RFC1594

From RFC-Wiki

Network Working Group A. Marine Request for Comments: 1594 NASA NAIC FYI: 4 J. Reynolds Obsoletes: 1325 ISI Category: Informational G. Malkin

                                                            Xylogics
                                                          March 1994
                  FYI on Questions and Answers
    Answers to Commonly asked "New Internet User" Questions

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

This FYI RFC is one of two FYI's called, "Questions and Answers" (Q/A), produced by the User Services Working Group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The goal is to document the most commonly asked questions and answers in the Internet.

New Questions and Answers

In addition to updating information contained in the previous version of this FYI RFC, the following new questions have been added:

Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts:

 What is the InterNIC?

Questions About Internet Services:

 What is gopher?
 What is the World Wide Web?  What is Mosaic?
 How do I find out about other Internet resource discovery tools?

Introduction

New users joining the Internet community have the same questions as did everyone else who has ever joined. Our quest is to provide the Internet community with up to date, basic Internet knowledge and experience.

Future updates of this memo will be produced as User Services members become aware of additional questions that should be included, and of deficiencies or inaccuracies that should be amended in this document. Although the RFC number of this document will change with each update, it will always have the designation of FYI 4. An additional FYI Q/A, FYI 7, is published that deals with intermediate and advanced Q/A topics [11].

Acknowledgements

The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions to this FYI Q/A: Matti Aarnio (FUNET), Susan Calcari (InterNIC), Corinne Carroll (BBN), Vint Cerf (MCI), Peter Deutsch (Bunyip), Alan Emtage (Bunyip), John Klensin (UNU), Thomas Lenggenhager (Switch), Doug Mildram (Xylogics), Tracy LaQuey Parker (Cisco), Craig Partridge (BBN), Jon Postel (ISI), Matt Power (MIT), Karen Roubicek (BBN), Patricia Smith (Merit), Gene Spafford (Purdue), and Carol Ward (Sterling Software/NASA NAIC).

Questions About the Internet

3.1 What is the Internet?

  The Internet is a collection of thousands of networks linked by a
  common set of technical protocols which make it possible for users
  of any one of the networks to communicate with or use the services
  located on any of the other networks.  These protocols are
  referred to as TCP/IP or the TCP/IP protocol suite.  The Internet
  started with the ARPANET, but now includes such networks as the
  National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), the Australian
  Academic and Research Network (AARNet), the NASA Science Internet
  (NSI), the Swiss Academic and Research Network (SWITCH), and about
  10,000 other large and small, commercial and research, networks.
  There are other major wide area networks that are not based on the
  TCP/IP protocols and are thus often not considered part of the
  Internet.  However, it is possible to communicate between them and
  the Internet via electronic mail because of mail gateways that act
  as "translators" between the different network protocols involved.
  Note: You will often see "internet" with a small "i".  This could
  refer to any network built based on TCP/IP, or might refer to
  networks using other protocol families that are composites built
  of smaller networks.
  See FYI 20 (RFC 1462), "FYI on 'What is the Internet?'" for a
  lengthier description of the Internet [13].

3.2 I just got on the Internet. What can I do now?

  You now have access to all the resources you are authorized to use
  on your own Internet host, on any other Internet host on which you
  have an account, and on any other Internet host that offers
  publicly accessible information.  The Internet gives you the
  ability to move information between these hosts via file
  transfers.  Once you are logged into one host, you can use the
  Internet to open a connection to another, login, and use its
  services interactively (this is known as remote login or
  "TELNETing").  In addition, you can send electronic mail to users
  at any Internet site and to users on many non-Internet sites that
  are accessible via electronic mail.
  There are various other services you can use.  For example, some
  hosts provide access to specialized databases or to archives of
  information.  The Internet Resource Guide provides information
  regarding some of these sites.  The Internet Resource Guide lists
  facilities on the Internet that are available to users.  Such
  facilities include supercomputer centers, library catalogs and
  specialized data collections.  The guide is maintained by the
  Directory Services portion of the InterNIC and is available online
  in a number of ways.  It is available for anonymous FTP from the
  host ds.internic.net in the resource-guide directory.  It is also
  readable via the InterNIC gopher (gopher internic.net).  For more
  information, contact [email protected] or call the InterNIC at
  (800) 444-4345 or (908) 668-6587.
  Today the trend for Internet information services is to strive to
  present the users with a friendly interface to a variety of
  services.  The goal is to reduce the traditional needs for a user
  to know the source host of a service and the different command
  interfaces for different types of services.  The Internet Gopher
  (discussed more in the "Questions about Internet Services"
  section) is one such service to which you have access when you
  join the Internet.

3.3 How do I find out if a site has a computer on the Internet?

  Frankly, it's almost impossible to find out if a site has a
  computer on the Internet by querying some Internet service itself.
  The most reliable way is to ask someone at the site you are
  interested in contacting.
  It is sometimes possible to find whether or not a site has been
  assigned an IP network number, which is a prerequisite for
  connecting an IP network to the Internet (which is only one type
  of Internet access).  To do so, query the WHOIS database,
  maintained by the Registration Services portion of the InterNIC.
  You have several options about how to do such a query.  The most
  common currently are to TELNET to the host rs.internic.net and
  invoke one of the search interfaces provided, or to run a WHOIS
  client locally on your machine and use it to make a query across
  the network.
  The RIPE Network Coordination Center (RIPE NCC) also maintains a
  large database of sites to whom they have assigned IP network
  numbers.  You can query it by TELNETing to info.ripe.net and
  stepping through the interactive interface they provide.

3.4 How do I get a list of all the hosts on the Internet?

  You really don't want that.  The list includes more than 1.5
  million hosts.  Almost all of them require that you have access
  permission to actually use them.  You may really want to know
  which of these hosts provide services to the Internet community.
  Investigate using some of the network resource discovery tools,
  such as gopher, to gain easier access to Internet information.

Questions About TCP/IP

4.1 What is TCP/IP?

  TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) [4,5,6]
  is the common name for a family of over 100 data-communications
  protocols used to organize computers and data-communications
  equipment into computer networks.  TCP/IP was developed to
  interconnect hosts on ARPANET, PRNET (packet radio), and SATNET
  (packet satellite).  All three of these networks have since been
  retired; but TCP/IP lives on.  It is currently used on a large
  international network of networks called the Internet, whose
  members include universities, other research institutions,
  government facilities, and many corporations.  TCP/IP is also
  sometimes used for other networks, particularly local area
  networks that tie together numerous different kinds of computers
  or tie together engineering workstations.

4.2 What are the other well-known standard protocols in the TCP/IP

    family?
  Other than TCP and IP, the three main protocols in the TCP/IP
  suite are the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) [8], the File
  Transfer Protocol (FTP) [3], and the TELNET Protocol [9].  There
  are many other protocols in use on the Internet.  The Internet
  Architecture Board (IAB) regularly publishes an RFC [2] that
  describes the state of standardization of the various Internet
  protocols.  This document is the best guide to the current status
  of Internet protocols and their recommended usage.

Questions About the Domain Name System

5.1 What is the Domain Name System?

  The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical, distributed method
  of organizing the name space of the Internet.  The DNS
  administratively groups hosts into a hierarchy of authority that
  allows addressing and other information to be widely distributed
  and maintained.  A big advantage to the DNS is that using it
  eliminates dependence on a centrally-maintained file that maps
  host names to addresses.

5.2 What is a Fully Qualified Domain Name?

  A Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) is a domain name that
  includes all higher level domains relevant to the entity named.
  If you think of the DNS as a tree-structure with each node having
  its own label, a Fully Qualified Domain Name for a specific node
  would be its label followed by the labels of all the other nodes
  between it and the root of the tree.  For example, for a host, a
  FQDN would include the string that identifies the particular host,
  plus all domains of which the host is a part up to and including
  the top-level domain (the root domain is always null).  For
  example, atlas.arc.nasa.gov is a Fully Qualified Domain Name for
  the host at 128.102.128.50.  In addition, arc.nasa.gov is the FQDN
  for the Ames Research Center (ARC) domain under nasa.gov.

