Glossary of Acronyms

Glossary of Acronyms
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3DES/3DEA: Triple Data Encryption Standard/Algorithm [1] - 3DES is a modern encryption method used in
ServiceNow to secure saved credentials when using the Discovery plugin.

A
ACL: Access Control List - Access control lists are used for contextual security and Discovery:
An access control rule or ACL rule controls what data users can access and how they can access it. ACL rules
require users to meet certain requirements to access particular data.
An access control list uses a range of IP addresses to define which devices Discovery can access and scan. Access
control lists can be used to establish or bypass access restrictions on certain systems.
ADB: Advanced Debugger - ADB is a UNIX process used by Discovery to access information on UNIX systems.
ADFS - Active Directory Federation Services: ADFS is Microsoft software developed to provide single sign-on
access to network services. ServiceNow supports ADFS through SAML 2.0.
AIX: IBM Advanced Interactive Executive [2] - AIX is a UNIX operating system owned by IBM and can be accessed
by Discovery.
API: Application Programming Interface - APIs are software rules to facilitate communication between programs.
ServiceNow uses APIs to extend the software beyond base system uses.
ASP: Application Service Provider [3] - An ASP is a business that supplies a web-based software product. This
software differs from SaaS as an ASP provides hosting and administration of a traditional software platform
accessed via the internet whereas SaaS is natively web-based.

B
BGP: Border Gateway Protocol [4] - BGP is a general table of IP prefixes used to establish decentralized reachability
for autonomous routing systems.
BSM: Business Service Management - A BSM map is a graphical display of the configuration items (CI) within a
system and their relationships to one another.

C
CAL: Client Access Licensing - A CAL is a license that gives the client access to a particular web service.
CAB: Customer Advisory Board - A CAB is a special type of focus group composed of high level management
workers.
Also: Change Approval Board - A change approval board is a group of users that provide formal approvals as part
of a change workflow. See Case Study - Advanced Approval Workflow (Part 1) for more information.
CI: Configuration Item - A configuration item (CI) is a computer or other device attached to an enterprise's
networks.
CMDB: Configuration Management Database - The CMDB holds a list of all configuration items and their details.
ServiceNow supports CMDB through both the Baseline CMDB plugin and the Enterprise CMDB plugin.
CMS: Content Management System - The Content Management System is a plugin that provides functionality for
creating branded front-ends for an instance.

Glossary of Acronyms

CRM: Customer Relationship Management - CRM is a management strategy to ensure a strong client-provider
relationship while minimizing costs and taking advantage of available technology. This is supported in ServiceNow
through the Sales Force Automation plugin.
CSR: Certificate Signing Request [5] - In ServiceNow mutual authentication, a certificate signing request is
generated by a client for an existing Java keystore when requesting a server certificate for authentication.
CSRF - Cross-site Request Forgery: A cross-site request forgery is a security exploit using unauthorized commands
sent from a trusted user. ServiceNow protects against CSRF attacks through High Security Settings.
CSV: Comma-separated values [6] - Comma-Separated Values are data values stored in plain text format by way of a
comma-separated list.
CVS: Concurrent Versions System
development.

[7]

- CVS is a system used to track changes in software files to aid in

D
DCOM: Distributed Component Object Model
communication between software over a network.
DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
server without the need for human intervention.

[9]

[8]

- DCOM is a tool owned by Microsoft that facilitates

- DHCP automatically configures a device to connect to an IP

DHTML: Dynamic HTML [10] - Dynamic HTML is a combination of HTML along with a number of other related
technologies to create fully interactive web content.
DNS: Domain Name System [11] - DNS is a system used to translate domain names readable by humans, such as
URLs, into numerical IP addresses.
DOM: Document Object Model
internet markup languages.

[12]

- DOM is a standardized and multi-platform language for object interaction in

DSL: Definitive Software Library - A definitive software library is a secured repository of master copy software CIs.

