Defining IT: A CFO’s Glossary

In the many years we’ve been managing IT for small and medium sized businesses, we’ve learned that in most cases the CFO makes decisions, with the help of their IT guy – who translates the “geek speak” into English. So we thought it would be helpful if you had a quick cheat sheet to decipher the lingo:

• Windows Domain – The name of your Windows network. It serves to identify what machines are "on your network" and resources that can be accessed.
• Virtual Machines – or “VM’s” allow you to segment a parent, or host server into multiple, smaller servers, to serve different purposes. The VMs subdivide the CPU, RAM and hard disk space of the much larger host server and can appear and function in your network as if they were plugged in. This allows you to fully utilize the computing power of the hardware you've purchased.
• Switch – This is a network device that enables intercommunication between devices on your network.
• Cloud – There are mixed uses for this term, but the most generic relates to any computing services that you utilize outside of your environment. Cloud computing refers to the consolidation of many devices, and their combined resources - disk space, processing cycles, and RAM, are offered as virtual machines or blocks, to businessess as as a highly flexible service. 
• SQL Server – Pronounced “sequel”, it is Microsoft's database software. For environments with a business system or high reporting requirements, this application typically resides on its own dedicated machine.
• SharePoint – It is Microsoft's de facto collaboration software for sharing files, internal discussion boards, announcements, and more. Many businesses use SharePoint for their intranets. The foundation, or basic installation, is included with SQL Server licenses.
• Exchange and Exchange Server – A Microsoft software product that handles email and typically requires its own hardware for optimum performance. In a nutshell, it’s your business’ post office.
• Co-location – “Co-lo” – Instead of having your own servers locally in your office data center, you can lease space from co-location facilities to house and cool your server. Your devices are locked within their own racks so that other tenants cannot access your hardware.
• Virtual Private Network – “VPN” allows a remote machine to securely access local files and resources in the datacenter as if they were directly connected to the office network.
• IP Address – Internet Protocol is a set of numbers that identify a device within a network. This address is usually masked from the outside world and all traffic from a business will appear to others as coming from a single address. IP addresses can also be used to reference a web site without a friendly domain name.
• File Transfer Protocol – “FTP” typically refers to the application that is used to upload/download files to and from an external file server, but essentially it is the protocol or methodology for transfering data from device to device across the internet. Other protocols include HTTP, for web page data, and SMTP for email. Some examples of commonly used FTP applications are Filezilla, Cyberduck and WSFTP.
• Active Directory – For organizations operating under a Windows domain, the Active Directory Server or “AD” is used to handle all of the accounts, policies, and types of devices that can connect to your network.
• Firewall – A network device that filters traffic to and from the web. It’s primarily used to secure your network from intrusions and prevent staff from accessing dangerous or inappropriate websites.

Let us know if there are other definitions we can share on this post.