D-E

daemons

Processes that run in the background to manage various system- and utility-related functions.

dd

A command used to make a literal block-level (raw) copy of a complete UFS file system to another file system or to a tape.

devalias

An OpenBoot command used to display or create device aliases. The devalias command creates a temporary alias that is lost when the system is reset or power-cycled. Use the nvalias command to create permanent aliases.

Developer Software Group

Contains the packages for the End User Solaris Software Group plus additional support for software development, which includes libraries, manpages, and programming tools. Compilers are not included.

df

A command used to display disk space usage at the file system level.

dfshares

A command used to display information about the resources available to a host from local and remote systems.

differential backup

A type of backup that backs up all the changed files since the last full backup.

directory

A binary file containing a list of other files; may include other directories as well.

disk controller

A chip and its circuitry that instructs the read/write head to move across the platter to read/write data.

disk label

The first disk sector that contains information about disk geometry and partitions.

DNS

Domain Name System; the name of a TCP/IP-based protocol and the server based on this protocol used to resolve IP addresses to host names and vice versa. It is the standard name service used on the Internet.

domain

An administrative entity that consists of several computers on a network that can share some administrative files.

Domain Name System

See DNS.

du

A command used to obtain a report on disk usage at the directory and file levels.

eeprom

The utility that Solaris offers to change the values of the OpenBoot configuration variables.

encapsulation

The process of pre-pending a header to a data packet received from the upper layer.

End User Solaris Software Group

Solaris installation software group that contains the packages to provide the minimum support required to boot and run a networked Solaris system and the Common Desktop Environment (CDE).

Ethernet

A popular physical network technology standard that utilizes the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) mechanism to allow multiple stations to share a single medium of transmission.

Ethernet address

A 48-bit MAC address burned on a network adapter in a machine connected to an Ethernet network.