E
EC2: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud - The Amazon EC2 workflow enables users to request the provisioning and
deletion of virtual computers (Linux or Windows) in the Amazon EC2 [13] virtual computing environment through
the ServiceNow service catalog.
ECC Queue: External Communication Channel Queue - The ECC Queue is a database table that is normally
queried, updated, and inserted into by external systems such as the MID Server used for Discovery. The ECC Queue
is the normal connection point between the ServiceNow platform and external integrations. Records saved to the
Queue [ecc_queue] table are in the form of messages from external systems.
EMEA: Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
ESS: Employee Self-Service - Employee Self-Service is a module in ServiceNow that allows users to make requests,
view articles, log incidents, and search the knowledge base through a user-friendly website called the Employee
Self-Service Portal (ESS Portal).
ESX: VMware ESX Server [14] - The ESX Server software is offered by VMware to partition a single hardware
server into multiple logical servers. These servers can be accessed by Discovery and automated with the
Orchestration VMware Support plugin.
EVM: ManageIQ Enterprise Virtual Management Suite - EVM is a management tool offered by ManageIQ to
manage and administer virtualized devices over a network. ServiceNow supports bidirectional compatibility with
EVM through the EVM plugin.

Glossary of Acronyms

F
FSA: Field Service Agent - A field service agent is an employee or contracted worker that operates primarily away
from the main office managing offsite tasks, often working at client locales. ServiceNow supports managing field
service agents through Field Service Management.

G
GUID: Globally Unique ID - A GUID is a unique, 32-character identifier called a sys_id that is used to identify each
record in ServiceNow.

H
HBA: Host Bus Adapter - HBA connects a host system to other network and storage devices.
HPUX: Hewlett-Packard UniX [15] - HPUX is a proprietary UNIX operating system owned by Hewlett-Packard that
can be accessed by Discovery.

I
IANA: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
among other internet standards.

[16]

- IANA is the governing body that manages IP address allocation

ICS: iCalendar - ICS or .ics is a standard format for sharing calendar data via the web.
IIS: Internet Information Services [17] - IIS is an extremely common web server software offered by Microsoft and
supported by the Discovery application.
ITAM: Information Technology Asset Management - Information Technology Asset Management is the set of
business practices that join financial, contractual, and inventory functions to support life cycle management and
strategic decision making for the IT environment. Assets include all elements of software and hardware that are
found in the business environment. Asset management is a key component in the ServiceNow platform.
ITIL: Information Technology Infrastructure Library - The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an integrated,
process-based, best practice framework for managing IT services. It provides guidance for creating and operating a
service desk that provides efficient communication between the user community and the IT provider.

J
J2EE: Java Platform, Enterprise Edition [18] - J2EE is the former name of the Java platform for server programming.
It is now known as Java EE.
J2JS: Java to JavaScript - The J2JS script include allows you to convert Java objects to JavaScript objects.
JDBC: Java Database Connectivity [19] - JDBC defines how Java based clients can access a database. This is utilized
in ServiceNow by the MID Server plugin.
JSON: JavaScript Object Notation [20] - JSON is a data-exchange language built to be simple for both human and
machine use. ServiceNow utilizes this language through the JSON Web Service.

Glossary of Acronyms

K
KB: Knowledge Base - The knowledge base is a tool that allows the storage and publishing of any information, such
as desktop support information, company and department processes or procedures, or documentation on internally
developed applications.
KPI: Key Performance Indicators - Key performance indicators are quantifiable measurements that reflect the
agreed upon important success factors of an organization. For example, key performance indicators for incidents in
an IT organization could be the number of escalations and incident resolution time.

L
LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - LDAP is a protocol used to access and modify sets of records
remotely. ServiceNow can access but not modify an organization's internal directory services to streamline login and
administrative processes.
LSNCTRL: Oracle Listener Control [21] - LSNCTRL allows Oracle's Listener application to access remote
databases. Discovery uses LSNCTRL to retrieve version information on Oracle servers.

M
MAC: Media Access Control
stored via hardware memory.

[22]

- A MAC address is a unique identifier of a particular networked device usually

MAM: Mercury Application Mapping - MAM is a software tool offered by Hewlett-Packard to identify relationships
between software and system resources. This tool can be integrated with Discovery along with other similar
software.
MIB: Management Information Base [23] - MIB is a hierarchal database which holds records of objects within a
network and is often associated with SNMP. Discovery uses MIBs to gather information on various systems.
MID: Management, Instrumentation, and Discovery - The Management, Instrumentation, and Discovery (MID)
Server is a Java server that runs as a Windows service or UNIX daemon. The MID Server facilitates communication
and movement of data between the ServiceNow platform and external applications, data sources, and services.
MIIS: Microsoft Identity Integration Server
data and to facilitate asset management.

[24]

- MIIS is software offered by Microsoft to aggregate a spectrum of

MSP: Managed Services Provider - A managed services provider is an external provider of specific services.
ServiceNow provides managed IT services.
MSSQL: Microsoft Structured Query Language [25] - MSSQL is a server system offered by Microsoft running SQL.

