DCE

An industry standard software technology for setting up and managing computing and data exchange in a system of distributed computers. DCE is typically used in a large client/server network of computing systems that include servers of different sizes, scattered geographically.

With DCE, application users can share applications and data at remote servers. Application programmers don't need to be aware of where their programs will run or where the data will be located. DCE was developed by the Open Software Foundation (OSF). DCE can also refer to "Data Communication Equipment," which has to do with the interface that a modem (or other device) uses to exchange data with a computer.