1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

Active Directory: The Windows implementation of a general-purpose directory service, which uses LDAP as its primary access protocol. Active Directory stores information about a variety of objects in the network such as user accounts, computer accounts, groups, and all related credential information used by Kerberos [MS-KILE]. Active Directory is either deployed as Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) or Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), which are both described in [MS-ADOD]: Active Directory Protocols Overview.

address book: A collection of Address Book objects, each of which are contained in any number of address lists.

authentication: The act of proving an identity to a server while providing key material that binds the identity to subsequent communications.

Autodiscover client: A client that queries for a set of server locations where setup and configuration information for an [RFC2821]-compliant email address is stored.

Autodiscover server: A server in a managed environment that makes setup and configuration information available to Autodiscover clients. The location of Autodiscover servers is made available via the Autodiscover HTTP Service Protocol, as described in [MS-OXDISCO].

calendar: A date range that shows availability, meetings, and appointments for one or more users or resources. See also Calendar object.

contact: A person, company, or other entity that is stored in a directory and is associated with one or more unique identifiers and attributes, such as an Internet message address or login name.

Contacts folder: A Folder object that contains Contact objects.

display name: A text string that is used to identify a principal or other object in the user interface. Also referred to as title.

distinguished name (DN): In the Active Directory directory service, the unique identifier of an object in Active Directory, as described in [MS-ADTS] and [RFC2251].

domain: A set of users and computers sharing a common namespace and management infrastructure. At least one computer member of the set has to act as a domain controller (DC) and host a member list that identifies all members of the domain, as well as optionally hosting the Active Directory service. The domain controller provides authentication of members, creating a unit of trust for its members. Each domain has an identifier that is shared among its members. For more information, see [MS-AUTHSOD] section 1.1.1.5 and [MS-ADTS].

Domain Name System (DNS): A hierarchical, distributed database that contains mappings of domain names to various types of data, such as IP addresses. DNS enables the location of computers and services by user-friendly names, and it also enables the discovery of other information stored in the database.

email address: A string that identifies a user and enables the user to receive Internet messages.

endpoint: A communication port that is exposed by an application server for a specific shared service and to which messages can be addressed.

enterprise/site/server distinguished name (ESSDN): An X500 DN that identifies an entry in an abstract naming scheme that is separate from an address book. The naming scheme defines enterprises, which contain sites, and sites contain servers and users. There is no concrete data structure that embodies an ESSDN. Instead, an address book entry can contain an ESSDN as a property of the entry.

Exchange Control Panel (ECP): A feature that enables end users to manage server options without the assistance of an administrator.

fully qualified domain name (FQDN): In Active Directory, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that identifies a domain.

Global Address List (GAL): An address list that conceptually represents the default address list for an address book.

globally unique identifier (GUID): A term used interchangeably with universally unique identifier (UUID) in Microsoft protocol technical documents (TDs). Interchanging the usage of these terms does not imply or require a specific algorithm or mechanism to generate the value. Specifically, the use of this term does not imply or require that the algorithms described in [RFC4122] or [C706] must be used for generating the GUID. See also universally unique identifier (UUID).

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): An application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS): An extension of HTTP that securely encrypts and decrypts web page requests. In some older protocols, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Sockets Layer" is still used (Secure Sockets Layer has been deprecated). For more information, see [SSL3] and [RFC5246].

Internet Message Access Protocol - Version 4 (IMAP4): A protocol that is used for accessing email and news items from mail servers, as described in [RFC3501].

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP): The primary access protocol for Active Directory. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an industry-standard protocol, established by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which allows users to query and update information in a directory service (DS), as described in [MS-ADTS]. The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol can be either version 2 [RFC1777] or version 3 [RFC3377].

mailbox: A message store that contains email, calendar items, and other Message objects for a single recipient.

message store: A unit of containment for a single hierarchy of Folder objects, such as a mailbox or public folders.

offline address book (OAB): A collection of address lists that are stored in a format that a client can save and use locally.

Out of Office (OOF): One of the possible values for the free/busy status on an appointment. It indicates that the user will not be in the office during the appointment.

Post Office Protocol - Version 3 (POP3): A protocol that is used for accessing email from mail servers, as described in [RFC1939].

public folder: A Folder object that is stored in a location that is publicly available.

remote procedure call (RPC): A communication protocol used primarily between client and server. The term has three definitions that are often used interchangeably: a runtime environment providing for communication facilities between computers (the RPC runtime); a set of request-and-response message exchanges between computers (the RPC exchange); and the single message from an RPC exchange (the RPC message).  For more information, see [C706].

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): A security protocol that supports confidentiality and integrity of messages in client and server applications that communicate over open networks. SSL supports server and, optionally, client authentication using X.509 certificates [X509] and [RFC5280]. SSL is superseded by Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS version 1.0 is based on SSL version 3.0 [SSL3].

Short Message Service (SMS): A communications protocol that is designed for sending text messages between mobile phones.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP): A member of the TCP/IP suite of protocols that is used to transport Internet messages, as described in [RFC5321].

site mailbox: A repository comprised of a mailbox and a web-based collaboration environment that is presented to users as a mailbox in an email client. A site mailbox uses team membership to determine which users have access to the repository.

Transport Layer Security (TLS): A security protocol that supports confidentiality and integrity of messages in client and server applications communicating over open networks. TLS supports server and, optionally, client authentication by using X.509 certificates (as specified in [X509]). TLS is standardized in the IETF TLS working group.

Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): A string that identifies a resource. The URI is an addressing mechanism defined in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax [RFC3986].

Uniform Resource Locator (URL): A string of characters in a standardized format that identifies a document or resource on the World Wide Web. The format is as specified in [RFC1738].

web server: A server computer that hosts websites and responds to requests from applications.

web service: A unit of application logic that provides data and services to other applications and can be called by using standard Internet transport protocols such as HTTP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Web services can perform functions that range from simple requests to complicated business processes.

XML: The Extensible Markup Language, as described in [XML1.0].

XML namespace: A collection of names that is used to identify elements, types, and attributes in XML documents identified in a URI reference [RFC3986]. A combination of XML namespace and local name allows XML documents to use elements, types, and attributes that have the same names but come from different sources. For more information, see [XMLNS-2ED].

XML schema definition (XSD): The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard language that is used in defining XML schemas. Schemas are useful for enforcing structure and constraining the types of data that can be used validly within other XML documents. XML schema definition refers to the fully specified and currently recommended standard for use in authoring XML schemas.

MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.