Glossary X

WAN: wide area network: A designation used to connect LANs together across a DCE (data communications equipment) network. Typically, a WAN is a leased line or dial-up connection across a PSTN network. Examples of WAN protocols include Frame Relay, PPP, ISDN, and HDLC.
weighted fair queuing: Default queuing method on serial links on all Cisco routers. An automated process for placing packets into a queue.
weighted round robin: A fixed number of queues are serviced in round-robin fashion, each being configurable only as to the size of the queue. See also: round robin.
wildcard: Used with access-list, supernetting, and OSPF configurations. Wildcards are designations used to identify a range of subnets.
windowing: A flow-control method used with TCP at the Transport layer of the OSI model. Data is acknowledged by the receiver only at the end of a transmission window, which can vary in size according the network reliability.
WinSock: Windows Socket Interface: A software interface that makes it possible for an assortment of applications to use and share an Internet connection. The WinSock software consists of a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) with supporting programs such as a dialer program that initiates the connection.
wire speed: The term given to the process whereby data is forwarded through the switch with no appreciable delay. See also: non-blocking.
workgroup switching: A switching method that supplies high-speed (100Mbps) transparent bridging between Ethernet networks as well as high-speed translational bridging between Ethernet and CDDI or FDDI.

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