General Questions Part 3 Flashcards
Fault tolerance
Fault tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of (or one or more faults within) some of its components.
High availability
High availability (HA) always on systems which are always available. High availability systems often have expansive fault tolerance.
NIC teaming
NIC teaming allows you to group between one and 32 physical Ethernet network adapters into one or more software-based virtual network adapters. These virtual network adapters provide fast performance and fault tolerance in the event of a network adapter failure.
UPS
Uninterruptible Power Supply is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions, by supplying energy stored in batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels. The on-battery run-time of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short (only a few minutes) but sufficient to start a standby power source or properly shut down the protected equipment.
Generators
Generators are a back-up electrical system that operates automatically. Within seconds of a utility outage an automatic transfer switch senses the power loss, commands the generator to start and then transfers the electrical load to the generator. The standby generator begins supplying power to the circuits. After utility power returns, the automatic transfer switch transfers the electrical load back to the utility and signals the standby generator to shut off. It then returns to standby mode where it awaits the next outage. To ensure a proper response to an outage, a standby generator runs weekly self-tests. Most units run on diesel, natural gas, or liquid propane gas.
Dual-power supplies
Dual-power supplies is running two power supplies in parallel with each taking 50% of the load. This provides redundancy if one of them fails and each power supply can handle 100% of the load if needed. These power supplies are hot-swappable so it’s easy to replace a faulty power supply without powering down.
Cold site
Cold sites are mere empty operational spaces with basic facilities like raised floors, air conditioning, power and communication lines etc. On occurring of an incident and if the operations can do with a little down time, alternate facilities are brought to and set up in the cold site to resume operations. A cold site is the least expensive type of backup site for an organization to operate. It does not include backed up copies of data and information from the original location of the organization, nor does it include hardware already set up.
Warm site
A warm site is a compromise between a hot and cold cite. These sites will have hardware and connectivity already established, though on a smaller scale than the original production site or even a hot site. Warm sites might have backups on hand, but they may not be complete and may be between several days and a week old. The recovery will be delayed while backup tapes are delivered to the warm site, or network connectivity is established and data is recovered from a remote backup site.
Hot site
Hot site is a duplicate of the original site of the organization, with full computer systems as well as near-complete backups of user data. Real time synchronization between the two sites may be used to completely mirror the data environment of the original site using wide area network links and specialized software. Following a disruption to the original site, the hot site exists so that the organization can relocate with minimal losses to normal operations in the shortest recovery time. Ideally, a hot site will be up and running within a matter of hours. Personnel may have to be moved to the hot site, but it is possible that the hot site may be operational from a data processing perspective before staff has relocated. The capacity of the hot site may or may not match the capacity of the original site depending on the organization’s requirements. This type of backup site is the most expensive to operate. Hot sites are popular with organizations that operate real time processes such as financial institutions, government agencies and eCommerce providers. The most important feature offered from a hot site is that the production environment(s) is running concurrently with the main datacenter.
Incremental Backup
Incremental Backup is one in which successive copies of the data contain only the portion that has changed since the preceding backup copy was made. When a full recovery is needed, the restoration process would need the last full backup plus all the incremental backups until the point of restoration. Incremental backups are often desirable as they reduce storage space usage, and are quicker to perform than differential backups.
Differential Backup
Differential backup is a type of data backup that preserves data, saving only the difference in the data since the last full backup. Since changes to data are generally few compared to the entire amount of data in the data repository, the amount of time required to complete the backup will be smaller than if a full backup was performed every time that the organization or data owner wishes to back up changes since the last full backup. Another advantage, at least as compared to the incremental backup method of data backup, is that at data restoration time, at most two backup media are ever needed to restore all the data. This simplifies data restores as well as increases the likelihood of shortening data restoration time.
Recovery
Recovery is the mean time to restore (MTTR) mean time to repair.
Taking snapshots
Taking snapshots is a recovery method often used in cloud environments. Snapshots can capture the current configuration and data and preserve the complete state of a device, or just the configuration by reverting to a known state.
Log management
Log Management comprises an approach to dealing with large volumes of computer-generated log messages (also known as audit records, audit trails, event-logs, etc.).
Port scanning
Port scanning is an application designed to probe a server or host for open ports. Such an application may be used by administrators to verify security policies of their networks and by attackers to identify network services running on a host and exploit vulnerabilities. Can also discover what OS is being used without logging into a device.
Vulnerability scanning
A vulnerability scanner is an application that identifies and creates an inventory of all the systems (including servers, desktops, laptops, virtual machines, containers, firewalls, switches, and printers) connected to a network. For each device that it identifies it also attempts to identify the operating system it runs and the software installed on it, along with other attributes such as open ports and user accounts.
Patch management
Patch management is the process that helps acquire, test, and install multiple patches (code changes) on existing applications and software tools on a computer, enabling systems to stay updated on existing patches and determining which patches are the appropriate ones. Patches can increase system stability, contain security fixes, typically patches are scheduled in service packs (all at once) or via monthly updates. Sometimes patches are delivered as emergency out-of-band updates to fix zero-day and important security discoveries.
