Glossary
GL-2
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Configuration Guide using ASDM
OL-20339-01
A record address
“A” stands for address, and refers to name-to-address mapped records in DNS.
APCF
Application Profile Customization Framework. Lets the security appliance handle nonstandard 
applications so that they render correctly over a clientless SSL VPN connection.
ARP
Address Resolution Protocol. A low-level TCP/IP protocol that maps a hardware address, or MAC 
address, to an IP address. An example hardware address is 00:00:a6:00:01:ba. The first three groups of 
characters (00:00:a6) identify the manufacturer; the rest of the characters (00:01:ba) identify the 
system card. ARP is defined in RFC 826.
ASA
Adaptive Security Algorithm. Used by the adaptive security appliance to perform inspections. ASA 
allows one-way (inside to outside) connections without an explicit configuration for each internal 
system and application. See also inspection engine.
ASA
adaptive adaptive security appliance.
ASDM
Adaptive Security Device Manager. An application for managing and configuring a single adaptive 
security appliance.
asymmetric 
encryption
Also called public key systems, asymmetric encryption allows anyone to obtain access to the public 
key of anyone else. Once the public key is accessed, you can send an encrypted message to that person 
using the public key. See also encryption, public key.
authentication
Cryptographic protocols and services that verify the identity of users and the integrity of data. One of 
the functions of the IPsec framework. Authentication establishes the integrity of the datastream and 
ensures that it is not tampered with in transit. It also provides confirmation about the origin of the 
datastream. See also AAA, encryption, and VPN.
Auto Applet 
Download
Automatically downloads the clientless SSL VPN port-forwarding applet when the user first logs in to 
clientless SSL VPN. 
auto-signon
This command provides a single sign-on method for clientless SSL VPN users. It passes the clientless 
SSL VPN login credentials (username and password) to internal servers for authentication using 
NTLM authentication, basic authentication, or both. 
B
backup server
IPsec backup servers let a VPN client connect to the central site when the primary security appliance 
is unavailable.
BGP
Border Gateway Protocol. BGP performs interdomain routing in TCP/IP networks. BGP is an Exterior 
Gateway Protocol, which means that it performs routing between multiple autonomous systems or 
domains and exchanges routing and access information with other BGP systems. The adaptive security 
appliance does not support BGP. See also EGP.
BLT stream
Bandwidth Limited Traffic stream. Stream or flow of packets whose bandwidth is constrained.
BOOTP
Bootstrap Protocol. Lets diskless workstations boot over the network as is described in RFC 951 and 
RFC 1542.
BPDU
Bridge Protocol Data Unit. Spanning-Tree Protocol hello packet that is sent out at configurable 
intervals to exchange information among bridges in the network. Protocol data unit is the OSI term for 
packet.