1.2 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

admin client: A component that uses the Storage Services protocols to configure and query the state of storage entities such as the volume shadow copy, virtual disk, Encrypting File System (EFS), and removable storage. The Admin Client is also used to configure various policies that apply to a storage object such as creating or deleting storage volumes, giving access controls, and getting notifications.

basic disk: A disk on which each volume can be composed of exclusively one partition.

certificate: A certificate is a collection of attributes and extensions that can be stored persistently. The set of attributes in a certificate can vary depending on the intended usage of the certificate. A certificate securely binds a public key to the entity that holds the corresponding private key. A certificate is commonly used for authentication and secure exchange of information on open networks, such as the Internet, extranets, and intranets. Certificates are digitally signed by the issuing certification authority (CA) and can be issued for a user, a computer, or a service. The most widely accepted format for certificates is defined by the ITU-T X.509 version 3 international standards. For more information about attributes and extensions, see [RFC3280] and [X509] sections 7 and 8.

disk: A persistent storage device that can include physical hard disks, removable disk units, optical drive units, and logical unit numbers (LUNs) unmasked to the system.

dynamic disk: A disk on which volumes can be composed of more than one partition on disks of the same pack, as opposed to basic disks where a partition and a volume are equivalent.

Encrypting File System (EFS): The name for the encryption capability of the NTFS file system. When a file is encrypted using EFS, a symmetric key known as the file encryption key (FEK) is generated and the contents of the file are encrypted with the FEK. For each user or data recovery agent (DRA) that is authorized to access the file, a copy of the FEK is encrypted with that user's or DRA's public key and is stored in the file's metadata. For more information about EFS, see [MSFT-EFS].

file: An entity of data in the file system that a user can access and manage. A file must have a unique name in its directory. It consists of one or more streams of bytes that hold a set of related data, plus a set of attributes (also called properties) that describe the file or the data within the file. The creation time of a file is an example of a file attribute.

file allocation table (FAT): A data structure that the operating system creates when a volume is formatted by using FAT or FAT32 file systems. The operating system stores information about each file in the FAT so that it can retrieve the file later.

file system: A system that enables applications to store and retrieve files on storage devices. Files are placed in a hierarchical structure. The file system specifies naming conventions for files and the format for specifying the path to a file in the tree structure. Each file system consists of one or more drivers and DLLs that define the data formats and features of the file system. File systems can exist on the following storage devices: diskettes, hard disks, jukeboxes, removable optical disks, and tape backup units.

host bus adapter (HBA): A hardware device that adapts the signals of one electronic interface to another.

iSCSI initiator: A client of a SCSI interface. An iSCSI initiator issues SCSI commands to request services from components, which are logical units of a server known as a "target". For more information, see [RFC3720] section 1.

Library: A storage device that contains one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold tape cartridges, and an automated method for loading tapes.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP): The primary access protocol for Active Directory. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an industry-standard protocol, established by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which allows users to query and update information in a directory service (DS), as described in [MS-ADTS]. The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol can be either version 2 [RFC1777] or version 3 [RFC3377].

Microsoft Management Console (MMC): Provides a framework that consists of a graphical user interface (GUI) and a programming platform in which snap-ins (collections of administrative tools) can be created, opened, and saved. MMC is a multiple-document interface (MDI) application.

NT file system (NTFS): A proprietary Microsoft file system. For more information, see [MSFT-NTFS].

partition: In the context of hard disks, a logical region of a hard disk. A hard disk may be subdivided into one or more partitions.

public key: One of a pair of keys used in public-key cryptography. The public key is distributed freely and published as part of a digital certificate. For an introduction to this concept, see [CRYPTO] section 1.8 and [IEEE1363] section 3.1.

redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID): A set of disk-organization techniques that is designed to achieve high-performance storage access and availability.

remote procedure call (RPC): A communication protocol used primarily between client and server. The term has three definitions that are often used interchangeably: a runtime environment providing for communication facilities between computers (the RPC runtime); a set of request-and-response message exchanges between computers (the RPC exchange); and the single message from an RPC exchange (the RPC message).  For more information, see [C706].

removable media: Any type of storage that is not permanently attached to the computer. A persistent storage device stores its data on media. If the media can be removed from the device, the media is considered removable. For example, a floppy disk drive uses removable media.

shadow copy: A duplicate of data held on a volume at a well-defined instant in time.

shadow copy storage association: The relationship between the original volume and the volume where the shadow copy storage is located.

storage server: A server that hosts hard disks, removable media, and files.

volume: A group of one or more partitions that forms a logical region of storage and the basis for a file system. A volume is an area on a storage device that is managed by the file system as a discrete logical storage unit. A partition contains at least one volume, and a volume can exist on one or more partitions.