SaaS

Software as a Service, is a software delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely as a Web-based service.

SAC

Single-Attached Concentrator. FDDI or CDDI concentrator that connects to the network by being cascaded from the master port of another FDDI or CDDI concentrator.

Safari

A web browser by Apple.

SAML

Security Assertion Markup Language, an XML-based framework for ensuring that transmitted communications are secure. SAML defines mechanisms to exchange authentication, authorization and nonrepudiation information, allowing single signon capabilities for Web services.

SAN

Storage Area Network is a high-speed subnetwork of shared storage devices that is available to all servers on a LAN or WAN. As the data on a SAN does not reside directly on any of the network servers, increasing the amount of data and/or size of the SAN, the network servers capacity for business applications is not affected.

Sanitisation

Using electronic or physical destruction methods to securely erase or remove data from memory.

SASE

Secure Access Service Edge, is a cloud architecture model that bundles network and SaaS functions together and delivers them as a single cloud service. SASE allows organizations to unify their network and security tools in a single management console.

SASL

Simple Authentication and Security Layer. Originating with RFC2222, SASL is a method for adding authentication support to connection-based protocols. SASL takes effect when a protocol initiates a command for identifying and authenticating a user to a server. SASL also includes an option for negotiating protection of subsequent protocol interactions. With this option in effect, SASL places a security layer between the protocol and the connection.

SAX

Simple API for XML, originally a Java-only API. SAX was the first widely adopted API for XML in Java, and is a “de facto” standard.

SCM

Supply Chain Management.

Scratch

Scratch is a free visual programming language and online community targeted primarily at children, by coding with 'blocks' in the editor.

Screen Saver

A small program that takes over the display screen if there are no keystrokes or mouse movements for a specified duration. Screen savers were originally developed to prevent ghosting, the permanent etching of a pattern on a display screen. For older monochrome monitors, ghosting often occurred if the same pattern was displayed on a display screen for a long period of time. Screen savers would prevent this by either blanking out the screen entirely or by displaying a constantly moving image. Modern display screens do not suffer so much from this ghosting problem.

SCSI

Small Computer System Interface, is a parallel interface standard used by Apple Macintosh computers, PCs, and many UNIX systems for attaching peripheral devices to computers. Nearly all Apple Macintosh computers, excluding only the earliest Macs and the recent iMac, come with a SCSI port for attaching devices such as disk drives and printers.
SCSI interfaces provide for faster data transmission rates (up to 80Mbps) than standard serial and parallel ports . In addition, you can attach many devices to a single SCSI port, so that SCSI is really an I/O bus rather than simply an interface.
Although SCSI is an ANSI standard, there are many variations of it, so two SCSI interfaces may be in compatible.

SDK

Software Development Kit, a programming package that enables a programmer to develop applications for a specific platforms. Typically an SDK includes one or more APIs, programming tools, and documentation.

SDLC

(1) Synchronous Data Link Control.

(2) System Development Life Cycle.

(3) Software Development Life Cycle.

SDRAM

Synchronous DRAM, a new type of DRAM that can run at much higher clock speeds than conventional memory. SDRAM actually synchronizes itself with the CPU's bus and is capable of running at 133MHz, about three times faster than conventional FPM RAM, and about twice as fast EDO-DRAM and BEDO DRAM. SDRAM is replacing EDO DRAM in many newer computers.
Today's fastest Pentium systems use CPU buses running at 100 MHz, so SDRAM can keep up with them, though barely. Future PCs, however, are expected to have CPU buses running at 200MHz or faster. SDRAM is not expected to support these high speeds which is why new memory technologies, such as RDRAM and SLDRAM, are being developed.

SD-WAN

Software-Defined Wide Area Network, is defined as a virtual WAN architecture that allows enterprises to securely and efficiently connect users to applications.

Search Engine

A website that allows you to search for certain topics using keywords and phrases.

Segment

(1) In networks, a section of a network that is bounded by bridges, routers or switches. Dividing an Ethernet into multiple segments is one of the most common ways of increasing available bandwidth on the LAN. If segmented correctly, most network traffic will remain within a single segment, enjoying the full 10 Mbps bandwidth. Hubs and switches are used to connect each segment to the rest of the LAN.

(2) In virtual memory system, a variable-sized portion of data that is swapped in and out of main memory. Contrast with page.

(3) In graphics, a piece of a polyline, which is a fixed-sized portion of data.

Segmentation

Segmentation is grouping your email list based on certain common parameters, such as location, customer preferences, etc.

