Glossary
Quick definitions for the platform-level terms you'll encounter in Conncentric.
Protocol-specific terms (FIX sessions, Kafka topics, SenderCompID, and the like) are defined in the Official Plugins documentation, since each protocol is delivered as a plugin. This page covers the concepts that apply to every adapter regardless of protocol.
Adapter
The core unit in Conncentric. An adapter is one live connection. It defines what to connect to, what to do with messages, and where to send them. You create, enable, and monitor adapters through the Portal.
See: Adapters Overview
Admin State
Your on/off control for an adapter. Set it to enabled to tell the platform to run the adapter, or disabled to tell it to stop. Different from Status, which is what is actually happening right now.
See also: Status
Artifact
A non-sensitive reference file stored and managed by the platform, such as a data dictionary or custom schema definition. You upload artifacts once and reference them by name in adapter configurations. Updating an artifact updates it for all adapters that reference it.
See: Artifacts
Provisioning
A status meaning the platform is placing the adapter on a server and starting it, but the connection is not established yet. An adapter in Provisioning normally moves to Running on its own. If it stays in Provisioning, check the event log for the underlying connection error.
See also: Status
Condition
See Filter.
Connector
The component that connects an adapter's pipeline to an external system. Each adapter has one connector. The protocol specifics (how it connects and what it speaks) come from the plugin that provides the connector type, so the available connector types depend on which plugins are installed.
See also: Plugin
Deployment Mode
How an adapter is deployed across pods, set when you create it. Two options:
- Single Writer: one pod serves the connection at a time. Run two or more pods so a standby can claim the connection when the active pod fails.
- Scale Out: several pods serve the connection concurrently, sharing the work.
See: Adapters Overview → Deployment modes
Event Log
The timestamped record of everything that has happened on an adapter: connections, operator commands, errors, and disconnections. Reachable from the Operational Console for each adapter through a link to the Global Event Log.
Filter
A pipeline component that decides whether a message should continue through the pipeline. A message that fails a route's filter falls through to the next route; it is discarded only if no route claims it. Also called a Condition in some contexts.
See: Pipeline Designer
IaC bundle
An exported package of platform configuration (adapters, artifacts, and their settings) that an administrator applies to the platform to provision or restore setups reproducibly. "IaC" stands for Infrastructure as Code. Re-applying a bundle recreates the same adapters, which is why exporting important connections is worthwhile. Configuration made only through the Portal, with no export, is not covered by a bundle.
Logical ID
A machine-readable identifier for an adapter or configuration, like a filename for your setup. Used by the API and IaC tooling. Auto-generated from the display name when you create an adapter but can be customized. Example: nyse-equities-inbound.
Message Log
A record of the individual messages an adapter has processed, as opposed to the Event Log, which records operational events (connections, operator commands, errors). A message log is not a universal platform feature: it exists only for adapters whose connector plugin keeps one, and it is reachable from the adapter detail page when the plugin provides it. Whether message content is retained at all depends on the plugins in use.
See also: Event Log, and the Official Plugins documentation for which connectors keep a message log.
OIDC
OpenID Connect, the standard the Portal uses to sign users in against an external identity provider. When you open the Portal you are redirected to your organization's identity provider to log in, and it returns you to Conncentric once authenticated. Every authenticated user has full Portal access; who may sign in is controlled at the identity provider, not inside the Portal.
Status
The live state of an adapter as reported by the platform, shown in the Portal as Operational Status. Common values:
- Running: active and healthy, processing messages
- Provisioning: starting up, on its way to Running
- Standby: enabled and waiting for the primary lease, because another instance currently holds the connection. Normal for a redundant Single Writer configuration
- Degraded: running but reporting warnings
- Error: running but reported an unhealthy state. Check the event log
- Inactive: not running. Expected while Admin State is disabled. While Admin State is enabled it is a fault: it means no adapter server has capacity to run the adapter
Different from Admin State, which is what you set.
See also: Admin State
Pipeline
The set of rules that runs on every message passing through an adapter: filtering, transforming, and routing messages from source to destination. Configured in the Pipeline Designer within the adapter setup wizard.
See: Pipeline Designer
Plugin
A module installed on the platform that provides connector types and pipeline components. Each protocol the platform speaks is delivered as a plugin, so the connector types and components you can choose from depend on which plugins your administrator has installed.
See: Plugins
Portal
The web interface for Conncentric, where you create and monitor adapters, manage artifacts, and view system status. Accessible in your browser.
Processor
A pipeline component that takes an action on a message (such as logging it, looking up additional data, or routing it to a secondary destination) without necessarily changing the message itself.
See: Pipeline Designer → Processors
Restart
An operator action on the Adapters list that stops a running instance and lets the platform start it again, without changing its configuration. Use it when the connection is stuck but the configuration is correct. It restarts the instance, not the configuration, so it will not fix a configuration problem; use Edit for that.
See: Monitoring
Route
A named pipeline within an adapter. Each route has its own filter, transforms, and destination. Adapters that handle multiple message types, sending different message types to different destinations, use multiple routes.
See: Pipeline Designer → Routes
Transformer
A pipeline component that modifies a message: renaming a field, changing a value, converting a format, or adding information. Transformers are applied in the order you set them.
See: Pipeline Designer → Transforms
TLS / SSL
Encryption for network connections. Some venues require encrypted connections. TLS termination is configured at the load balancer or network layer by your infrastructure team.
See: Security