N
NBT: NetBIOS over TCP/IP [26] - NBT allows older devices that do not natively network over TCP/IP to connect via
newer networks.
NOC: Network Operations Center - A network operations center is the location from which a communications
network is administered and operated.

O
ODBC: Open Database Connectivity - The ServiceNow ODBC driver (compliant to version 3.52 of the Microsoft
ODBC specification) allows any ODBC client to connect to the ServiceNow platform for reporting. The ServiceNow
ODBC driver uses the ServiceNow Web Services support for a query-only interface.

Glossary of Acronyms
OID: Object Identifier - An OID is an object identifier (called a System OID in Discovery) that is required
identification on any SNMP device. Some devices provide a unique OID that Discovery can use to identify the
device. Other OIDs are not unique and are useless for establishing the identity of a device. ServiceNow provides a
list of over 400 unique OIDs.
OLAP: Online Analytical Processing - OLAP analysis is a method of data analysis for reporting that uses cubes.
OLAP was deprecated in favor of pivot tables.
OOB: Out Of the Box - Out of the box software is software as it is provided immediately upon activation.
OU: Organizational Unit - An organizational unit is a division of data that allows for differentiation between
similarly named objects and allows uniform changes across all data in a particular OU.

P
PaaS: Platform as a Service - PaaS is the extension of SaaS beyond simply software to offer an entire business
platform solution. ServiceNow offers customizability and expandability to ensure client platform needs are met.
PPM: Project Portfolio Management - PPM groups related projects and configures progress data for presentation.

R
RFC: Request for Change - A Request for Change is a request to modify a particular system either to improve
functionality or fix problems. This is encompassed by the ITIL framework and is implemented in ServiceNow via
ITIL Change Management.
Also Request for Comments [27] - A publication of internet discourse and standards for review and mediation.
RMA: Return Material Authorization - An RMA is a request to return a product to the vendor, usually for
replacement or refund. RMAs can be tracked through ServiceNow via inventory management.
ROI: Return on Investment - ROI is a measure of the profitability of an initial capital investment.
RPM: Red Hat Package Manager [28] - RPM is a free, expandable package manager originally distributed by Red
Hat and included in a number of Linux distributions.
RSS: Really Simple Syndication [29] - RSS is a common method for publishing and tracking publication of regularly
or frequently updated material.

S
SAP: Systems, Applications, and Products - SAP is both enterprise planning software and the company that provides
it. ServiceNow can integrate and communicate with SAP software.
SaaS: Software as a Service - SaaS provides software as a service rather than as an end product. Instead of local
network or individual software installations, software is hosted on a remote machine and accessed as needed.
ServiceNow provides software in this format.
SAML: Security Assertion Markup Language - SAML is an XML-based standard for exchanging authentication and
authorization data between security domains, that is, between an identity provider (a producer of assertions) and a
service provider (a consumer of assertions). SAML is a product of the OASIS Security Services Technical
Committee. ServiceNow has created a plugin that enables a ServiceNow instance to accept SAML 1.1 or 2.0
responses.
SCCM: System Center Configuration Manager - SCCM is software offered by Microsoft for large scale computer
management. This software is compatible with ServiceNow through the Microsoft SMS/SCCM Integration 2.0
plugin.

Glossary of Acronyms
SCOM: Systems Center Operations Manager - SOCM is Microsoft server software for cross-platform data center
management.
SCP: Secure Copy Protocol - SCP is a secure transfer protocol used to manage files remotely via SSH.
SLA: Service Level Agreement - Within ServiceNow, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a defined rule that
measures the elapsed time of an open task. After a set period of time, the SLA promotes the open task to an
escalation level, from Normal to Moderate, Moderate to High, and High to Overdue.
SMS: Short Message Service - In ServiceNow, SMS is the text communication service component of phone, web, or
mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text
messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices.
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol [30] - SNMP is a standard protocol used to manage a variety of
device IP addresses across a network. SNMP protocol is used in Discovery to explore network devices such as
routers and switches.
SOA: Service-Oriented Architecture - Service-Oriented Architecture is a software design methodology focused on
delivering interoperable and modular applications which provide a specific service.
SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol - SOAP is a basic protocol for transferring structured messages, such as those
produced by WSDL, across a network.
SOX: Simple Outline XML - SOX is an alternative XML writing style meant to simplify and shorten XML code.
SQL: Structured Query Language [31] - SQL is the most common language used in relational database servers.
SQLDMO: SQL Database Management Objects - SQL database management objects are COM objects used in
programming Microsoft SQL server.
SSH: Secure Shell [32] - Secure shell is a remote shell capable of protecting sensitive data, such as password
information, sent over an unsecured network. The SSH protocol is used in Discovery to explore UNIX devices such
as Solaris, Linux, and Mac computers.
SSL: Secure Sockets Layer [33] - SSL is a standard encryption method used to secure internet communication.
SSO: Single Sign-On - Single sign-on is a method of access control that enables a user to log in once and gain access
to the resources of multiple software systems without being prompted to log in again. After logging in to their
company portal page, end users are pre-authenticated on their ServiceNow instance.

