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rfc:rfc1594

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?

User Services Working Group [Page 1] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction.................................................  2
 2. Acknowledgements.............................................  2
 3. Questions About the Internet.................................  3
 4. Questions About TCP/IP.......................................  5
 5. Questions About the Domain Name System.......................  5
 6. Questions About Internet Documentation.......................  6
 7. Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts.......... 13
 8. Questions About Services..................................... 18
 9. Mailing Lists and Sending Mail............................... 24
 10. Miscellaneous "Internet lore" questions..................... 26
 11. Suggested Reading........................................... 28
 12. References.................................................. 29
 13. Condensed Glossary.......................................... 31
 14. Security Considerations..................................... 44
 15. Authors' Addresses.......................................... 44

1. 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].

2. 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).

User Services Working Group [Page 2] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

3. 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

User Services Working Group [Page 3] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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 admin@ds.internic.net 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 4] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

4. 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.

5. 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

User Services Working Group [Page 5] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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.

6. 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 (RFC-EDITOR@ISI.EDU).  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-
    REQUEST@NIC.DDN.MIL.
    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

User Services Working Group [Page 6] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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
    rfc-info@isi.edu.  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
    mailserv@ds.internic.net 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 7] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

 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: RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU 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: RFC-MANAGER@ISI.EDU.
    To get started, you may send a message to RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU 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]

User Services Working Group [Page 8] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

      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.

User Services Working Group [Page 9] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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.

User Services Working Group [Page 10] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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-
    request@isi.edu".
    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:
  1. The Internet Drafts are not RFCs and are not a numbered

document series.

  1. The words INTERNET-DRAFT appear in place of RFC XXXX

in the upper left-hand corner.

  1. The document does not refer to itself as an RFC or as a

Draft RFC.

  1. 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

User Services Working Group [Page 11] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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

User Services Working Group [Page 12] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

7. 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 13] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 14] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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:

User Services Working Group [Page 15] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

       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

User Services Working Group [Page 16] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    For more information on number assignments, contact: IANA@ISI.EDU.
 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 17] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    All three portions of the InterNIC can be reached by calling (800)
    444-4345 or by sending a message to info@internic.net.  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 hostmaster@nic.ddn.mil 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 NCC@RIPE.NET
    and APNIC-STAFF@APNIC.NET).  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.

8. 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

User Services Working Group [Page 18] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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: "userid@organization.country".  For example, the queries
    "droms@bucknell" and "kille@ucl.gb" 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 *".

User Services Working Group [Page 19] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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 WP-INFO@PSI.COM.
 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 20] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 21] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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 info@bunyip.com.
 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 22] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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 listserv@earncc.bitnet or
    listserve%earncc.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu.  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.

User Services Working Group [Page 23] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

 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".

9. 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 ietf-announce@cnri.reston.va.us list,
    you would send a message to ietf-announce-
    request@cnri.reston.va.us.  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

User Services Working Group [Page 24] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    administrative address will usually be something like
    "listserv@host.domain", where the address for the mailing list
    itself will be "list@host.domain".  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 user@host.domain.
    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 june@nisc.sri.com.
    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:
        username@hostname.subdomain.toplevel domain
        e.g. gsmith@nisc.sri.COM
      Internet user to BITNET user:
        user%site.BITNET@BITNET-GATEWAY
        e.g. gsmith%emoryu1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu.
             gsmith%emoryu1@CORNELLC.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
      Internet user to UUCP user:
        user%host.UUCP@uunet.uu.net
        user%domain@uunet.uu.net

User Services Working Group [Page 25] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

      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.
        xxxx.xxxx@compuserve.com
      CompuServe user to Internet user:
        >Internet:user@host
        Insert >internet: before an Internet address.
      Internet user to MCIMail user:
        accountname@mcimail.com
        mci_id@mcimail.com
        full_user_name@mcimail.com.

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!

User Services Working Group [Page 26] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

 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

User Services Working Group [Page 27] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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-
    server@pit-manager.mit.edu 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.

User Services Working Group [Page 28] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

    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.

User Services Working Group [Page 29] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

 [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.

User Services Working Group [Page 30] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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      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.

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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.

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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).

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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

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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.

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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.

User Services Working Group [Page 42] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

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.

User Services Working Group [Page 43] RFC 1594 FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users March 1994

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:  amarine@atlas.arc.nasa.gov
 Joyce K. Reynolds
 USC/Information Sciences Institute
 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 1001
 Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6695
 Phone:  (310) 822-1511
 EMail:  jkrey@isi.edu
 Gary Scott Malkin
 Xylogics, Inc.
 53 Third Avenue
 Burlington, MA  01803
 Phone:  (617) 272-8140
 EMail:  gmalkin@Xylogics.COM

User Services Working Group [Page 44]

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