>>Hi,
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>>I am trying to find correct technical term to describe the following. I want to tell the customer that certain group of users should be "connected" to a certain server when they log into their PCs. The only word I can think of is "connected" but it does not sound enough technical to me.
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>It depends a little on the type of server.
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>If it's a conventional file server or domain controller, and you need to be logged on to it to access its files or other resources of it or its domain, you could say "logged on to" or "authenticated on". Relatedly, the users and/or workstations may need to be "members of the domain" i.e. with user and/or machine accounts.
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>If it's a standalone server such as a dedicated database server:
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>- the server must be "visible" or "reachable" from the workstations i.e. on the same network subnet, or a routable subnet, and not blocked by a firewall
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>- the users must be granted sufficient permissions on the DB server to be able to perform their tasks
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>"Connected" is not a bad generic term; most people will "get" what you mean in the context of their own environment. But, strictly speaking, it can be a little imprecise:
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>- it's possible to design a client/server app so that, most of the time, workstations are not connected to the DB server. They connect only momentarily, when they need to run a query, then disconnect immediately when finished. A user running such an app might run it all day, but only be actually connected to the back end for a few minutes.
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>- similarly, many people would say they're "connected to the Web". But, in a browsing session your browser only connects to the remote (Internet) server(s) when needed, then break down the connections when finished. If you browse for an hour you may be connected to remote server(s) only for a few minutes of that time. Most of the time, you're not actually "connected".

I think the "subnet" is probably what I was looking for. But I am not sure it would sound right to the customer. So I used "connected" in my correspondence to them. Thank you for your helpful message.