T
TCP: Transmission Control Protocol [34] - TCP is one of the major protocols used to establish and maintain
communication between systems over a network. TCP is ubiquitous in most modern networks.
TCO: Total Cost of Ownership - The total cost of ownership is the entire estimated cost of a purchase. This
encompasses initial and future costs such as maintenance and upgrades.
TLS: Transport Layer Security - TLS is encrypted email communication between mail servers. In ServiceNow, TLS
encrypts the communication between the ServiceNow mail server and the customers remote mail server. No
certificate exchange or validation is done. ServiceNow can both send and receive email via TLS.

Glossary of Acronyms

U
UAC: User Account Control [35] - UAC is a security feature to restrict privileges granted to software to that of a user
unless specifically promoted to administrator. This feature is included in modern Microsoft Windows operating
systems and can affect the behavior of the MID Server.
UPS: Uninterruptible Power Supply - A UPS is a backup power source that supplies short-term power to critical
resources if the primary power source fails.

V
VLAN: Virtual Local Area Network [36] - A VLAN is an artificially created network with the properties of a local
area network yet not necessarily sharing the same physical domain.
VM: Virtual Machine [37] - A virtual machine is an emulated system running within another operating system. This
can be used to test software under varied conditions or to run software that would not normally be usable on a
particular machine.
VPN: Virtual Private Network - A VPN is a network that transmits encoded data over the public internet to simulate
a local network. This network can connect individuals together or connect an individual to a larger network such as a
remote user accessing a central corporate network.

W
WMI: Windows Management Instrumentation - WMI is one of the major protocols used by Discovery to access
systems running Windows operating systems.
WSDL: Web Services Description Language - WSDL is a language based on XML to describe and access web
services. It is utilized alongside SOAP to facilitate remote software usage such as with ServiceNow.
WWPN: World Wide Port Name - WWPN is a World Wide Name assigned to a port in a Fibre Channel fabric in
storage area networks (SAN).

References
[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Triple_DES
[2] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ IBM_AIX
[3] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Application_service_provider
[4] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Border_Gateway_Protocol
[5] http:/ / www. redkestrel. co. uk/ Articles/ CSR. html#anchor-whats-in-a-csr
[6] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Comma-separated_values
[7] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Concurrent_Versions_System
[8] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Distributed_Component_Object_Model
[9] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Dhcp
[10] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Dynamic_HTML
[11] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Domain_Name_System
[12] http:/ / www. w3. org/ DOM/
[13] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ec2/
[14] http:/ / www. vmware. com/ pdf/ vmserver2. pdf
[15] http:/ / www. hp. com/ go/ hpux/
[16] http:/ / www. iana. org/
[17] http:/ / www. iis. net/
[18] http:/ / download. oracle. com/ javaee/
[19] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Java_Database_Connectivity
[20] http:/ / www. json. org/
[21] http:/ / www. oracleutilities. com/ OSUtil/ listener. html
[22] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ MAC_address
[23] http:/ / tools. ietf. org/ html/ rfc1155

Glossary of Acronyms
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]

http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Microsoft_Identity_Integration_Server

http:/ / www. microsoft. com/ sqlserver/ en/ us/ default. aspx
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ NetBIOS_over_TCP/ IP
http:/ / www. rfc-editor. org/
http:/ / www. rpm. org/
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Rss
http:/ / tools. ietf. org/ html/ rfc3411
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Structured_Query_Language
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Secure_Shell
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Secure_Sockets_Layer
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Transmission_Control_Protocol
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ User_Account_Control
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Vlan
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Virtual_machine

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Glossary of Acronyms Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Glossary_of_Acronyms Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Emily.partridge, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steve.wood,
Suzanne.smith, Vaughn.romero