The complete internet routing table, received over BGP from your transit provider. The alternative is only a default route.
- GLN code
- Global Location Number: a unique 13-digit number (issued by GS1) for an organisation or a specific location, such as a delivery address. Some buyers use it on Peppol e-invoices to state exactly where goods are delivered or invoiced.
- Graceful shutdown
- Making a BGP session less attractive with community 65535:0 before maintenance, so traffic has moved away before the session actually closes.
- IAP credits
- Odoo In-App Purchase credits: prepaid balance for services Odoo runs for you, such as SMS, document digitisation and, since Odoo 20, the AI features.
- Internet exchange (IX)
- A hub where networks exchange traffic (peer) with many other networks through a single port, such as AMS-IX or NL-ix.
- IP transit
- A service in which a provider connects your network to the rest of the internet, over BGP or with a default route.
- IRR
- Internet Routing Registry: databases (such as RIPE's) where networks record which prefixes they announce. The source for prefix filters.
- LIR
- Local Internet Registry: a RIPE NCC member that manages IP space and AS numbers and can request them for others (sponsorship).
- MCP
- Model Context Protocol: an open standard that lets an AI assistant use data and functions from other systems, such as your network or your Odoo database.
- Multihoming
- Connecting your network to the internet through two or more providers, with BGP and your own AS number, so losing one provider does not take you offline.
- NOC
- Network Operations Centre: monitors the availability and operation of networks and responds to outages. Not the same as a SOC.
- OCA
- Odoo Community Association: the association maintaining open-source modules for Odoo, including part of the Dutch localisation.
- Passkey
- Signing in with a cryptographic key on your device instead of a password. Phishing-resistant, because the key only works on the real website.
- Peering
- Two networks exchange traffic directly for each other's customers, usually without per-Mbit charges. Unlike transit, it does not give you the whole internet.
- Peppol
- European network and standard for exchanging e-invoices and other documents between accounting systems, through connected access points.
- PI space
- Provider Independent address space: IP addresses assigned to your organisation rather than your provider, so you keep them when you switch.
- Private AS number
- AS number from a reserved range (64512 to 65534) that must not appear on the internet. Usable for BGP with a single provider, which strips it before your routes travel further.
- PSD2
- European payment directive that requires banks to share account data with other parties, with your consent. The basis of bank feeds; consent expires after 180 days.
- RGS
- Referentie GrondslagenSchema: a Dutch standard chart of accounts that makes ledgers and reports comparable.
- ROA
- Route Origin Authorisation: a signed RPKI object stating which AS number may announce a prefix.
- Routing policy
- The rules a network uses to decide which routes it accepts, prefers and passes on, and to whom. RIPE NCC asks for it when you request an AS number.
- RPKI
- Resource Public Key Infrastructure: signed data about who may announce which IP space. Networks use it to reject forged routes.
- RTO and RPO
- Recovery Time Objective (how long recovery may take) and Recovery Point Objective (how much data you may lose at most). Only meaningful once tested.
- SBR
- Standard Business Reporting: the Dutch standard for sending reports such as the VAT return as XBRL straight from your accounting system to the government.
- SOC
- Security Operations Centre: monitors systems for attacks and abuse and investigates security incidents. Not the same as a NOC.
- Unseal key
- Key (or a share of one) needed to open an encrypted vault such as HashiCorp Vault or OpenBao after a restart. Without it, a restored backup is unusable.
- VIP
- Virtual IP address that is not tied to one machine but moves to whichever router or server is active at that moment.
- VRRP
- Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol: two or more routers share one gateway address. The master answers it; if the master fails, another router takes over.
- XAF audit file
- XML Auditfile Financieel: a Dutch export format of your general ledger and entries, for the accountant or the tax authority.
Missing a term?
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