Questions About Internet Documentation

6.1 What is an RFC?

  The Request for Comments documents (RFCs) are working notes of the
  Internet research and development community.  A document in this
  series may be on essentially any topic related to computer
  communication, and may be anything from a meeting report to the
  specification of a standard.  Submissions for Requests for
  Comments may be sent to the RFC Editor ([email protected]).  The
  RFC Editor is Jon Postel.
  Most RFCs are the descriptions of network protocols or services,
  often giving detailed procedures and formats for their
  implementation.  Other RFCs report on the results of policy
  studies or summarize the work of technical committees or
  workshops.  All RFCs are considered public domain unless
  explicitly marked otherwise.
  While RFCs are not refereed publications, they do receive
  technical review from either the task forces, individual technical
  experts, or the RFC Editor, as appropriate.  Currently, most
  standards are published as RFCs, but not all RFCs specify
  standards.
  Anyone can submit a document for publication as an RFC.
  Submissions must be made via electronic mail to the RFC Editor.
  Please consult RFC 1543, "Instructions to RFC Authors" [10], for
  further information.  RFCs are accessible online in public access
  files, and a short message is sent to a notification distribution
  list indicating the availability of the memo.  Requests to be
  added to this distribution list should be sent to RFC-
  [email protected].
  The online files are copied by interested people and printed or
  displayed at their sites on their equipment.  (An RFC may also be
  returned via electronic mail in response to an electronic mail
  query.) This means that the format of the online files must meet
  the constraints of a wide variety of printing and display
  equipment.
  Once a document is assigned an RFC number and published, that RFC
  is never revised or re-issued with the same number.  There is
  never a question of having the most recent version of a particular
  RFC.  However, a protocol (such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP))
  may be improved and re-documented many times in several different
  RFCs.  It is important to verify that you have the most recent RFC
  on a particular protocol.  The "Internet Official Protocol
  Standards" [2] memo is the reference for determining the correct
  RFC to refer to for the current specification of each protocol.

6.2 How do I obtain RFCs?

  RFCs are available online at several repositories around the
  world.  For a list of repositories and instructions about how to
  obtain RFCs from each of the major U.S. ones, send a message to
  [email protected].  As the text of the message, type
  "help: ways_to_get_rfcs" (without the quotes).
  An example of obtaining RFCs online follows.
  RFCs can be obtained via FTP from ds.internic.net with the
  pathname rfc/rfcNNNN.txt (where "NNNN" refers to the number of the
  RFC).  Login using FTP, username "anonymous" and your email
  address as password.  The Directory Services portion of the
  InterNIC also makes RFCs available via electronic mail, WAIS, and
  gopher.
  To obtain RFCs via electronic mail, send a mail message to
  [email protected] and include any of the following commands
  in the message body:
     document-by-name rfcnnnn      where 'nnnn' is the RFC number
                                   The text version is sent.
     file /ftp/rfc/rfcnnnn.yyy     where 'nnnn' is the RFC number.
                                   and 'yyy' is 'txt' or 'ps'.
     help                          to get information on how to use
                                   the mailserver.

6.3 How do I obtain a list of RFCs?

  Several sites make an index of RFCs available.  These sites are
  indicated in the ways_to_get_rfcs file mentioned above and in the
  next question.

6.4 What is the RFC-INFO service?

  The Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern
  California (ISI) has a service called RFC-INFO.  Even though this
  is a service, rather than a document, we'll discuss it in this
  section because it is so closely tied to RFC information.
  RFC-INFO is an email based service to help in locating and
  retrieval of RFCs, FYIs, STDs, and IMRs.  Users can ask for
  "lists" of all RFCs and FYIs having certain attributes ("filters")
  such as their ID, keywords, title, author, issuing organization,
  and date.  Once an RFC is uniquely identified (e.g., by its RFC
  number) it may also be retrieved.
  To use the service, send email to: [email protected] with your
  requests as the text of the message.  Feel free to put anything in
  the SUBJECT, the system ignores it.  All input is case
  independent.  Report problems to: [email protected].
  To get started, you may send a message to [email protected] with
  requests such as in the following examples (without the
  explanations between brackets):
  Help: Help              [to get this information]
  List: FYI               [list the FYI notes]
  List: RFC               [list RFCs with window as keyword or
                           in title]
    keywords: window
  List: FYI               [list FYIs about windows]
    Keywords: window
  List: *                 [list both RFCs and FYIs about windows]
    Keywords: window
  List: RFC               [list RFCs about ARPANET, ARPA NETWORK,
                           etc.]
    title: ARPA*NET
  List: RFC               [list RFCs issued by MITRE, dated
                           1989-1991]
    Organization: MITRE
    Dated-after:  Jan-01-1989
    Dated-before: Dec-31-1991
  List: RFC               [list RFCs obsoleting a given RFC]
    Obsoletes: RFC0010
  List: RFC               [list RFCs by authors starting with
                           "Bracken"]
    Author: Bracken*      [* is a wild card]
  List: RFC               [list RFCs by both Postel and Gillman]
    Authors: J. Postel    [note, the "filters" are ANDed]
    Authors: R. Gillman
  List: RFC               [list RFCs by any Crocker]
    Authors: Crocker
  List: RFC               [list only RFCs by S.D. Crocker]
    Authors: S.D. Crocker
  List: RFC               [list only RFCs by D. Crocker]
    Authors: D. Crocker
  Retrieve: RFC           [retrieve RFC-822]
    Doc-ID: RFC0822       [note, always 4 digits in RFC#]
  Help: Manual            [to retrieve the long user manual,
                           30+ pages]
  Help: List              [how to use the LIST request]
  Help: Retrieve          [how to use the RETRIEVE request]
  Help: Topics            [list topics for which help is available]
  Help: Dates             ["Dates" is such a topic]
  List: keywords          [list the keywords in use]
  List: organizations     [list the organizations known to the
                           system]

6.5 Which RFCs are Standards?

  See "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (currently RFC 1540)
  [2].  This RFC documents the status of each RFC on the Internet
  standards track, as well as the status of RFCs of other types.  It
  is updated periodically; make sure you are referring to the most
  recent version.  In addition, the RFC Index maintained at the
  ds.internic.net repository notes the status of each RFC listed.

6.6 What is an FYI?

  FYI stands for For Your Information.  FYIs are a subset of the RFC
  series of online documents.
  FYI 1 states, "The FYI series of notes is designed to provide
  Internet users with a central repository of information about any
  topics which relate to the Internet.  FYI topics may range from
  historical memos on 'Why it was was done this way' to answers to
  commonly asked operational questions.  The FYIs are intended for a
  wide audience.  Some FYIs will cater to beginners, while others
  will discuss more advanced topics."
  In general, then, FYI documents tend to be more information
  oriented, while RFCs are usually (but not always) more technically
  oriented.
  FYI documents are assigned both an FYI number and an RFC number.
  As RFCs, if an FYI is ever updated, it is issued again with a new
  RFC number; however, its FYI number remains unchanged.  This can
  be a little confusing at first, but the aim is to help users
  identify which FYIs are about which topics.  For example, FYI 4
  will always be FYI 4, even though it may be updated several times
  and during that process receive different RFC numbers.  Thus, you
  need only to remember the FYI number to find the proper document.
  Of course, remembering titles often works as well.
  FYIs can be obtained in the same way RFCs can and from the same
  repositories.  In general, their pathnames are fyi/fyiNN.txt or
  fyi/fyiNN.ps, where NN is the number of the FYI without leading
  zeroes.

6.7 What is an STD?

  The newest subseries of RFCs are the STDs (Standards).  RFC 1311
  [12], which introduces this subseries, states that the intent of
  STDs is to identify clearly those RFCs that document Internet
  standards.  An STD number will be assigned only to those
  specifications that have completed the full process of
  standardization in the Internet.  Existing Internet standards have
  been assigned STD numbers; a list of them can be found both in RFC
  1311 and in the, "Internet Official Protocol Standards" RFC.
  Like FYIs, once a standard has been assigned an STD number, that
  number will not change, even if the standard is reworked and re-
  specified and later issued with a new RFC number.
  It is important to differentiate between a "standard" and
  "document".  Different RFC documents will always have different
  RFC numbers.  However, sometimes the complete specification for a
  standard will be contained in more than one RFC document.  When
  this happens, each of the RFC documents that is part of the
  specification for that standard will carry the same STD number.
  For example, the Domain Name System (DNS) is specified by the
  combination of RFC 1034 and RFC 1035; therefore, both of those
  RFCs are labeled STD 13.

6.8 What is the Internet Monthly Report?

  The Internet Monthly Report (IMR) communicates online to the
  Internet community the accomplishments, milestones reached, or
  problems discovered by the participating organizations.  Many
  organizations involved in the Internet provide monthly updates of
  their activities for inclusion in this report.  The IMR is for
  Internet information purposes only.
  You can receive the report online by joining the mailing list that
  distributes the report.  Requests to be added or deleted from the
  Internet Monthly Report list should be sent to "imr-
  [email protected]".
  In addition, back issues of the Report are available for anonymous
  FTP from the host ftp.isi.edu in the in-notes/imr directory, with
  the file names in the form imryymm.txt, where yy is the last two
  digits of the year and mm two digits for the month.  For example,
  the July 1992 Report is in the file imr9207.txt.

