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FAST TCP

FAST TCP

FAST TCP is a TCP variant and an alternative congestion control algorithm in TCP, that is designed to sustain high throughput and utilization for high-speed data transfers over large distance (e.g., tens of gigabyte files across the Atlantic).

The Fast TCP system being developed by Steven Low and colleagues at the California Institute of Technology. Current implementation is in TCP on the Linux platform, although the principles and design can be implemented in other contexts than TCP.

Uncategorized

session hijacking

session hijacking

(n.) Also referred to as TCP session hijacking, a security attack on a user session over a protected network. The most common method of session hijacking is called IP spoofing, when an attacker uses source-routed IP packets to insert commands into an active communication between two nodes on a network and disguising itself as one of the authenticated users. This type of attack is possible because authentication typically is only done at the start of a TCP session. Another type of session hijacking is known as a man-in-the-middle attack, where the attacker, using a sniffer, can observe the communication between devices and collect the data that is transmitted.

Terms

TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

(pronounced as separate letters) TCP/IP is short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

TCP/IP is the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as Netware, also support TCP/IP.

Terms

sockstress

sockstress

Also called TCP sockstress, sockstress is a potentially serious generic issue in many operating systems that affects the availability of TCP services. It is believed that a DoS attackexploiting the sockstress vulnerability uses half-open connections to deplete resources in the machines under attack. It very quickly causes specific services to become unavailable and may even require complete machine reboots. The attack may be effective against almost anything on a network, including Windows, BSD, Linux, embedded systems TCP/IP stack implementations, and others.

May also be referred to as TCP state table manipulation vulnerability.

See also “TCP Sockstress Brings Forth New OS Exploit Worries” on ServerWatch.com.

Terms

TCP segmentation offload

TCP segmentation offload

Abbreviated as TSO, TCP segmentation offload is used to reduce the CPU overhead of TCP/IP on fast networks. TSO breaks down large groups of data sent over a network into smaller segments that pass through all the network elements between the source and destination. This type of offload relies on the network interface controller(NIC) to segment the data and then add the TCP, IP and data link layer protocol headers to each segment. The NIC must support TSO. TSO is also called large segment offload (LSO).

See “Understanding The Data Link Layer” in Webopedia’s Did You Know section.

Terms

ARM Servers

ARM Servers

An ARM server, or advanced RISC machine server, is a computer server system comprised of a large array of ARM processors as opposed to the x86-class processors traditionally used in servers. ARM servers are touted for being able to provide similar or greater processing power than x86 server counterparts while consuming less energy and producing less heat.

As a result, ARM servers have become more and more popular in recent years and are now frequently deployed in enterprise data centers and cloud deployments. However, despite projections of massive growth for ARM servers, the road to mainstream adoption and gaining market share on Intel and its x86-based servers has not gone smoothly for ARM servers and ARM server processor manufacturers.

The Current State of the ARM Server Market

A number of ARM server chip manufacturers have attempted to push the ARM server industry forward, only to see their efforts come up short. Applied Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom (with its Vulcan ARM server chips), Qualcomm (with its Amberwing processor designs), Calxeda, Cavium and others have put massive amounts of money into the ARM server market only to later cease operations or find themselves acquired by other companies.

In their place, companies like HP with its Moonshot server systems, AWS with its Graviton ARM server chip, and Huawei Technlogies, with its HiSilicon subsidiary, have been pushing the ARM server market forward.

Their efforts are helping ARM servers gain footholds in hyperscalecloud and enterprise data center computing environments, but Intel and its x86 servers still outpace ARM server deployments by a huge margin.

Terms

TCP – Transmission Control Protocol

TCP – Transmission Control Protocol

Abbreviation of Transmission Control Protocol, and pronounced as separate letters. TCP is one of the main protocols in TCP/IP networks. Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent.