Skip to main content

Glossary

Quick definitions for every term you'll encounter in Conncentric.

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

Administrative 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 Operational Status, which is what's actually happening right now.

See also: Operational Status

Artifact​

A non-sensitive reference file stored and managed by the platform, such as a FIX 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

Claiming​

An operational status meaning the platform has started trying to establish a connection but hasn't succeeded yet. An adapter in Claiming state should move to Active within a few seconds. If it stays in Claiming for more than a minute, check the event log.

See also: Operational Status

Condition​

See Filter.

Connector​

The component inside an adapter that handles the actual protocol connection, the part that speaks FIX or reads from Kafka. Each adapter has one connector. The available connector types depend on which plugins are installed.

See also: FIX Initiator, FIX Acceptor

Data Dictionary​

A file (usually XML) that describes the custom fields and message types a specific FIX venue uses. Some venues extend the standard FIX format with proprietary fields. Upload the venue's data dictionary as an artifact and reference it in the connector settings.

Deployment Mode​

How many copies of an adapter run simultaneously. Options:

  • Single: one copy, no backup
  • Active / Passive: one active, one or more standbys ready to take over
  • Active / Active: multiple copies sharing the work

See: Adapters Overview → Redundancy

Event Log​

The timestamped record of everything that has happened on an adapter session: connections, messages, errors, disconnections. Visible in the Operational Console for each adapter.

See: Monitoring → Event Log

FIX​

Financial Information eXchange, the industry-standard messaging protocol for trading. Used by most trading venues, brokers, and financial institutions to exchange orders, confirmations, and market data.

See: What Is FIX?

FIX Acceptor​

A FIX connection where your system listens and an external party connects inbound to you. You run the server; they connect to it.

See also: FIX Initiator

FIX Initiator​

A FIX connection where your system connects outbound to a venue or counterparty. You are the client; they run the server.

See also: FIX Acceptor

FIX Session​

A live, persistent connection between two FIX parties. Identified by a SenderCompID, TargetCompID, and FIX version. Once established, a session stays open and automatically reconnects if it drops.

See: What Is FIX?

Filter​

A pipeline component that decides whether a message should continue through the pipeline. Messages that don't pass the filter are silently discarded. Also called a Condition in some contexts.

See: Pipeline Designer

Heartbeat​

A regular keepalive message sent between FIX parties to confirm the connection is still alive. If heartbeats stop arriving, each side knows the connection may have dropped. Conncentric handles FIX heartbeats automatically.

Kafka​

A distributed message streaming platform widely used in financial systems. Conncentric can read messages from Kafka topics (Consumer) and write messages to Kafka topics (Producer).

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.

Operational Status​

The live state of an adapter as reported by the platform. Values:

  • Active: running and processing messages
  • Claiming: starting up
  • Inactive: not running
  • Error: failed, check the event log

Different from Administrative State, which is what you set.

See also: Administrative State

Orchestrator​

The backend service that stores all configuration, manages which adapter runs which session, and monitors health. You don't interact with it directly. The Portal talks to it on your behalf.

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. For example, the FIX plugin provides FIX Initiator and Acceptor connectors. Managed by your administrator.

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

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

SenderCompID​

Your firm's identifier on a specific FIX connection. Assigned to you by the venue when you sign up for connectivity. Every FIX message you send includes your SenderCompID so the venue knows who sent it.

See also: TargetCompID

Session​

See FIX Session.

TargetCompID​

The venue or counterparty's identifier on a FIX connection. Included in every message so both parties know who the message is addressed to.

See also: SenderCompID

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