SEM

Search Engine Marketing. A form of PPC marketing that targets users’ search engine results in the form of relevant ads and results.

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation, the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a Web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for Internet users to not click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site. SEO helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine. A website that allows you to search for certain topics using keywords and phrases.

Serial ATA

Serial ATA is a disk-interface technology developed by a group of the industry's leading vendors to replace parallel ATA. The Serial ATA 1.0 specification was released in August 2001. Serial ATA is scalable and will allow future enhancements to the computing platform.

SERP

Search Engine Results Page, is the list of results that a search engine returns in response to a specific word or phrase query.

Server

A computer that supplies the appropriate data on request from a client, e.g. a computer on the internet serving web pages.

Server Farm

Also referred to as server cluster, computer farm or ranch. A server farm is a group of networked servers that are housed in one location. A server farm streamlines internal processes by distributing the workload between the individual components of the farm and expedites computing processes by harnessing the power of multiple servers. The farms rely on load-balancing software that accomplishes such tasks as tracking demand for processing power from different machines, prioritising the tasks and scheduling and rescheduling them depending on priority and demand that users put on the network.

SET

Secure Electronic Transaction, a standard that will enable secure credit card transactions on the Internet. SET has been endorsed by virtually all the major players in the e-commerce arena.

SGCP

Simple Gateway Control Protocol. Controls Voice over IP gateways by an external call control element.

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language, a system for organizing and tagging elements of a document. SGML was developed and standardized by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in 1986.
SGML itself does not specify any particular formatting; rather, it specifies the rules for tagging elements. These tags can then be interpreted to format elements in different ways.
SGML is used widely to manage large documents that are subject to frequent revisions and need to be printed in different formats. Because it is a large and complex system, it is not yet widely used on personal computers. However, the growth of Internet, and especially the World Wide Web, is creating renewed interest in SGML because the World Wide Web uses HTML, which is one way of defining and interpreting tags according to SGML rules.

SGSN

Serving GPRS Support Node.

Shareware

Software available to download and use for a limited time before deciding to purchase it.

SHTML

A web file suffix denoting that the page being received has been produced on the fly.

SIMM

Single In-line Memory Module, a small circuit board that can hold a group of memory chips. Typically, SIMMs hold up 8 (on Macintoshes ) or 9 (on PCs) RAM chips. On PCs, the ninth chip is often used for parity error checking. Unlike memory chips, SIMMs are measured in bytes rather than bits. SIMMs are easier to install than individual memory chips. The bus from a SIMM to the actual memory chips is 32 bits wide. A newer technology, called dual in-line memory module (DIMM) , provides a 64-bit bus. For modern Pentium microprocessors that have a 64-bit bus, you must use either DIMMs or pairs of SIMMs.

SIMPLE

Session initiation protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions. An application of the SIP protocol for server-to-server and client-to-server interoperability in instant messaging . SIMPLE is a step in bringing standardization to instant messaging.

SIP

(1) Single In-line Package, a type of housing for electronic components in which the connecting pins protrude from one side. A SIP is also called a Single In-line Pin Package (SIPP).

(2) Session Initiated Protocol, or Session Initiation Protocol. A signaling protocol for Internet conferencing, telephony, presence, events notification and instant messaging. The protocol initiates call setup, routing, authentication and other feature messages to endpoints within an IP domain.

SLA

Service Level Agreement.

SLDRAM

SyncLink DRAM, a new type of memory being developed by a consortium of computer manufacturers. SLDRAM is competing with RDRAM as the future PC memory architecture.

SLIP

Serial Line Internet Protocol. A method of connecting to the Internet. Another more common method is PPP. SLIP is an older and simpler protocol, but from a practical perspective, there's not much difference between connecting to the Internet via SLIP or PPP. In general, ISPs offer only one protocol although some support both protocols.

SMART

Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, is a monitoring system for computer hard disks to detect and report on various indicators of reliability, in the hope of anticipating failures.

Smartdrive

A disk caching system provided by Microsoft with later versions of DOS and used with Windows 3.1 Disk caching provides faster access to data on a hard disk. Smartdrive allows you to monitor how the cache is used and change the cache size to optimise performance. Starting with Windows 95, Smartdrive was replaced by a disk caching system called VCACHE.

SMB

Server Message Block, a message format used by DOS and Windows to share files, directories and devices.

SMDS

Switched Multimegabit Data Services, a high-speed switched data communications service offered by telephone companies that enable organizations to connect geographically separate LANs into a single WAN. Prior to SMDS's arrival in 1995, the only way to connect LANs was through a dedicated private line. This is still the way most WANs are connected, but SMDS is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative because it is more flexible and in many cases more economical.

