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Glossary

Common terms and acronyms used in Mailborder documentation.

A

Active Directory (AD) Microsoft's directory service for user authentication and management in Windows domains.

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) Symmetric encryption algorithm used for securing data.

Alpine.js Lightweight JavaScript framework used for Mailborder's web interface.

Antivirus (AV) Software that detects and removes viruses and malware.

API (Application Programming Interface) Interface for programmatic access to Mailborder functions.

APT (Advanced Package Tool) Debian/Ubuntu package management system.

Argon2id Modern password hashing algorithm used by Mailborder.

B

Bayesian Filter Statistical spam filter that learns from examples.

Blacklist List of senders or IPs that are always blocked.

Bounce Email returned to sender due to delivery failure.

C

Cipher Suite Set of cryptographic algorithms for TLS/SSL connections.

ClamAV Open-source antivirus engine used by Mailborder.

CLI (Command-Line Interface) Text-based interface for system administration.

Clustering Multiple Mailborder servers working together for capacity/redundancy.

Content Filter System that analyzes email content for spam indicators.

CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) Web security attack prevented by tokens.

CSP (Content Security Policy) HTTP header that prevents XSS attacks.

D

Daemon Background service process (e.g., mb-filter, mb-rpcd).

Deferred Email temporarily delayed due to delivery failure.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) Email authentication using cryptographic signatures.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) Email authentication policy using SPF and DKIM.

DNS (Domain Name System) System that translates domain names to IP addresses.

DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions) Security extensions to DNS protocol.

E

EICAR Test file recognized by all antivirus software as a virus.

EHLO/HELO SMTP greeting commands.

Encryption Converting data into unreadable format for security.

F

Fail2ban Security tool that blocks IPs with suspicious activity.

False Negative Spam email incorrectly marked as legitimate.

False Positive Legitimate email incorrectly marked as spam.

FIDO2 Standard for passwordless authentication (passkeys).

Fingerprint (Session) Unique identifier for user session based on IP and User-Agent.

Fork Creating a child process copy.

FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) Complete domain name (e.g., mailborder.example.com).

Freshclam ClamAV signature update tool.

G

GeoIP Technology for determining geographic location from IP address.

GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) Encryption tool for signing and encrypting data.

Greylisting Temporarily rejecting email from unknown senders.

H

Hash Fixed-size output from cryptographic function.

HELO/EHLO SMTP greeting commands.

HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) Security policy forcing HTTPS connections.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Protocol for web communication.

HTTPS (HTTP Secure) HTTP over TLS/SSL encryption.

I

i18n (Internationalization) Support for multiple languages.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) Protocol for accessing email on server.

Incremental Backup Backup of only changed data since last backup.

IP Address Numerical address identifying device on network.

J

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) Data interchange format.

K

Keychain Secure storage for passwords and certificates.

L

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) Protocol for directory services like Active Directory.

Let's Encrypt Free automated certificate authority.

Load Balancing Distributing work across multiple servers.

Localhost The local computer (127.0.0.1).

M

Mailbox User's email storage.

Malware Malicious software (viruses, trojans, ransomware).

MariaDB MySQL-compatible database system.

Metadata Data about data (e.g., email headers, timestamps).

MFA/2FA (Multi-Factor/Two-Factor Authentication) Authentication requiring multiple verification methods.

Milter Postfix policy daemon interface.

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Standard for email content types.

MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) Software that transfers email (e.g., Postfix).

MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) Maximum packet size for network.

MX Record DNS record specifying mail server for domain.

N

Nginx Web server software used by Mailborder.

NTP (Network Time Protocol) Protocol for time synchronization.

O

OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) Protocol for checking certificate validity.

OOM (Out of Memory) System ran out of RAM.

Open Relay Mail server that forwards email for anyone (security risk).

P

Passkey Passwordless authentication using biometrics or security keys.

PDO (PHP Data Objects) Database access layer for PHP.

Phishing Fraudulent email attempting to steal credentials.

PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) PHP execution environment.

PID (Process ID) Unique number identifying running process.

Policy Rules determining email handling.

POP3 (Post Office Protocol) Protocol for retrieving email from server.

Postfix Mail transfer agent (MTA) used by Mailborder.

PTR Record Reverse DNS record (IP to hostname).

Q

Quarantine Holding area for suspicious emails.

Queue Temporary storage for emails awaiting delivery.

R

RBL (Real-time Blacklist) DNS-based blacklist of spam sources.

RCPT TO SMTP command specifying recipient.

Redis In-memory database used for caching.

Regex (Regular Expression) Pattern for matching text.

Relay Host Mail server that Mailborder delivers clean email to.

Reverse DNS Lookup from IP address to hostname.

RFC (Request for Comments) Internet standards documents.

RPC (Remote Procedure Call) Method for inter-process communication.

Rspamd Advanced spam filtering engine.

RSA Public-key cryptography algorithm.

S

SameSite Cookie attribute preventing CSRF.

Signature (Antivirus) Pattern identifying known virus.

Signature (DKIM) Cryptographic signature verifying email sender.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Protocol for sending email.

SMTPS SMTP over SSL (deprecated, use STARTTLS).

Socket Communication endpoint (Unix or TCP).

Spam Unsolicited bulk email.

SpamAssassin Rule-based spam filter.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) Email authentication via DNS.

SQL (Structured Query Language) Database query language.

SSH (Secure Shell) Encrypted remote access protocol.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Deprecated name for TLS.

STARTTLS Command to upgrade connection to TLS.

SystemD Linux init system and service manager.

T

Tabler Admin dashboard theme used by Mailborder.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) Reliable connection-oriented network protocol.

TLS (Transport Layer Security) Encryption protocol for network communications.

TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) 2FA algorithm used by authenticator apps.

TTL (Time To Live) Duration data remains valid (caching, DNS).

U

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) Connectionless network protocol.

Unix Socket Local inter-process communication channel.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) Web address.

User-Agent Software identifier in HTTP requests.

V

Verdict Decision on email (pass, quarantine, reject).

Virtual Host (vhost) Multiple websites on one server.

Virus Malicious program that self-replicates.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) Encrypted network tunnel.

W

WebAuthn Web standard for passwordless authentication.

Whitelist List of senders or IPs that are always allowed.

WordPress-style Metadata Key-value storage pattern for user preferences.

X

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) Web security vulnerability.

Y

YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) Human-readable configuration format.

YubiKey Hardware security key for authentication.

Z

Zero-day Previously unknown security vulnerability.

Common Abbreviations

  • AV - Antivirus
  • DB - Database
  • DNS - Domain Name System
  • GB - Gigabyte
  • HTTP/HTTPS - Web protocols
  • IP - Internet Protocol
  • MB - Megabyte
  • MX - Mail Exchange (DNS record)
  • RAM - Random Access Memory
  • SMTP - Email transfer protocol
  • SQL - Database query language
  • SSL/TLS - Encryption protocols
  • VM - Virtual Machine
  • VPN - Virtual Private Network

See Also