6.9 What is an Internet Draft? Are there any guidelines available

    for writing one?
  Internet Drafts (I-Ds) are the current working documents of the
  IETF.  Internet Drafts are generally in the format of an RFC with
  some key differences:
     -  The Internet Drafts are not RFCs and are not a numbered
        document series.
     -  The words INTERNET-DRAFT appear in place of RFC XXXX
        in the upper left-hand corner.
     -  The document does not refer to itself as an RFC or as a
        Draft RFC.
     -  An Internet Draft does not state nor imply that it is a
        proposed standard.  To do so conflicts with the role of
        the IAB, the RFC Editor, and the Internet Engineering
        Steering Group (IESG).
  An Internet Drafts directory has been installed to make draft
  documents available for review and comment by the IETF members.
  These draft documents that will ultimately be submitted to the IAB
  and the RFC Editor to be considered for publishing as RFCs.  The
  Internet Drafts Directories are maintained on several Internet
  sites.  There are several "shadow" machines which contain the IETF
  and Internet Drafts Directories.  They are:
     West Coast (US) Address:  ftp.isi.edu (128.9.0.32)
     East Coast (US) Address:  ds.internic.net (198.49.45.10)
     Europe Address:  nic.nordu.net (192.36.148.17)
     Pacific Rim Address:  munnari.oz.au (128.250.1.21)
  To access these directories, use anonymous FTP.  Login with
  username "anonymous" and your email address as password (or
  "guest" if that fails).  Once logged in, change to the desired
  directory with "cd internet-drafts".  Internet Draft files can
  then be retrieved.  Once logged in, if you change to the directory
  "ietf", you can retrieve a file called "1id-guidelines.txt", which
  explains how to write and submit an Internet Draft.

6.10 How do I obtain OSI Standards documents?

  OSI Standards documents are NOT available from the Internet via
  anonymous FTP due to copyright restrictions.  These are available
  from:
     Omnicom Information Service
     501 Church Street NE
     Suite 304
     Vienna, VA  22180  USA
     Telephone: (800) 666-4266 or (703) 281-1135
     Fax: (703) 281-1505
     American National Standards Institute
     11 West 42nd Street
     New York, NY  10036  USA
     Telephone: (212) 642-4900
  However, the GOSIP specification which covers the use of OSI
  protocols within the U.S. Government is available from the
  National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  The final
  text of GOSIP Version 2 is now available from both sites.
  Online sources:
     Available through anonymous FTP from osi.ncsl.nist.gov
     (129.6.48.100) as:
        ./pub/gosip/gosip_v2.txt        -- ascii
        ./pub/gosip/gosip_v2.txt.Z      -- ascii compressed
        ./pub/gosip/gosip_v2.ps         -- PostScript
        ./pub/gosip/gosip_v2.ps.Z       -- PostScript compressed
    Hardcopy source:
       Standards Processing Coordinator (ADP)
       National Institute of Standards and Technology
       Technology Building, Room B-64
       Gaithersburg, MD  20899
       (301) 975-2816

Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts

7.1 What is the IAB?

  The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is concerned with technical
  and policy issues involving the evolution of the Internet
  architecture [7].  IAB members are deeply committed to making the
  Internet function effectively and evolve to meet a large scale,
  high speed future.  The chairman serves a term of two years and is
  elected by the members of the IAB.  The IAB focuses on the TCP/IP
  protocol suite, and extensions to the Internet system to support
  multiple protocol suites.
  The IAB performs the following functions:
     1)   Reviews Internet Standards,
     2)   Manages the RFC publication process,
     3)   Reviews the operation of the IETF and IRTF,
     4)   Performs strategic planning for the Internet, identifying
          long-range problems and opportunities,
     5)   Acts as an international technical policy liaison and
          representative for the Internet community, and
     6)   Resolves technical issues which cannot be treated within
          the IETF or IRTF frameworks.
  The IAB has two principal subsidiary task forces:
     1)  Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
     2)  Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)
  Each of these Task Forces is led by a chairman and guided by a
  Steering Group which reports to the IAB through its chairman.  For
  the most part, a collection of Research or Working Groups carries
  out the work program of each Task Force.
  All decisions of the IAB are made public.  The principal vehicle
  by which IAB decisions are propagated to the parties interested in
  the Internet and its TCP/IP protocol suite is the Request for
  Comments (RFC) note series and the Internet Monthly Report.

7.2 What is the IETF?

  The Internet has grown to encompass a large number of widely
  geographically dispersed networks in academic and research
  communities.  It now provides an infrastructure for a broad
  community with various interests.  Moreover, the family of
  Internet protocols and system components has moved from
  experimental to commercial development.  To help coordinate the
  operation, management and evolution of the Internet, the IAB
  established the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
  The IETF is a large open community of network designers,
  operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the Internet
  and the Internet protocol suite.  The activity is performed in a
  number of working groups organized around a set of several
  technical areas, each working group has a chair, and each area is
  managed by a technical area director.  The IETF overall is managed
  by its chair and the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG),
  which is made up of the area directors.
  The IAB has delegated to the IESG the general responsibility for
  the resolution of short- and mid-range protocol and architectural
  issues required to make the Internet function effectively, and the
  development of Internet standards.

7.3 What is the IRTF?

  To promote research in networking and the development of new
  technology, the IAB established the Internet Research Task Force
  (IRTF).  The IRTF is a set of research groups, generally with an
  Internet focus.  The work of the IRTF is governed by its Internet
  Research Steering Group (IRSG).
  In the area of network protocols, the distinction between research
  and engineering is not always clear, so there will sometimes be
  overlap between activities of the IETF and the IRTF.  There is, in
  fact, considerable overlap in membership between the two groups.
  This overlap is regarded as vital for cross-fertilization and
  technology transfer.

7.4 What is the Internet Society?

  The Internet Society is a relatively new, professional, non-profit
  organization with the general goal of fostering the well-being and
  continued interest in, and evolution and use of the Internet.  The
  Society (often abbreviated ISOC) is integrating the IAB, IETF, and
  IRTF functions into its operation.
  The following goals of the Society are taken from its charter:
     A.  To facilitate and support the technical evolution of
         the Internet as a research and education infrastructure,
         and to stimulate the involvement of the scientific
         community, industry, government and others in the
         evolution of the Internet;
     B.  To educate the scientific community, industry and the
         public at large concerning the technology, use and
         application of the Internet;
     C.  To promote educational applications of Internet
         technology for the benefit of government, colleges and
         universities, industry, and the public at large;
     D.  To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet
         applications, and to stimulate collaboration among
         organizations in their operational use of the global
         Internet.
  More information about the Internet Society is available for
  anonymous FTP from the host: isoc.org in the directory: isoc.
  Information is also available via the ISOC gopher, accessible via
  "gopher isoc.org" if you are running a gopher client.

7.5 What is the IANA?

  The task of coordinating the assignment of values to the
  parameters of protocols is delegated by the Internet Architecture
  Board (IAB) to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
  These protocol parameters include op-codes, type fields, terminal
  types, system names, object identifiers, and so on.  The "Assigned
  Numbers" Request for Comments (RFC) [1] documents the currently
  assigned values from several series of numbers used in network
  protocol implementations.  Internet addresses and Autonomous
  System numbers are assigned by the Registration Services portion
  of the InterNIC.  The IANA is located at USC/Information Sciences
  Institute.
  Current types of assignments listed in Assigned Numbers and
  maintained by the IANA are:
     Address Resolution Protocol Parameters
     BOOTP Parameters and BOOTP Extension Codes
     Character Sets
     Domain System Parameters
     Encoding Header Field Keywords
     ESMTP Mail Keywords
     Ethernet Multicast Addresses
     Ethernet Numbers of Interest
     Ethernet Vendor Address Components
     IANA Ethernet Address Block
     ICMP Type Numbers
     IEEE 802 Numbers of Interest
     Internet Protocol Numbers
     Internet Version Numbers
     IP Option Numbers
     IP Time to Live Parameter
     IP TOS Parameters
     Internet Multicast Addresses
     Inverse Address Resolution Protocol
     Machine Names
     Mail Encryption Types
     Mail System Names
     Mail Transmission Types
     MILNET X.25 Address Mappings
     MILNET Logical Addresses
     MILNET Link Numbers
     MIME Types
     MIME/X.400 Mapping Tables
     Network Management Parameters
     Novell Numbers
     Operating System Names
     OSPF Authentication Codes
     Point-to-Point Protocol Field Assignments
     Protocol Numbers
     Protocol and Service Names
     Protocol/Type Field Assignments
     Public Data Network Numbers
     Reverse Address Resolution Protocol Operation Codes
     SUN RPC Numbers
     TCP Option Numbers
     TCP Alternate Checksum Numbers
     TELNET Options
     Terminal Type Names
     Version Numbers
     Well Known and Registered Port Numbers
     X.25 Type Numbers
     XNS Protocol Types
  For more information on number assignments, contact: [email protected].

