Glossary

Key terms used throughout NetEdgeIQ University, explained without jargon.

A

Appliance

A physical or virtual device running the NetEdgeIQ edge agent at a site. The appliance does the actual network scanning, probing, and job execution on-premises, and reports back to the NetEdgeIQ cloud. Each appliance is enrolled to a specific organization and site.

Asset

Any network entity that NetEdgeIQ has discovered — a switch, router, firewall, server, workstation, printer, IP camera, etc. An asset starts as raw evidence (MAC address, IP address, hostname) and gains more detail as the system interacts with it. Once classified, an asset becomes a Device or a Client.

C

Capability

A way NetEdgeIQ can interact with an asset. The main capabilities are:

• SNMP — queries network data (interfaces, VLANs, neighbors, metrics)
• SSH — logs in over the command line for deeper inspection and configuration

A capability progresses through states as NetEdgeIQ learns more about the asset:

• Observed — a signal for this capability was detected
• Verified — the capability was confirmed to be active
• Authenticated — valid credentials were accepted

Change Request

A formal record of a planned configuration change to a device. Change requests go through an approval workflow before any action is taken on the device. Each change request gets a unique reference number in the format CHG-0001, CHG-0002, etc.

Client

An asset that has been classified as an endpoint — typically a workstation, laptop, phone, printer, or other end-user device. Compare to Device.

Credential

A stored set of access details used to authenticate to an asset. NetEdgeIQ supports:

• SNMP credentials — community string (v2c) or username/auth/priv (v3)
• SSH credentials — username with password or private key

Credentials are stored centrally and assigned to specific asset capabilities.

D

Device

An asset that has been classified as network infrastructure — typically a switch, router, firewall, or access point. Compare to Client.

Discovery

The automated background process by which NetEdgeIQ finds and learns about assets on the network. Discovery is carried out by the edge agent (appliance) and does not require manual input. Different discovery jobs collect different information: neighbors, subnet ARP tables, endpoint attachment points, metrics, and more.

J

Job

A unit of automated work dispatched to an appliance for execution — for example, probing a device, collecting metrics, or executing a governed change action. Most jobs are created automatically by the system. Approved change requests generate jobs for each structured change action.

O

Organization (Org)

The top-level tenant in NetEdgeIQ. A managed service provider typically has one organization per customer. Admins can operate across all organizations; regular users see only their own.

S

Site

A physical or logical location within an organization — for example, a data center, office floor, or branch. Sites have one or more appliances assigned to them. Assets and jobs are always associated with a site.

T

Ticket

A record used to track an issue, service request, or task associated with a device or network area. Tickets follow a lifecycle from open through triage and in_progress to closed. Each ticket gets a unique reference number in the format TKT-0001, TKT-0002, etc.