DataPipe Glossary

Concurrent Users:   We define concurrent users as the number of users actually logged into the system at any one moment in time. Thus, you may have 500 people who can use DataPipe, however if at any one moment in time, if only 20 people are ever logged in, then you would get a 20 concurrent user system.

License Fee:   The DataPipe license fee is a one time 99 year license.  Please refer to the DataPipe license agreement for more detailed information. If you add modules or concurrent users to your current system you would recalculate the new total license fee and pay the difference between that and what you have already paid. (not including any system build fees or other applicable service fees).

Maintenance and Support Fee:   The DataPipe maintenance and support fee is an annual fee for staying on the support plan as defined by the DataPipe maintenance and support agreement.  This fee is usually a percentage of the total current license fee and is paid at the beginning of the year annually.  in 2007, the fee was 15% of the current license fee for your system.  Check with Knorr Associates for the current percentage.

The .NET Framework:  The programming model of the .NET environment for building, deploying, and running Web-based applications, smart client applications, and XML Web services. The .NET Framework provides the core services of .NET, similar to the Windows API in that it can be used by many Windows-based programs.

Active Directory (AD):  A Microsoft product that allows organizations to centrally manage and share information on network resources and users while acting as the central authority for security.

Client Tier:   Also known as presentation tier. A logical layer of a distributed system that typically presents data to and processes input from the user, sometimes referred to as the front end. Usually, the client tier requests data from a server based on input, and then formats and displays the result.

Common Language Runtime (CLR):  The common language runtime is responsible for run time services such as language integration, security enforcement, memory, process, and thread management.

Data Definition Language (DDL):  A language for creating, altering and dropping data objects and integrity rules.

Data Tier:  A logical layer that represents a computer running a DBMS, such as a SQL Server database, Oracle or IBM DB2.

Database Administrator (DBA):  An individual responsible for the design, development, operation, safeguarding, maintenance, and use of a database.

Distributed Application:  A program written so that the processing can be divided across multiple computers over a network. Typically, a distributed application is divided into presentation, business logic, and data store layers, or tiers.

Internet Information Server (IIS):  Microsoft’s web server product.

Microsoft Installer (MSI):  A Microsoft technology for installing, repairing, updating and uninstalling applications.

Middle Tier:  Also known as application server or business logic tier. The logical layer between a user interface or Web client and the database. This is typically where the web server resides, and where business objects are instantiated. The middle tier is a collection of business rules and functions that generate and operate upon information. They accomplish this through business rules, which can change frequently, and are thus encapsulated into components that are physically separate from the application logic itself.

OSHA Compliance:  OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was created in 1970. Its goal was to assure safe and healthful working conditions for all working Americans. The OSHA compliance requirements produced from this act have resulted in occupational health and safety standards that apply to private sector employers.  Please click here for a specific glossary of terms related to OSHA compliance.

Sarbanes Oxley Compliance:  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (often shortened to SOX) is legislation enacted in response to the high-profile Enron and WorldCom financial scandals to protect shareholders and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent practices in the enterprise. The act is administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which sets deadlines for compliance and publishes rules on requirements. Sarbanes-Oxley is not a set of business practices and does not specify how a business should store records; rather, it defines which records are to be stored and for how long. The legislation not only affects the financial side of corporations, but also affects the IT departments whose job it is to store a corporation's electronic records. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act states that all business records, including electronic records and electronic messages, must be saved for "not less than five years." The consequences for non-compliance are fines, imprisonment, or both. IT departments are increasingly faced with the challenge of creating and maintaining a corporate records archive in a cost-effective fashion that satisfies the requirements put forth by the legislation.

Scale Out:  The ability to grow by adding instances/computers to provide acceptable service levels.

Scale Up:  The ability to continue to grow within a single computer and continue to provide acceptable service levels.

SOAP:  Simple Object Access Protocol. Provides a simple and lightweight mechanism for exchanging structured and typed information between peers in a decentralized, distributed environment using XML.

Stateless:  HTTP is a stateless protocol, which means that it does not automatically indicate whether a sequence of requests is all from the same client or even whether a single browser instance is still actively viewing a page or site. As a result, building Web applications that need to maintain some cross-request state information (shopping carts, user information, and so on) can be extremely challenging without additional infrastructure help.

System Management Software (SMS):  A Microsoft product that delivers cost-effective, scalable change and configuration management for Microsoft Windows®–based desktop and server systems.

Virtual Root (v-root, application root):  When setting up a web application, the starting point directory on a web server.

Web Farm:  A collection of multiple web servers that can run the same web application across different Web Servers and distribute the load evenly across the Web Servers.

Web Garden:  One web server with multiple Processors which can run multiple instances of the web server worker process.