7.6 What is a NIC? What is a NOC?

  "NIC" stands for Network Information Center.  It is an
  organization which provides network users with information about
  services provided by the network.
  "NOC" stands for Network Operations Center.  It is an organization
  that is responsible for maintaining a network.
  For many networks, especially smaller, local networks, the
  functions of the NIC and NOC are combined.  For larger networks,
  such as mid-level and backbone networks, the NIC and NOC
  organizations are separate, yet they do need to interact to fully
  perform their functions.

7.7 What is the InterNIC?

  The InterNIC is a five year project partially supported by the
  National Science Foundation to provide network information
  services to the networking community.  The InterNIC began
  operations in April of 1993 and is a collaborative project of
  three organizations: General Atomics provides Information Services
  from their location in San Diego, CA; AT&T provides Directory and
  Database Services from South Plainsfield, NJ; and Network
  Solutions, Inc. provides Registration Services from their
  headquarters in Herndon, VA.  Services are provided via the
  network electronically, and by telephone, FAX, and hardcopy
  documentation.
  General Atomics offers Information Services acting as the "NIC of
  first and last resort" by providing a Reference Desk for new and
  experienced users, and midlevel and campus NICs.  The InterNIC
  Reference Desk offers introductory materials and pointers to
  network resources and tools.
  AT&T services include the Directory of Directories, Directory
  Services, and Database Services to store data available to all
  Internet users.
  Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) provides Internet registration
  services including IP address allocation, domain registration, and
  Autonomous System Number assignment.  NSI also tracks points of
  contact for networks and domain servers and provides online and
  telephone support for questions related to IP address or domain
  name registration.
  All three portions of the InterNIC can be reached by calling (800)
  444-4345 or by sending a message to [email protected].  Callers
  from outside the U.S. can telephone +1 (619) 445-4600.  Extensive
  online information is available at host is.internic.net,
  accessible via gopher or TELNET.

7.8 What is the DDN NIC (nic.ddn.mil)?

  The DDN NIC is the Defense Data Network NIC.  Until the formation
  of the InterNIC, the DDN NIC had been responsible for many
  services to the whole Internet, especially for registration
  services.  Now the DDN NIC focuses on serving its primary
  constituency of MILNET users.  Its host is nic.ddn.mil; the
  address [email protected] may still be in older Internet
  registration documentation.  The DDN NIC maintains close ties to
  the newer InterNIC.

7.9 What is the IR?

  The Internet Registry (IR) is the organization that is responsible
  for assigning identifiers, such as IP network numbers and
  autonomous system numbers, to networks.  The IR also gathers and
  registers such assigned information.  The IR delegates some number
  assignment authority to regional registries (such as [email protected]
  and [email protected]).  However, it will continue to gather
  data regarding such assignments.  At present, the Registration
  Services portion of the InterNIC at Network Solutions, Inc.,
  serves as the IR.

Questions About Services

8.1 How do I find someone's electronic mail address?

  There are a number of directories on the Internet; however, all of
  them are far from complete.  Many people can be found, however,
  via the InterNIC WHOIS services, or KNOWBOT.  Generally, it is
  still necessary to ask the person for his or her email address.

8.2 How do I use the WHOIS program at the InterNIC Registration

    Services?
  There are several ways to search the WHOIS database.  You can
  TELNET to the InterNIC registration host, rs.internic.net.  There
  is no need to login.  Type "whois" to call up the information
  retrieval program, or choose one of the other options presented to
  you.  Help is available for each option.  You can also run a
  client of the WHOIS server and point it at any whois database
  you'd like to search.  Pointing a client at the whois server
  ds.internic.net will enable you to query the databases at three
  hosts: ds.internic.net, rs.internic.net, and nic.ddn.mil.
  For more information, contact the InterNIC at (800) 444-4345 or
  the registration services group at (703) 742-4777.

8.3 How do I use the Knowbot Information Service?

  The Knowbot Information Service is a white pages "meta-service"
  that provides a uniform interface to heterogeneous white pages
  services in the Internet.  Using the Knowbot Information Service,
  you can form a single query that can search for white pages
  information from the NIC WHOIS service, the PSI White Pages Pilot
  Project, and MCI Mail, among others, and have the responses
  displayed in a single, uniform format.
  Currently, the Knowbot Information Service can be accessed through
  TELNET to port 185 on hosts cnri.reston.va.us and
  sol.bucknell.edu.  From a UNIX host, use "telnet cnri.reston.va.us
  185".  There is also an electronic mail interface available by
  sending mail to netaddress at either cnri.reston.va.us or
  sol.bucknell.edu.
  The commands "help" and "man" summarize the command interface.
  Simply entering a user name at the prompt searches a default list
  of Internet directory services for the requested information.
  Organization and country information can be included through the
  syntax: "[email protected]".  For example, the queries
  "droms@bucknell" and "[email protected]" are both valid.  Note that
  these are not Domain Names, but rather a syntax to specify an
  organization and a country for the search.

8.4 What is the White Pages at PSI?

  Performance Systems International, Inc. (PSI), sponsors a White
  Pages Project that collects personnel information from member
  organizations into a database and provides online access to that
  data.  This effort is based on the OSI X.500 Directory standard.
  To access the data, TELNET to WP.PSI.COM and login as "fred" (no
  password is necessary).  You may now look up information on
  participating organizations.  The program provides help on usage.
  For example, typing "help" will show you a list of commands,
  "manual" will give detailed documentation, and "whois" will
  provide information regarding how to find references to people.
  For a list of the organizations that are participating in the
  pilot project by providing information regarding their members,
  type "whois -org *".
  Access to the White Pages data is also possible via programs that
  act as X.500 Directory User Agent (DUA) clients.
  For more information, send a message to [email protected].

8.5 What is USENET? What is Netnews?

  USENET is the formal name, and Netnews a common informal name, for
  a distributed computer information service that some hosts on the
  Internet use.  USENET handles only news and not mail.  USENET uses
  a variety of underlying networks for transport, including parts of
  the Internet, BITNET, and others.  Netnews can be a valuable tool
  to economically transport traffic that would otherwise be sent via
  mail.  USENET has no central administration.

8.6 How do I get a Netnews feed?

  To get a Netnews feed, you must acquire the server software, which
  is available for some computers at no cost from some anonymous FTP
  sites across the Internet, and you must find an existing USENET
  site that is willing to support a connection to your computer.  In
  many cases, this "connection" merely represents additional traffic
  over existing Internet access channels.
  One well-known anonymous FTP archive site for software and
  information regarding USENET is ftp.uu.net.  There is a "news"
  directory which contains many software distribution and
  information sub-directories.
  It is recommended that new users subscribe to and read
  news.announce.newusers since it will help to become oriented to
  USENET and the Internet.

8.7 What is a newsgroup?

  A newsgroup is a bulletin board which readers interested in that
  newsgroup's particular topic can read and respond to messages
  posted by other readers.  Generally, there will be a few "threads"
  of discussion going on at the same time, but they all share some
  common theme.  There are approximately 900 newsgroups, and there
  are more being added all the time.
  There are two types of newsgroups: moderated and unmoderated.  A
  moderated newsgroup does not allow individuals to post directly to
  the newsgroup.  Rather, the postings go to the newsgroup's
  moderator who determines whether or not to pass the posting to the
  entire group.  An unmoderated newsgroup allows a reader to post
  directly to the other readers.

8.8 How do I subscribe to a newsgroup?

  You don't subscribe to a newsgroup.  Either you get it on your
  machine or you don't.  If there's one you want, all you can do is
  ask the systems administrator to try to get it for you.

8.9 What is anonymous FTP?

  Anonymous FTP is a conventional way of allowing you to sign on to
  a computer on the Internet and copy specified public files from it
  [3].  Some sites offer anonymous FTP to distribute software and
  various kinds of information.  You use it like any FTP, but the
  username is "anonymous".  Many systems will request that the
  password you choose is your email address.  If this fails, the
  generic password is usually "guest".

8.10 What is "archie"?

  The archie system was created to automatically track anonymous FTP
  archive sites, and this is still its primary function.  The system
  currently makes available the names and locations of some
  2,100,000 files at some 1,000 archive sites.
  Archie's User Access component allows you to search the "files"
  database for these filenames.  When matches are found, you are
  presented with the appropriate archive site name, IP address, the
  location within the archive, and other useful information.
  You can also use archie to "browse" through a site's complete
  listing in search of information of interest, or obtain a complete
  list of the archive sites known to that server.
  The archie server also offers a "package descriptions" (or
  "whatis") database.  This is a collection of names and
  descriptions gathered from a variety of sources and can be used to
  identify files located throughout the Internet, as well as other
  useful information.  Files identified in the whatis database can
  then be found by searching the files database as described above.