SMIS

Storage Management Interface Specification.

Smishing

Smishing is a security attack in which the user is tricked into downloading a Trojan Horse, virus or other malware onto his cellular phone or other mobile device. It is short for "SMS phishing."

SMP

Symmetric Multi-Processors.

SMS

(1) Systems Management Server, a set of tools from Microsoft that assists in managing PC connected to a LAN. SMS enables a network administrator to create an inventory of all the hardware and software on the network and to store it in an SMS database. Using this database, SMS can then perform software distribution and installation over the LAN. SMS also enables a network administrator to perform diagnostic tests on PCs attached to the LAN.

(2) Short Message Service, is the transmission of short text messages to and from a mobile phone, fax machine and/or IP address. Messages must be no longer than 160 alpha-numeric characters and contain no images or graphics. Once a message is sent, it is received by a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), which must then get it to the appropriate mobile device.

SMT

Simultaneous Multi-Threading Technology.

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. Most e-mail systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can then be retrieved with an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP.

SNA

Systems Network Architecture. A set of network protocols developed by IBM.

SNAP

SubNetwork Access Protocol. A frame used in Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI LANs. The 3 primary functions executed by the frame are data transfer, connection management and quality of service selection.

SNIA

Storage Networking Industry Association.

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol, a set of protocols for managing complex network. SNMP works by sending messages, called protocol data units (PDUs), to different parts of a network. SNMP-compliant devices, called agents, store data about themselves in Management Information Bases (MIBs) and return this data to the SNMP requesters.

SNOBOL

SNOBOL is a series of computer programming languages developed between 1962 and 1967 at AT&T Bell Laboratories.

SO-DIMM

Small Outline DIMM, a small version of a DIMM used commonly in laptops. Whereas a full-size DIMM has 168 pins and supports 64-bit transfers, a SO DIMM has only 72 pins, which supports only 32-bit transfers, or 144 pins, which supports a full 64-bit transfer.

SOA

Service-Oriented Architecture.

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol provides a way for applications to communicate with each other over the Internet, independent of platform. Unlike DCOM's IIOP, SOAP piggybacks a DOM onto HTTP (port 80) in order to penetrate server firewalls, which are usually configured to accept port 80 and port 21 (FTP) requests.
SOAP relies on XML to define the format of the information and then adds the necessary HTTP headers to send it.

Socket

(1) A software object that connects an application to a network protocol.

(2) A receptacle into which a plug can be inserted.

(3) A receptacle for a microprocessor or other hardware component.

Sockpuppet

A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception.

Software

Computer instructions stored electronically as data. Non-tangible, unlike hardware.

Solar Fade

Solar fade, also called sun interference, is a phenomenon that occurs in satellite communications on certain occasions when the downlink signal is aligned with the sun's position and it is overcome by signal noise from the sun.

SONET

Synchronous Optical Network, is a standard for connecting fiber-optic transmission systems.  It is now an ANSI standard.  The international equivalent of a sonet, is called SDH.

SORBS

Spam & Open Relay Blocking System.

Southbridge

Southbridge is an Intel chipset that manages the basic forms of input/output such as USB, serial, audio, IDE, and ISA I/O in a computer. Southbridge is one of two chipsets that are collectively called Northbridge/Southbridge. Unlike Northbridge, Southbridge consists of one chip, which sits on Northbridge's PCI bus.
See Northbridge .

Spam

Casual name for Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE). Equivalent to 'junk' mail (can also be used as a verb).

SPARC

Scalable Processor ARChitecture, a RISC technology.

SPEC

(1) Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation, a nonprofit corporation set up by many computer and microprocessor vendors to create a standard set of benchmark tests.

(2) Specification, as in a functional specification.

Spew

Relating to newsgroups and chat rooms. This is when one of the participants repeatedly types, or talks, about the same thing.

SPEWS

Spam Prevention Early Warning System.

SPI

(1) Service Provider Interface.
(2) Security Parameter Index.
(3) Stateful Packet Inspection, is a firewall based protocol.
(4) Serial Peripheral Interface.
(5) SCSI Parallel Interface.
(6) System Packet Interface.

Spider

A program that automatically fetches Web pages. Spiders are used to feed pages to search engines. It's called a spider because it crawls over the Web. Another term for these programs is Web Crawler. As most Web pages contain links to other pages, a spider can start almost anywhere. As soon as it sees a link to another page, it goes off and fetches it.

