Glossary

The following definitions apply to terms used in this document.

Blocking test

A test that must pass for the SUT to be granted a certified status.

BMC

Baseboard Management Controller – A device in many server models that enables remote in- and out-of-band management of hardware.

CSM

Compatibility Support Module – A feature of many UEFI implementations that enables the machine to boot using older BIOS-mode boot loaders.

DCPMM or NVDIMM

Intel Optane Datacenter Persistent Memory Module – A specialized RAM device introduced with Cascade Lake that can be configured to provide a block device that sits on the Memory Bus. Generically these are called NVDIMM or Non-Volatile Dual In-line Memory Module.

DHCP

Dynamic Host Control Protocol – A method for providing IP addresses to the SUT and Targets.

IPMI

Intelligent Platform Management Interface – A BMC technology for remotely connecting to a computer to perform management functions.

KVM (Meaning 1)

Kernel Virtual Machine – A system for running virtual machines on Ubuntu Server.

KVM (Meaning 2)

Keyboard/Video/Mouse – A device for sharing a keyboard, mouse, and monitor between multiple computers, sometimes over a network; or a BMC feature to enable remote access to a computer’s console.

LAN

Local Area Network – The network to which your SUT and Targets are connected. The LAN does not need to be Internet accessible (though that is preferable if possible).

MAAS

Metal as a Service – A Canonical product for provisioning systems quickly and easily.

Non-blocking test

A test that must be performed but will not affect the granting of a certified status.

PXE

Pre-boot Execution Environment – A technology that enables you to boot a computer using remote images for easy deployment or network-based installation.

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks - Multi-disk storage providing redundancy, parity checking, and data integrity.

SAN

Storage Area Network – Usually FibreChannel.

Secure ID (SID)

A string that uniquely identifies computers on the certification site, certification.canonical.com.

SUT

System Under Test – The machine you are testing for certification.

Target

A computer on the test LAN that the SUT can use for network testing. The Target must be running an iperf3 server, but otherwise does not need any special configuration. The MAAS server may double as the Target.

Test case

A test to be executed as part of the certification test suite. Test cases include things such as “stress test of system memory” and “test the CPU for clock jitter.”