8.11 How do I connect to archie?

  You can connect to archie in a variety of ways. There is a
  conventional TELNET interface, an electronic mail interface, and a
  variety of client programs available.  The use of a client is
  strongly encouraged.  There are currently 22 archie servers
  located throughout the world.
  To try the TELNET interface to archie you can TELNET to one of the
  22 archie servers (preferably the one nearest you, and during
  non-peak hours).  Log in as "archie" (no password is required).
  Type "help" to get you started.
  Here is a list of archie servers as of the date this was written:
      archie.au*                  139.130.4.6     Australia
      archie.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at* 140.78.3.8      Austria
      archie.univie.ac.at*        131.130.1.23    Austria
      archie.uqam.ca*             132.208.250.10  Canada
      archie.funet.fi             128.214.6.100   Finland
      archie.th-darmstadt.de*     130.83.22.60    Germany
      archie.ac.il*               132.65.6.15     Israel
      archie.unipi.it*            131.114.21.10   Italy
      archie.wide.ad.jp           133.4.3.6       Japan
      archie.hana.nm.kr*          128.134.1.1     Korea
      archie.sogang.ac.kr*        163.239.1.11    Korea
      archie.uninett.no*          128.39.2.20     Norway
      archie.rediris.es*          130.206.1.2     Spain
      archie.luth.se*             130.240.18.4    Sweden
      archie.switch.ch*           130.59.1.40     Switzerland
      archie.ncu.edu.tw*          140.115.19.24   Taiwan
      archie.doc.ic.ac.uk*        146.169.11.3    United Kingdom
      archie.unl.edu              129.93.1.14     USA (NE)
      archie.internic.net*        198.48.45.10    USA (NJ)
      archie.rutgers.edu*         128.6.18.15     USA (NJ)
      archie.ans.net              147.225.1.10    USA (NY)
      archie.sura.net*            128.167.254.179 USA (MD)
  Note: Sites marked with an asterisk "*" run archie version 3.0.
  You can obtain details on using the electronic mail interface by
  sending mail to "archie" at any of the above server hosts.  Put
  the word "help" as the text of your message for directions.
  Questions, comments, and suggestions can be sent to the archie
  development group by sending mail to [email protected].

8.12 What is "gopher"?

  The Internet Gopher presents an extremely wide variety of diverse
  types of information in an easy to use menu-driven interface.
  Gopher servers link information from all around the Internet in a
  manner that can be transparent to the user. (Users can easily
  discover the source of any piece of information, however, if they
  wish.)  For example, gopher links databases of every type,
  applications, white pages directories, sounds, and pictures.
  Some gophers are available via TELNET.  Since most gophers are
  linked to other gophers, if you can get to one, you can get to
  many.  You can, for example, telnet to naic.nasa.gov and use their
  public gopher.
  The best way to use the gopher service, as with all client/server
  type services, is by running your own gopher client.  The Internet
  Gopher was developed at the University of Minnesota.  More
  information is available for anonymous FTP on the host
  boombox.micro.umn.edu.

8.13 What is the World Wide Web? What is Mosaic?

  The World Wide Web is a distributed, hypermedia-based Internet
  information browser.  It presents users with a friendly point and
  click interface to a wide variety of types of information (text,
  graphics, sounds, movies, etc.) and Internet services.  It is
  possible to use the Web to access FTP archives, databases, and
  even gopher servers.
  The most familiar implementations of the World Wide Web are the
  Mosaic clients developed by the National Center for Supercomputing
  Applications (NCSA).  Mosaic software is available online at
  ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu.

8.14 How do I find out about other Internet resource discovery

     tools?
  The field of Internet resource discovery tools is one of the most
  dynamic on the Internet today.  There are several tools in
  addition to those discussed here that are useful for discovering
  or searching Internet resources.   The EARN (European Academic and
  Research Network) Association has compiled an excellent document
  that introduces many of these services and provides information
  about how to find out more about them.  To obtain the document,
  send a message to [email protected] or
  listserve%[email protected].  As the text of your
  message, type "GET filename" where the filename is either
  "nettools ps" or "nettols memo".  The former is in PostScript
  format.  This document is also available for anonymous FTP on some
  hosts, including naic.nasa.gov, where it is available in the
  files/general_info directory as
  earn-resource-tool-guide.ps and earn-resource-tool-guide.txt.

8.15 What is "TELNET"?

  The term "TELNET" refers to the remote login that's possible on
  the Internet because of the TELNET Protocol [9].  The use of this
  term as a verb, as in "telnet to a host" means to establish a
  connection across the Internet from one host to another.  Usually,
  you must have an account on the remote host to be able to login to
  it once you've made a connection.  However, some hosts, such as
  those offering white pages directories, provide public services
  that do not require a personal account.
  If your host supports TELNET, your command to connect to a remote
  host would probably be "telnet <hostname>" or "telnet <host IP
  address>".  For example, "telnet rs.internic.net" or "telnet
  198.41.0.5".

Mailing Lists and Sending Mail

9.1 What is a mailing list?

  A mailing list is an email address that stands for a group of
  people rather than for an individual.  Mailing lists are usually
  created to discuss specific topics.  Anybody interested in that
  topic, may (usually) join that list.  Some mailing lists have
  membership restrictions, others have message content restrictions,
  and still others are moderated.  Most "public" mailing lists have
  a second email address to handle administrative matters, such as
  requests to be added to or deleted from the list.  All
  subscription requests should be sent to the administrative address
  rather than to the list itself!

9.2 How do I contact the administrator of a mailing list rather

    than posting to the entire list?
  Today there are two main methods used by mailing list
  adminstrators to handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe from
  their lists.  The administrative address for many lists has the
  same name as the list itself, but with "-request" appended to the
  list name.  So, to join the [email protected] list,
  you would send a message to ietf-announce-
  [email protected].  Most often, requests to a "-request"
  mailbox are handled by a human and you can phrase your request as
  a normal message.
  More often today, especially for lists with many readers,
  administrators prefer to have a program handle routine list
  administration.  Many lists are accessible via LISTSERVE programs
  or other mailing list manager programs.  If this is the case, the
  administrative address will usually be something like
  "[email protected]", where the address for the mailing list
  itself will be "[email protected]".  The same listserve address can
  handle requests for all mailing lists at that host.  When talking
  with a program, your subscription request will often be in the
  form, "subscribe ListName YourFirstName YourLastName" where you
  substitute the name of the list for ListName and add your real
  name at the end.
  The  important thing to  remember is that  all administrative
  messages regarding using, joining, or  quitting a list should   be
  sent to  the administrative mailbox  instead  of to  the  whole
  list  so  that  the readers of the list don't have to read them.

9.3 How do I send mail to other networks?

  Mail to the Internet is addressed in the form [email protected].
  Remember that a domain name can have several components and the
  name of each host is a node on the domain tree.  So, an example of
  an Internet mail address is [email protected].
  There are several networks accessible via email from the Internet,
  but many of these networks do not use the same addressing
  conventions the Internet does.  Often you must route mail to these
  networks through specific gateways as well, thus further
  complicating the address.
  Here are a few conventions you can use for sending mail from the
  Internet to three networks with which Internet users often
  correspond.
    Internet user to Internet user:
      [email protected] domain
      e.g. [email protected]
    Internet user to BITNET user:
      user%site.BITNET@BITNET-GATEWAY
      e.g. gsmith%[email protected].
           gsmith%[email protected]
    Internet user to UUCP user:
      user%[email protected]
      user%[email protected]
    Internet user to SprintMail user:
      /G=Mary/S=Anderson/O=co.abc/ADMD=SprintMail/C=US/@SPRINT.COM
      -or-
      /PN=Mary.Anderson/O=co.abc/ADMD=SprintMail/C=US/@SPRINT.COM
      (Case is significant.)
    Internet user to CompuServe user:
      Replace the comma in the CompuServe userid (represented here
      with x's) with a period, and add the compuserve.com domain
      name.
      [email protected]
    CompuServe user to Internet user:
      >Internet:user@host
      Insert >internet: before an Internet address.
    Internet user to MCIMail user:
      [email protected]
      [email protected]
      [email protected].

10. Miscellaneous "Internet lore" questions

10.1 What does :-) mean?

  In many electronic mail messages, it is sometimes useful to
  indicate that part of a message is meant in jest.  It is also
  sometimes useful to communicate emotion which simple words do not
  readily convey.  To provide these nuances, a collection of "smiley
  faces" has evolved.  If you turn your head sideways to the left,
  :-) appears as a smiling face.  Some of the more common faces are:
     :-)  smile                    :-(  frown
     :)   also a smile             ;-)  wink
     :-D  laughing                 8-)  wide-eyed
     :-}  grin                     :-X  close mouthed
     :-]  smirk                    :-o  oh, no!

