In
telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
, out-of-band activity is activity outside a defined
frequency band
Spectral bands are regions of a given spectrum, having a specific range of wavelengths or frequencies. Most often, it refers to electromagnetic bands, regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
More generally, spectral bands may also be means in ...
, or, metaphorically, outside of any primary
communication channel
A communication channel refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel in telecommunications and computer networking. A channel is used for infor ...
. Protection from
falsing
In telecommunications, falsing is a signaling error condition when a signal decoder detects a valid input although the implied protocol function was not intended. This is also known as a false decode. Other forms are referred to as talk-off.
Sig ...
is among its purposes.
Examples
General usage
*
Out-of-band agreement, an agreement or understanding between the communicating parties that is not included in any message sent over the channel but which is relevant for the interpretation of such messages
* More broadly, communication by any channel other than the primary channel can be considered "out-of-band". For example, given a
website
A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
's primary communication method is the
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
, out-of-band communication may be an
SMS message or even
beeps produced by a
speaker on the
server itself.
Telecommunications
*
Out-of-band signaling
In telecommunications, signaling is the use of signals for controlling communications. This may constitute an information exchange concerning the establishment and control of a telecommunication circuit and the management of the network.
Classi ...
, the exchange of call control information in a separate band from the data or voice stream, or on an entirely separate, dedicated channel
Computing
*
Out-of-band data
In computer networking, out-of-band data is the data transferred through a stream that is independent from the main ''in-band'' data stream. An out-of-band data mechanism provides a conceptually independent channel, which allows any data sent via t ...
, in computer networking, a separate stream of data from the main data stream
*
Out-of-band management
In systems management, out-of-band management (OOB; also lights-out management or LOM) is a process for accessing and managing devices and infrastructure at remote locations through a separate management plane from the production network. OOB all ...
, in computer administration, system console access, even in the event of primary network subsystem failure
*
Out-of-band authentication, user authentication over a network or channel separate from the primary network or channel; used in
multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA; two-factor authentication, or 2FA) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more distinct types of evidence ...
* Out-of-band
software documentation
Software documentation is written text or illustration that accompanies computer software or is embedded in the source code. The documentation either explains how the software operates or how to use it, and may mean different things to people in ...
, documentation that is not provided together with the software it documents. This contrasts with
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
and
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...
systems, for example, where software is documented through the means of ''
on-line
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on li ...
'' (meaning ''
'on a main computer'
'', not ''
'over the internet)
man page
A man page (short for manual page) is a form of software documentation found on Unix and Unix-like operating systems. Topics covered include programs, system libraries, system calls, and sometimes local system details. The local host administr ...
s provided as a component of the
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
.
[
* ] Out-of-band documentation, whether on
web page
A web page (or webpage) is a World Wide Web, Web document that is accessed in a web browser. A website typically consists of many web pages hyperlink, linked together under a common domain name. The term "web page" is therefore a metaphor of pap ...
s or in printed form, can suffer from a mismatch regarding the version and the exact set of features that are being documented.
See also
*
In-band signaling
In telecommunications, in-band signaling is the sending of control information within the same band or channel used for data such as voice or video. This is in contrast to out-of-band signaling which is sent over a different channel, or even o ...
*
Ident protocol
References
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