Splash Page

The page of a Web site that the user sees first before being given the option to continue to the main content of the site. Splash pages are used to promote a company, service or product or are used to inform the user of what kind of software or browser is necessary in order to view the rest of the site's pages. Often a splash page will consist of animated graphics and sounds that entice the user into exploring the rest of the Web site. Some splash pages will bring the user to the main Web site automatically, and some require the user to click on a link that will load the main page.
A splash page is sometimes referred to as a splash screen.

SPoF

Single Point of Failure,is a part of a system that, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working.

SQL

Structured Query Language, is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system, or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS). It is particularly useful in handling structured data.

SRAM

Static Random Access Memory, retains data bits in its memory as long as power is being supplied.

SSA

Serial Storage Architecture is IBM's proposed ANSI standard for a standard high speed interface to disk clusters and arrays. It allows full-duplex packet multiplexed serial data transfers at rates of 20Mb/sec in each direction.

SSADM

Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method. It uses a combination of the following:

• Logical Data Modelling
• Data Flow Modelling
• Entity Behaviour Modelling

SSD

Solid State Drive, is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently.

SSG

Service Selection Gateway. Gateway that offers service providers a means for menu-based service selection. End users can select services from the Dashboard menu.

SSI

(1) Server Side Include.
A type of HTML comment that directs the Web server to dynamically generate data for the Web page whenever it is requested. The simplest comment is #include, which inserts the contents of another file. This is especially useful for ensuring that boilerplate components, such as header and footer, are the same on all pages throughout a Web site. To change a boilerplate element, you need only modify the include file, instead of updating every individual Web page. SSIs can also be used to execute programs and insert the results. They therefore represent a powerful tool for Web developers. Web pages that contain SSIs often end with a .shtml extension, though this is not a requirement. The filename extension enables the Web server to differentiate those pages that need to be processed before they are sent to the browser.

(2) Single System Image.
A form of distributed computing in which by using a common interface multiple networks, distributed databases or servers appear to the user as one system. In other words, the operating system environment is shared by all nodes in the system.

SSID

Service Set IDentifier, is your network's name.

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL works by using a public key to encrypt data that's transferred over the SSL connection. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers. By convention, URL that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:. SSL protocol has been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a standard.

SSO

Single SignOn.

SSP

Storage Service Provider, is a company that provides computer storage space and related management services. SSPs also offer periodic backup, archiving and the ability to consolidate data from multiple company locations so that data can be effectively shared.

SSSCA

Security Systems Standards and Certification Act.

Stack Overflow

A stack overflow is a type of buffer overflow error that occurs when a computer program tries to use more memory space in the call stack than has been allocated to that stack. The call stack, also referred to as the stack segment, is a fixed-sized buffer that stores local function variables and return address data during program execution.

STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, is a broad term used to group together these academic disciplines. This term is typically used to address an education policy or a curriculum choices in schools.

STP

(1) Shielded Twisted Pair. 2-pair wiring medium used in a variety of network implementations.

(2) Spanning Tree Protocol. A link management protocol, is part of the IEEE 802.1 standard for media access control bridge. Using the spanning tree algorithm, STP provides pat redundancy while preventing undesirable loops in a network that are created by multiple active paths between stations.

Streaming

A technique for transferring data such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream. Streaming technologies are becoming increasingly important with the growth of the Internet because most users do not have fast enough access to download large multimedia files quickly. With streaming, the client browser or plug-in can start displaying the data before the entire file has been transmitted. For streaming to work, the client side receiving the data must be able to collect the data and send it as a steady stream to the application that is processing the data and converting it to sound or pictures.

SWAP

Shared Wireless Access Protocol is a specification for wireless voice and data networking, deveploped by the HomeRF Working Group. It works together with the PSTN network and the Internet through existing telephone and wireless LAN technologies. It supports TDMA for interactive data transfer and CSMA/CA for high-speed packet transfer.

Swift

(1) Swift is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm, compiled programming language developed by Apple.
(2) Swift is an open source implicitly parallel programming language that allows writing scripts that distribute program execution across distributed computing resources, including clusters, clouds, grids, and supercomputers.

Switch

(1) In networks, a device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segment are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.

(2) A small lever or button. The switches on the back of printer and on expansion boards are called DIP switches. A switch that has just two positions is called a toggle switch.

(3) Another word for option or parameter -- a symbol that you add to a command to modify the command's behaviour.

SysML

Systems Modeling Language, is a general-purpose modeling language for systems engineering applications.