10.2 What do "btw", "fyi", "imho", "wrt", and "rtfm" mean?

  Often common expressions are abbreviated in informal network
  postings.  These abbreviations stand for "by the way", "for your
  information", "in my humble [or honest] opinion", "with respect
  to", and "read the f*ing manual" (with the "f" word varying
  according to the vehemence of the reader :-).

10.3 What is the "FAQ" list?

  This list provides answers to "Frequently Asked Questions" that
  often appear on various USENET newsgroups.  The list is posted
  every four to six weeks to the news.announce.newusers group.  It
  is intended to provide a background for new users learning how to
  use the news.  As the FAQ list provide new users with the answers
  to such questions, it helps keep the newsgroups themselves
  comparatively free of repetition.  Often specific newsgroups will
  have and frequently post versions of a FAQ list that are specific
  to their topics.  The term FAQ has become generalized so that any
  topic may have its FAQ even if it is not a newsgroup.
  Here is information about obtaining the USENET FAQs, courtesy of
  Gene Spafford:
  Many questions can be answered by consulting the most recent
  postings in the news.announce.newusers and news.lists groups.  If
  those postings have expired from your site, or you do not get
  news, you can get archived postings from the FTP server on the
  host rtfm.mit.edu.
  These archived postings include all the Frequently Asked Questions
  posted to the news.answers newsgroups, as well as the most recent
  lists of Usenet newsgroups, Usenet-accessible mailing lists, group
  moderators, and other Usenet-related information posted to the
  news.announce.newusers and news.lists groups.
  To get the material by FTP, log in using anonymous FTP (userid of
  anonymous and your email address as password).
  The archived files, and FAQ files from other newsgroups, are all
  in the directory:
                         /pub/usenet/news.answers
  Archived files from news.announce.newusers and news.lists are in:
                         /pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers
                         /pub/usenet/news.lists
  respectively.
  To get the information by mail, send an email message to: mail-
  [email protected] containing:
              send usenet/news.answers/TITLE/PART
  where TITLE is the archive title, and PART is the portion of the
  posting you want.
  Send a message containing "help" to get general information about
  the mail server, including information on how to get a list of
  archive titles to use in further send commands.

11. Suggested Reading

For further information about the Internet and its protocols in general, you may choose to obtain copies of the following works as well as some of the works listed as References:

  Krol, Ed. (1992) The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog, 400
  p. O'Reilly and Assoc., Inc.  Sebastopol, CA.
  Dern, Daniel P. (1993)  The Internet Guide for New Users, 570 p.
  McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York, NY.
  Fisher, Sharon. (1993) Riding the Internet Highway, 266 p. New
  Riders Publishing, Carmel, IN.
  Frey, Donnalyn and Rick Adams. (1993) !%@:: A Directory of
  Electronic Mail Addressing and Networks, (third edition) 443 p.
  O'Reilly & Assoc., Inc. Sebastopol, CA.
  Hoffman, Ellen and Lenore Jackson. (1993) "FYI on Introducing the
  Internet: A Short Bibliography of Introductory Internetworking
  Readings for the Network Novice," 4 p. (FYI 19/RFC 1463).
  Kehoe, Brendan P. (1993) Zen and the Art of the Internet: A
  Beginner's Guide, (second edition) 112 p. Prentice Hall, Englewood
  Cliffs, NJ.
  LaQuey, Tracy with Jeanne C. Ryer. (1992) The Internet Companion:
  A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking, 208 p. Addison-Wesley,
  Reading, MA.
  Malkin, Gary, S. and Tracy LaQuey Parker. (1993) "Internet Users'
  Glossary," 53 p. (FYI 18/RFC 1392).
  Marine, April, et al. (1993) Internet: Getting Started, 360 p.
  Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
  Martin, Jerry. (1993) "There's Gold in them thar Networks! or
  Searching for Treasure in all the Wrong Places," 39 p. (FYI 10/RFC
  1402).
  Quarterman, John. (1993) "Recent Internet Books," 15 p. (RFC
  1432).

12. References

[1] Reynolds, J., and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", STD 2, RFC 1340,

   USC/Information Sciences Institute, July 1992.

[2] Postel, J., Editor, "Internet Official Protocol Standards", STD

   1, RFC 1540, Internet Architecture Board, October 1993.

[3] Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP), STD

   9, RFC 959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985.

[4] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol - DARPA Internet Program Protocol

   Specification", STD 5, RFC 791, DARPA, September 1981.

[5] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol - DARPA Internet

   Program Protocol Specification", STD 7, RFC 793, DARPA, September
   1981.

[6] Leiner, B., Cole, R., Postel, J., and D. Mills, "The DARPA

   Internet Protocol Suite", IEEE INFOCOM85, Washington D.C., March
   1985.  Also in IEEE Communications Magazine, March 1985.  Also as
   ISI/RS-85-153.

[7] Cerf, V., "The Internet Activities Board" RFC 1160, CNRI, May

   1990.

[8] Postel, J., "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", STD 10, RFC 821,

   USC/Information Sciences Institute, August 1982.

[9] Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification", STD

   8, RFC 854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983.
 [10] Postel, J., "Instructions to RFC Authors", RFC 1543,
   USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1993.
 [11] Malkin, G., Marine, A., and J. Reynolds, "FYI on Questions and
   Answers: Answers to Commonly Asked 'Experienced Internet User'
   Questions", FYI 7, RFC 1207, FTP Software, SRI, USC/Information
   Sciences Institute, February 1991.
 [12] Postel, J., "Introduction to the STD Notes", RFC 1311,
   USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1992.
 [13] Krol, E., and E. Hoffman, "FYI on 'What is the Internet?'", FYI
   20, RFC 1462, University of Illinois, Merit Network, Inc., May
   1993.

13. Condensed Glossary

As with any profession, computers have a particular terminology all their own. Below is a condensed glossary to assist in making some sense of the Internet world.

ACM Association for Computing Machinery

    A group established in 1947 to promote professional
    development and research on computers.

address There are three types of addresses in common use within the

    Internet.  They are email address; IP, internet or Internet
    address; and hardware or MAC address. An electronic mail
    address is the string of characters that you must give an
    electronic mail program to direct a message to a particular
    person.  A MAC address is the hardware address of a device
    connected to a shared media.  See "internet address" for its
    definition.

AI Artificial Intelligence

    The branch of computer science which deals with the
    simulation of human intelligence by computer systems.

AIX Advanced Interactive Executive

    IBM's version of Unix.

ANSI American National Standards Institute

    This organization is responsible for approving U.S. standards
    in many areas, including computers and communications.
    Standards approved by this organization are often called ANSI
    standards (e.g., ANSI C is the version of the C language
    approved by ANSI).  ANSI is a member of ISO.  See also:
    International Organization for Standardization.

ARP Address Resolution Protocol

    Used to dynamically discover the low level physical network
    hardware address that corresponds to the high level IP address
    for a given host.  ARP is limited to physical network systems
    that support broadcast packets that can be heard by all hosts
    on the network.  It is defined in STD 37, RFC 826.

ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency

    An agency of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for
    the development of new technology for use by the military.
    ARPA was responsible for funding much of the development of
    the Internet we know today, including the Berkeley version of
    Unix and TCP/IP.

ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

    A pioneering longhaul network funded by ARPA.  It
    served as the basis for early networking research as
    well as a central backbone during the development of
    the Internet.  The ARPANET consisted of individual
    packet switching computers interconnected by leased lines.

AS Autonomous System

    A collection of routers under a single
    administrative authority using a common Interior Gateway
    Protocol for routing packets.

ASCII American (National) Standard Code for Information Interchange

    A standard character-to-number encoding widely used in the
    computer industry.

B Byte

    One character of information, usually eight bits wide.

b bit - binary digit

    The smallest amount of information which may be stored
    in a computer.

BBN Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc.

    The Cambridge, MA company responsible for development,
    operation and monitoring of the ARPANET, and later,
    the Internet core gateway system, the CSNET Coordination
    and Information Center (CIC), and NSFNET Network
    Service Center (NNSC).

BITNET An academic computer network that provides interactive

    electronic mail and file transfer services, using a
    store-and-forward protocol, based on IBM Network Job Entry
    protocols.  BITNET-II encapsulates the BITNET protocol within
    IP packets and depends on the Internet to route them.  There
    are three main constituents of the network: BITNET in
    the United States and Mexico, NETNORTH in Canada, and EARN in
    Europe.  There are also AsiaNet, in Japan, and connections in
    South America.  See CREN.

bps bits per second

    A measure of data transmission speed.

