Garbage Collection Interval

Interval of time between the deletion of expired tombstones. See also Tombstone.

Gateway

A device that can translate the different protocols used by different networks. Gateways can be implemented starting at the Network layer or at higher layers in the OSI model, depending on where the protocol translation is required. A gateway replaces the necessary protocol layers of a packet so that the packet can circulate in the destination environment.

Gateway

In e-mail systems, a system used to send and receive e-mail from a different e-mail system, such as a mainframe or the Internet. Gateways are supported by Message Handling Services (MHS).

Gateway Access Component

The MS Mail software that permits a postoffice to send foreign addressed messages to a gateway postoffice for delivery.

Gateway Address Routing Table (GWART)

The routing table that contains all the address space entries for all the connectors in a site.

Gateway Postoffice

The MS Mail postoffice configured to receive messages to be delivered through a gateway.

Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW)

An NT Server service that connects NT Servers and NT clients to NetWare resources via the gateway software. See also Gateway, NetWare, and Client Services for NetWare.

GB

See Gigabyte.

GDI

See Graphical Device Interface.

Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)

A tunneling protocol created by Cisco with the capacity for encapsulating a wide variety of protocol packet types inside IP tunnels, thereby generating a virtual point-to-point connection to Cisco routers across an IP network at remote points. IP tunneling using GRE permits network expansion across a single-protocol backbone environment by linking multiprotocol subnetworks in a single-protocol backbone environment.

Geographic Model

A description of the number of physical locations that make up the network and the connectivity between them.

Get Nearest Server (GNS)

On an IPX network, a request packet sent by a customer for determining the location of the nearest active server of a given type. An IPX network client launches a GNS request to get either a direct answer from a connected server or a response from a router disclosing the location of the service on the internetwork to the GNS. GNS is part of IPX and SAP. See also Internetwork Packet Exchange and Service Advertising Protocol.

Gigabyte

A computer storage measurement equal to 1,024 megabytes. See also Megabyte.

Global Catalog

A server that holds a complete replica of the configuration and schema naming contexts for the forest, a complete replica of the domain naming context in which the server is installed, and a partial replica of all other domains in the forest. The Global Catalog knows about every object in the forest and has representations for them in its directory, however, it may not know about all attributes (such as job title and physical address) for objects in other domains. The attributes that are tagged for replication to the Global Catalog are assigned through the Active Directory Schema Manager Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. There is only one policy for Global Catalog attribute replication in the forest. A Global Catalog will listen on port 3268 for LDAP queries (that are global to the forest), and port 389, which standard domain controllers use (for local domain queries). A domain controller can be made into a Global Catalog (and vice-versa) by selecting or deselecting a check box in the Active Directory Sites and Services MMC snap-in.

Global Catalog Server

A Windows Active Directory domain controller that hosts a copy of the Global Catalog. See also Global Catalog.

Global Group

A type of group used to organize users who have similar network access requirements. A global group is simply a container of users. Global groups can contain users and global groups (in native mode) from the local domain. See also Local Group and Group Identifier.

Global Unique Identifier (GUID)

A special identifier that uniquely identifies an object within the Active Directory.

Glue Address (Glue A) Resource Record

A type of DNS record that provides the address of the host specified in the NS record.

GNS

See Get Nearest Server.

GNU

Pronounced “ga-noo”. A Free Software Foundation (FSF) project devoted to developing a complete, freely available Unix system that contains no AT&T code. The name GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU’s not Unix!” Many of the tools and utilities developed for this project have been released and are very popular with users of 4.4BSD, FreeBSD, and Linux. For more information on GNU, see www.gnu.org. See also 4.4BSD Lite, FreeBSD, Hurd, Linux, and Open Source Software.

Good Times

See Virus Hoaxes.

Gopher

An Internet tool that organizes topics into a menu system that users can employ to find information. Gopher also transparently connects users with the Internet server on which the information resides. See also Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

GOSIP (Government OSI Profile)

A U.S. Government procurement specification for OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) protocols.

GPO

See Group Policy Object.

GPO Nodes

Within the group policy configuration tool, options are separated into nodes, each node representing a specific set of options.

gpresult.exe

A command-line interface for RSoP. See also Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP).

Graphical Device Interface (GDI)

The programming interface and graphical services provided to Wins32 for programs to interact with graphical devices such as the screen and the printer. See also Programming Interfaces and Win32.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A computer shell program that represents mass storage devices, directories, and files as graphical objects on a screen. A cursor driven by a pointing device such as a mouse manipulates the objects. Typically, icons that can be opened into windows that show the data contained by the object represent the objects. See also Shell and Explorer.

Graphics Card

A device that controls the display on the monitor and other allied functions.

GRAPHICS

Loads a program that can print graphics.

GRE

See Generic Routing Encapsulation.

Group

Security entities to which users can be assigned membership for the purpose of applying a broad set of group permissions to the user. By managing permissions for groups and assigning users to groups, rather than assigning permissions to users, administrators can more easily manage security.

Group Affinity

An attribute of a dependency between groups that determines the groups’ relative location in the server cluster. Used to configure the relative location of clustered applications in the event of failure.

Group Identifier

Security identifiers that contain a set of permissions allowed to a group. When a user account is part of a group, the group identifier is appended to that user’s security identifier, thus granting the individual user all the permissions assigned to that group. See also Security Identifiers, Accounts, and Permissions.

Group Policy

Settings that can affect the behavior of, and the functionality available to, users and computers.

Group Policy Object (GPO)

A set or sets of rules for managing client configuration settings that pertain to desktop lockdowns and the launching of applications. GPOs are data structures that are attached in a specific hierarchy to selected Active Directory Objects. You can apply GPOs to sites, domains, or organizational units.

Group Policy Object Link

A link between a Group Policy object and the Active Directory objects to which it applies. Group Policy objects can be linked to sites, domains, organizational units, and other Active Directory objects.

Group Policy Policies

These policies specify how group policies are applied to a computer.

Groups

Administrative units that are comprised of one or more users with similar needs for network resources. Often users are placed into groups, and resource access is managed on a group basis, as opposed to an individual user basis. See also Permissions, Accounts, and Security.

Group Scope

Used to determine if the group is limited to a single domain or if the group can span multiple domains. Group scopes are used to assign permissions to resources.

Groups, Distribution

Active Directory objects that are used primarily for the purpose of routing e-mail and other electronic communications. Distribution groups are not considered to be security principals.

Group Type

Used to organize users, computers, and other groups into logical objects that are used for management purposes.

Groupware

An application that allows access to many users at once for the distribution of information.

GSNW

See Gateway Services for NetWare.

Guaranteed State Changes

A type of synchronous timing coordination, used by synchronous modems, in which the clock information is embedded in the data signal.

Guard Band

The unused frequency area found between two communications channels, furnishing the space necessary to avoid interference between the two.

Guest

A Windows user account created to provide a mechanism to allow users to access the computer even if they do not have a unique username and password. This account normally has very limited privileges on the computer. This account is disabled by default.

Guests Group

A Windows built-in group that has limited access to the computer. This group can access only specific areas. Most administrators do not allow Guest account access because it poses a potential security risk.

Guest User

If a specific user does not exist in the database permissions list, but a user called guest does, then users in SQL Server will have the rights of the guest user in that particular database.

GUI

See Graphical User Interface.

GWART

See Gateway Address Routing Table.