W

WAIS

Wide Area Information Server. A distributed database protocol developed to search for information over a network. WAIS supports full-text databases, which allows an entire document to be searched for a match (as opposed to other technologies that only allow an index of key words to be searched).

WAN

wide-area network. Data communications network that serves users across a broad geographic area and often uses transmission devices provided by common carriers. Frame Relay, SMDS, and X.25 are examples of WANs. Compare with LAN and MAN.

watchdog packet

Used to ensure that a client is still connected to a NetWare server. If the server has not received a packet from a client for a certain period of time, it sends that client a series of watchdog packets. If the station fails to respond to a predefined number of watchdog packets, the server concludes that the station is no longer connected and clears the connection for that station.

watchdog spoofing

Subset of spoofing that refers specifically to a router acting for a NetWare client by sending watchdog packets to a NetWare server to keep the session between client and server active. See also spoofing.

watchdog timer

1. Hardware or software mechanism that is used to trigger an event or an escape from a process unless the timer is periodically reset.
2. In NetWare, a timer that indicates the maximum period of time that a server will wait for a client to respond to a watchdog packet. If the timer expires, the server sends another watchdog packet (up to a set maximum). See also watchdog packet.

waveform coding

Electrical techniques used to convey binary signals.

Web browser

See browser.

W-DCS

Wideband Digital Crossconnect System. A SONET DCS capable of crossconnecting DS-1 and VT1.5 signals. See also DCS, DS-1, SONET, and VT-n.

wide-area network

See WAN.

wideband

See broadband.

wildcard mask

32-bit quantity used in conjunction with an IP address to determine which bits in an IP address should be ignored when comparing that address with another IP address. A wildcard mask is specified when setting up access lists.

WinSock

Windows Socket Interface. A software interface that allows a wide variety of applications to use and share an Internet connection. WinSock is implemented as dynamic link library (DLL) with some supporting programs, such as a dialer program that initiates the connection.

wiring closet

Specially designed room used for wiring a data or voice network. Wiring closets serve as a central junction point for the wiring and wiring equipment that is used for interconnecting devices.

WISCNET

TCP/IP network in Wisconsin (United States) connecting University of Wisconsin campuses and a number of private colleges. Links are 56 Kbps and T1.

workgroup

Collection of workstations and servers on a LAN that are designed to communicate and exchange data with one another.

Workgroup Director

See WorkGroup Director in the Cisco Systems Terms and Acronyms section.

workgroup switching

Method of switching that provides high-speed (100-Mbps) transparent bridging between Ethernet networks and high-speed translational bridging between Ethernet and CDDI or FDDI.

World Wide Web

See WWW.

wrap

Action taken by an FDDI or CDDI network to recover in the event of a failure. The stations on each side of the failure reconfigure themselves, creating a single logical ring out of the primary and secondary rings.

WWW

World Wide Web. Large network of Internet servers providing hypertext and other services to terminals running client applications such as a browser. See also browser.