BSD Berkeley Software Distribution

    Implementation of the UNIX operating system and its utilities
    developed and distributed by the University of California at
    Berkeley.  "BSD" is usually preceded by the version number of
    the distribution, e.g., "4.3 BSD" is version 4.3 of the
    Berkeley UNIX distribution.  Many Internet hosts run BSD
    software, and it is the ancestor of many commercial UNIX
    implementations.

catenet A network in which hosts are connected to networks

    with varying characteristics, and the networks
    are interconnected by gateways (routers).  The
    Internet is an example of a catenet.

CCITT International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee

    This organization is part of the United National International
    Telecommunications Union (ITU) and is responsible for making
    technical recommendations about telephone and data
    communications systems.

core gateway

    Historically, one of a set of gateways (routers)
    operated by the Internet Network Operations Center
    at BBN.  The core gateway system forms a central part
    of Internet routing in that all groups had to advertise
    paths to their networks from a core gateway.

CREN The Corporation for Research and Educational Networking

    This organization was formed in October 1989, when BITNET and
    CSNET (Computer + Science NETwork) were combined under one
    administrative authority.  CSNET is no longer operational, but
    CREN still runs BITNET.  See also: BITNET.

DARPA See ARPA.

Datagram

    A self-contained, independent entity of data carrying
    sufficient information to be routed from the source
    to the destination computer without reliance on earlier
    exchanges between this source and destination computer and
    the transporting network.

DCA Defense Communications Agency

    Former name of the Defense Information Systems Agency
    (DISA).  See DISA.

DDN Defense Data Network

    A global communications network serving the US Department of
    Defense composed of MILNET, other portions of the Internet,
    and classified networks which are not part of the Internet.
    The DDN is used to connect military installations and is
    managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).
    See also: DISA.

DDN NIC The Defense Data Network Network Information Center

    The network information center at Network Solutions, Inc.,
    funded by DISA, that provides information services to the
    DDN community.  It is also a primary repository for RFCs, and
    a delegated registration authority for military networks.

DEC Digital Equipment Corporation

DECnet Digital Equipment Corporation network

    A proprietary network protocol designed by Digital Equipment
    Corporation.  The functionality of each Phase of the
    implementation, such as Phase IV and Phase V, is different.

default route

    A routing table entry which is used to direct packets
    addressed to networks not explicitly listed in the routing table.

DISA Defense Information Systems Agency

    Formerly called DCA, this is the government agency
    responsible for installing the Defense Data Network
    (DDN) portion of the Internet, including the MILNET
    lines and nodes.  Currently, DISA administers the
    DDN, and supports the user assistance services of the
    DDN NIC.

DNS The Domain Name System is a general purpose distributed,

    replicated, data query service.  The principal use is the
    lookup of host IP addresses based on host names.  The style of
    host names now used in the Internet is called "domain name",
    because they are the style of names used to look up anything
    in the DNS.  Some important domains are: .COM (commercial),
    .EDU (educational), .NET (network operations), .GOV (U.S.
    government), and .MIL (U.S. military).  Most countries also
    have a domain.  For example, .US (United States), .UK (United
    Kingdom), .AU (Australia).  It is defined in STD 13, RFCs 1034
    and 1035.

DOD U.S. Department of Defense

DOE U.S. Department of Energy

dot address (dotted address notation)

    Dot address refers to the common notation for IP addresses of
    the form A.B.C.D; where each letter represents, in decimal,
    one byte of a four byte IP address.

Dynamic Adaptive Routing

    Automatic rerouting of traffic based on a sensing and analysis
    of current actual network conditions.  NOTE: this does not
    include cases of routing decisions taken on predefined
    information.

EARN European Academic Research Network

EBCDIC Extended Binary-coded Decimal Interchange Code

    A standard character-to-number encoding used primarily by IBM
    computer systems.  See also: ASCII.

EGP Exterior Gateway Protocol

    A protocol which distributes routing information to the
    routers which connect autonomous systems.  The term "gateway"
    is historical, as "router" is currently the preferred term.
    There is also a routing protocol called EGP defined in STD 18,
    RFC 904.

Ethernet

    A 10-Mb/s standard for LANs, initially developed by Xerox,
    and later refined by Digital, Intel and Xerox (DIX).  All
    hosts are connected to a coaxial cable where they contend for
    network access using a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
    Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) paradigm.

FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface

    A high-speed (100Mb/s) LAN standard.  The underlying medium is
    fiber optics, and the topology is a dual-attached,
    counter-rotating token ring.

FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard

FTP File Transfer Protocol

    A protocol which allows a user on one host to access, and
    transfer files to and from, another host over a network.
    Also, FTP is usually the name of the program the user invokes
    to execute the protocol.  It is defined in STD 9, RFC 959.

gateway See router.

GB Gigabyte

    A unit of data storage size which represents 10^9 (one
    billion) characters of information.

Gb Gigabit

    10^9 bits of information (usually used to express a
    data transfer rate; as in, 1 gigabit/second = 1Gbps).

GNU Gnu's Not UNIX

    A UNIX-compatible operating system developed by the
    Free Software Foundation.

header The portion of a packet, preceding the actual data, containing

    source and destination addresses, and error checking and other
    fields.  A header is also the part of an electronic mail
    message that precedes the body of a message and contains,
    among other things, the message originator, date and time.

host number

    The part of an internet address that designates which
    node on the (sub)network is being addressed.

HP Hewlett-Packard

I/O Input/Output

IAB Internet Architecture Board

    The technical body that oversees the development of the
    Internet suite of protocols.  It has two task forces: the IETF
    and the IRTF.

IBM International Business Machines Corporation

ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol

    ICMP is an extension to the Internet Protocol.  It allows
    for the generation of error messages,test packets and
    informational messages related to IP.  It is defined in STD 5,
    RFC 792.

IEEE Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

    The IETF is a large open community of network designers,
    operators, vendors, and researchers whose purpose is to
    coordinate the operation, management and evolution of
    the Internet, and to resolve short- and mid-range
    protocol and architectural issues.  It is a major source
    of proposed protocol standards which are submitted to the
    Internet Engineering Steering Group for final approval.  The
    IETF meets three times a year and extensive minutes of the
    plenary proceedings are issued.

internet internetwork

    While an internet is a network, the term "internet" is usually
    used to refer to a collection of networks interconnected with
    routers.

Internet

    The Internet (note the capital "I") is the largest internet in
    the world.  Is a three level hierarchy composed of backbone
    networks (e.g., NSFNET, MILNET), mid-level networks, and stub
    networks.  The Internet is a multiprotocol internet.

internet address

    The 32-bit address defined by the Internet Protocol
    in STD 5, RFC 791.  It is usually represented in dotted
    decimal notation.  An internet, or IP, address uniquely
    identifies a node on an internet.

IP Internet Protocol

    The Internet Protocol, defined in STD 5, RFC 791, is the
    network layer for the TCP/IP Protocol Suite.  It is a
    connectionless, best-effort packet switching protocol.

IRTF Internet Research Task Force

    The IRTF is chartered by the IAB to consider long-term
    Internet issues from a theoretical point of view.  It has
    Research Groups, similar to IETF Working Groups, which are
    each tasked to discuss different research topics.  Multi-cast
    audio/video conferencing and privacy enhanced mail are samples
    of IRTF output.

ISO International Organization for Standardization

    A voluntary, nontreaty organization founded in 1946 which is
    responsible for creating international standards in many
    areas, including computers and communications.  Its members
    are the national standards organizations of the 89 member
    countries, including ANSI for the U.S.

KB Kilobyte

    A unit of data storage size which represents 10^3
    (one thousand) characters of information.

Kb Kilobit

    10^3 bits of information (usually used to express a
    data transfer rate; as in, 1 kilobit/second = 1Kbps = 1Kb).

LAN Local Area Network

    A data network intended to serve an area of only a few square
    kilometers or less.  Because the network is known to cover
    only a small area, optimizations can be made in the network
    signal protocols that permit data rates up to 100Mb/s.

LISP List Processing Language

    A high-level computer language invented by Professor John
    McCarthy in 1961 to support research into computer based
    logic, logical reasoning, and artificial intelligence.  It
    was the first symbolic (as opposed to numeric) computer
    processing language.

MAC Medium Access Control

    The lower portion of the datalink layer.  The MAC differs for
    various physical media.

Mac Apple Macintosh computer.

MAN Metropolitan Area Network

    A data network intended to serve an area approximating that of
    a large city.  Such networks are being implemented by
    innovative techniques, such as running fiber cables through
    subway tunnels.  A popular example of a MAN is SMDS.