Protocol analyzers
Protocol analyzer is a tool (hardware or software) used to capture and analyze signals and data traffic over a communication channel. Such a channel can vary from a local computer bus to a satellite link, that provides a means of communication using a standard communication protocol (networked or point-to-point). Each type of communication protocol has a different tool to collect and analyze signals and data. Protocol analyzers can gathers packets on the network, view traffic patterns, identify unknown traffic, verify packet filtering and security controls, and used for big data analytics.
SIEM
Security information and event management (SIEM) is a subsection within the field of computer security, where software products and services combine security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM). They provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware. Usually includes advanced reporting features that can log aggregation and long-term storage, determine data correlation, and link diverse data types. Typically relied upon as a forensic analysis to gather details after an event.
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behavior. Devices that typically support SNMP include cable modems, routers, switches, servers, workstations, printers, and more.
Syslog
Syslog is a standard for message logging. It allows separation of the software that generates messages, the system that stores them, and the software that reports and analyzes them. Each message is labeled with a facility code, indicating the software type generating the message, and assigned a severity level.
IPSec (Internet Protocol Security)
Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a secure network protocol suite that authenticates and encrypts the packets of data to provide secure encrypted communication between two computers over an Internet Protocol network. It is used in virtual private networks (VPNs). Security for OSI Layer with authentication and encryption for every packet.
SSL VPN (Secure Sockets Layer VPN)
An SSL VPN is a type of virtual private network (VPN) that uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol or, more often, its successor, the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol - in standard web browsers to provide secure, remote-access VPN capability. SSL VPN enables devices with an internet connection to establish a secure remote-access VPN connection with a web browser. An SSL VPN connection uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to protect data transmitted between the endpoint device client software and the SSL VPN server through which the client connects securely to the internet.
Site-to-Site VPNs
A site-to-site VPN allows offices in multiple fixed locations to establish secure connections with each other over a public network such as the internet. Site-to-site VPN extends the company’s network, making computer resources from one location available to employees at other locations.
Host-to-Site VPNs
Host-to-Site VPNs is a connection between a user and the LAN inside a company where the user is an employee who needs to connect to the corporate network from outside the company. This type of connection is used mainly by telecommuting or sales force employees who want to connect to the corporate LAN from remote locations.
DTLS
Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) is a communications protocol that provides security for datagram-based applications by allowing them to communicate in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery. The DTLS protocol is based on the stream-oriented Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and is intended to provide similar security guarantees. The DTLS protocol datagram preserves the semantics of the underlying transport—the application does not suffer from the delays associated with stream protocols, but because it uses UDP, the application has to deal with packet reordering, loss of datagram and data larger than the size of a datagram network packet. Because DTLS uses UDP rather than TCP, it avoids the “TCP meltdown problem”, when being used to create a VPN tunnel.
Remote desktop access
Remote desktop access is sharing a desktop from a remote location. Microsoft has RDP (Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol) and there are other similar clients for Mac OS, Linux, and others. Commonly used by technical support and by scammers.
SSH (Secure Shell)
Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Typical applications include remote command-line, login, and remote command execution, but any network service can be secured with SSH. Uses tcp/22.
Web-based management console
Manage a device or software from an encrypted web-based front-end.
Out-of-band management
Out-of-band management involves the use of management interfaces (or serial ports) for managing and networking equipment.
Privileged User Agreement
Privileged user agreement is a signed agreement which enables an individual to take actions that may affect computing systems, network communication, or the accounts, files, data, or processes of other users based upon agreed upon terms and expectations. Privileged access is typically granted to system administrators, network administrators, staff performing computing account administration or other such employees whose job duties require special privileges over a computing system or network.
Export controls
Export controls are U.S. laws and regulations that regulate and restrict the release of critical technologies, information, and services to foreign nationals, within and outside of the United States, and foreign countries for reasons of foreign policy and national security.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Data loss prevention (DLP) is a set of tools, processes, and policies used to ensure that sensitive data is not lost, misused, or accessed by unauthorized users.
Incident response policies
Incident response policy helps your organization systematically handle the entire lifecycle of a security event.
Acceptable Use Policies (AUP)
Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) or fair use policy, is a set of rules applied by the owner, creator or administrator of a network, website, or service, that restrict the ways in which the network, website or system may be used and sets guidelines as to how it should be used. AUP documents are written for corporations, businesses, universities, schools, internet service providers (ISPs), and website owners, often to reduce the potential for legal action that may be taken by a user, and often with little prospect of enforcement.
NDA
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA) or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to.
MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)
MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) - Equipment safety, electrical safety policies, personal safety, jewelry policy, lifting techniques, fire safety, cable management, safety goggles, etc., handling of toxic waste, batteries, toner, government regulations, safety laws, building codes, environmental regulations.
CCTV
CCTV (Closed circuit television) also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point-to-point (P2P), point-to-multipoint (P2MP), or mesh wired or wireless links. Though almost all video cameras fit this definition, the term is most often applied to those used for surveillance in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, stores, and other areas where security is needed.