MB Megabyte

    A unit of data storage size which represents
    10^6 (one million) characters of information.

Mb Megabit

    10^6 bits of information (usually used to express a
    data transfer rate; as in, 1 megabit/second = 1Mbps).

MILNET Military Network

    A network used for unclassified military production
    applications.  It is part of the DDN and the Internet.

MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MTTF Mean Time to Failure

    The average time between hardware breakdown or loss of
    service.  This may be an empirical measurement or a
    calculation based on the MTTF of component parts.

MTTR Mean Time to Recovery (or Repair)

    The average time it takes to restore service after a
    breakdown or loss.  This is usually an empirical measurement.

MVS Multiple Virtual Storage

    An IBM operating system based on OS/1.

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NBS National Bureau of Standards

    Now called NIST.

network number

    The network portion of an IP address.  For a class A network,
    the network address is the first byte of the IP address.  For
    a class B network, the network address is the first two bytes
    of the IP address.  For a class C network, the network address
    is the first three bytes of the IP address.  In each case, the
    remainder is the host address.  In the Internet, assigned
    network addresses are globally unique.

NFS Network File System

    A protocol developed by Sun Microsystems, and defined in RFC
    1094, which allows a computer system to access files over a
    network as if they were on its local disks.  This protocol has
    been incorporated in products by more than two hundred
    companies, and is now a de facto Internet standard.

NIC Network Information Center

    A organization that provides information, assistance and
    services to network users.

NOC Network Operations Center

    A location from which the operation of a network or internet
    is monitored.  Additionally, this center usually serves as a
    clearinghouse for connectivity problems and efforts to resolve
    those problems.

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

    United States governmental body that provides assistance in
    developing standards.  Formerly the National Bureau of
    Standards (NBS).

NSF National Science Foundation

    A U.S. government agency whose purpose is to promote the
    advancement of science.  NSF funds science researchers,
    scientific projects, and infrastructure to improve the quality
    of scientific research.  The NSFNET, funded by NSF, is an
    essential part of academic and research communications.

NSFNET National Science Foundation Network

    The NSFNET is a highspeed "network of networks" which is
    hierarchical in nature.  At the highest level is a
    backbone network which spans the continental United
    States.  Attached to that are mid-level networks and
    attached to the mid-levels are campus and local
    networks.  NSFNET also has connections out of the U.S.
    to Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Pacific Rim.  The
    NSFNET is part of the Internet.

NSFNET Mid-level Level Network

    A network connected to the highest level of the NSFNET that
    covers a region of the United States.  It is to mid-level
    networks that local sites connect.  The mid-level networks
    were once called "regionals".

OSI Open Systems Interconnection

    A suite of protocols, designed by ISO committees, to be the
    international standard computer network architecture.

OSI Reference Model

    A seven-layer structure designed to describe computer network
    architectures and the way that data passes through them.  This
    model was developed by the ISO in 1978 to clearly define the
    interfaces in multivendor networks, and to provide users of
    those networks with conceptual guidelines in the construction
    of such networks.

OSPF Open Shortest-Path First Interior Gateway Protocol

    A link state, as opposed to distance vector, routing protocol.
    It is an Internet standard IGP defined in RFC 1247.

packet The unit of data sent across a network. "Packet" a generic

    term used to describe unit of data at all levels of the
    protocol stack, but it is most correctly used to describe
    application data units.

PC Personal Computer

PCNFS Personal Computer Network File System

PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

    The Point-to-Point Protocol, defined in RFC 1548, provides a
    method for transmitting packets over serial point-to-point
    links.

protocol

    A formal description of message formats and the rules
    two computers must follow to exchange those messages.
    Protocols can describe low-level details of
    machine-to-machine interfaces (e.g., the order in
    which bits and bytes are sent across a wire)
    or high-level exchanges between allocation
    programs (e.g., the way in which two programs
    transfer a file across the Internet).

RFC The document series, begun in 1969, which describes the

    Internet suite of protocols and related experiments.  Not all
    (in fact very few) RFCs describe Internet standards, but all
    Internet standards are written up as RFCs.

RIP Routing Information Protocol

    A distance vector, as opposed to link state, routing protocol.
    It is an Internet standard IGP defined in STD 34, RFC 1058
    (updated by RFC 1388).

RJE Remote Job Entry

    The general protocol for submitting batch jobs and
    retrieving the results.

router A device which forwards traffic between networks. The

    forwarding decision is based on network layer information and
    routing tables, often constructed by routing protocols.

RPC Remote Procedure Call

    An easy and popular paradigm for implementing the
    client-server model of distributed computing.  In general, a
    request is sent to a remote system to execute a designated
    procedure, using arguments supplied, and the result returned
    to the caller.  There are many variations and subtleties in
    various implementations, resulting in a variety of different
    (incompatible) RPC protocols.

server A provider of resources (e.g., file servers and name servers).

SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol

    A protocol used to run IP over serial lines, such as telephone
    circuits or RS-232 cables, interconnecting two systems.  SLIP
    is defined in STD 47, RFC 1055.

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

    A protocol, defined in STD 10, RFC 821, used to transfer
    electronic mail between computers.  It is a server to server
    protocol, so other protocols are used to access the messages.

SNA Systems Network Architecture

    A proprietary networking architecture used by IBM and
    IBM-compatible mainframe computers.

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol

    The Internet standard protocol, defined in STD 15, RFC 1157,
    developed to manage nodes on an IP network.  It is currently
    possible to manage wiring hubs, toasters, jukeboxes, etc.

subnet A portion of a network, which may be a physically independent

    network, which shares a network address with other portions
    of the network and is distinguished by a subnet number.  A
    subnet is to a network what a network is to an internet.

subnet number

    A part of the internet address which designates a subnet.
    It is ignored for the purposes internet routing, but is
    used for intranet routing.

T1 An AT&T term for a digital carrier facility used to transmit a

    DS-1 formatted digital signal at 1.544 megabits per second.

T3 A term for a digital carrier facility used to transmit a DS-3

    formatted digital signal at 44.746 megabits per second.

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

    An Internet Standard transport layer protocol defined in STD
    7, RFC 793.  It is connection-oriented and stream-oriented, as
    opposed to UDP.

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

    This is a common shorthand which refers to the suite
    of application and transport protocols which run over IP.
    These include FTP, TELNET, SMTP, and UDP (a transport
    layer protocol).

Telenet A public packet switched network using the CCITT X.25 protocols.

    It should not be confused with Telnet.

TELNET Telnet is the Internet standard protocol for remote terminal

    connection service.  It is defined in STD 8, RFC 854 and
    extended with options by many other RFCs.

Token Ring

    A token ring is a type of LAN with nodes wired into a ring.
    Each node constantly passes a control message (token) on to
    the next; whichever node has the token can send a message.
    Often, "Token Ring" is used to refer to the IEEE 802.5 token
    ring standard, which is the most common type of token ring.

Tymnet A public character-switching/packet-switching network

    operated by British Telecom.

UDP User Datagram Protocol

    An Internet Standard transport layer protocol defined in STD
    6, RFC 768.  It is a connectionless protocol which adds a
    level of multiplexing to IP.

ULTRIX UNIX-based operating system for Digital Equipment Corporation

    computers.

UNIX An operating system developed by Bell Laboratories that

    supports multiuser and multitasking operations.

UUCP UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program

    This was initially a program run under the UNIX operating
    system that allowed one UNIX system to send files to another
    UNIX system via dial-up phone lines.  Today, the term is more
    commonly used to describe the large international network
    which uses the UUCP protocol to pass news and electronic mail.

VMS Virtual Memory System

    A Digital Equipment Corporation operating system.

WAN Wide Area Network

    A network, usually constructed with serial lines, which covers a
    large geographic area.

WHOIS An Internet program which allows users to query databases of

    people and other Internet entities, such as domains, networks,
    and hosts.  The information for people generally shows a
    person's company name, address, phone number and email
    address.

XNS Xerox Network System

    A network developed by Xerox corporation.  Implementations
    exist for both 4.3BSD derived systems, as well as the Xerox
    Star computers.

X.25 A data communications interface specification developed to

    describe how data passes into and out of public data
    communications networks.  The CCITT and ISO approved protocol
    suite defines protocol layers 1 through 3.

14. Security Considerations

Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

15. Authors' Addresses

April N. Marine Network Applications and Information Center NASA Ames Research Center M/S 204-14 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

Phone: (415) 604-0762 EMail: [email protected]

Joyce K. Reynolds USC/Information Sciences Institute 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 1001 Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6695

Phone: (310) 822-1511 EMail: [email protected]

Gary Scott Malkin Xylogics, Inc. 53 Third Avenue Burlington, MA 01803

Phone: (617) 272-8140 EMail: [email protected]