    Network Working Group                                          G. Malkin
    Request for Comments: 1325                                      Xylogics
    FYI: 4                                                         A. Marine
    Obsoletes: RFC 1206                                                  SRI
                                                                    May 1992

                          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.  It does
       not specify an Internet standard.  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 the Internet:
         How do I get a list of all the hosts on the Internet?

       Questions About Internet Documentation:
         What is the RFC-INFO service?
         What is an FYI?
         What is an STD?
         What is the Internet Monthly Report?

       Questions About Internet Organizations:
         What is the Internet Society?

       Questions About Internet Services:
         What is "archie"?
         How do I Connect to archie?

       Mailing Lists and Sending Mail
         How Do I Send Mail to Other Networks?

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 1]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

    Table of Contents

       1. Introduction.................................................  2
       2. Acknowledgements.............................................  3
       3. Questions About the Internet.................................  3
       4. Questions About TCP/IP.......................................  5
       5. Questions About the Domain Name System.......................  6
       6. Questions About Internet Documentation.......................  6
       7. Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts.......... 14
       8. Questions About Services..................................... 19
       9. Mailing Lists and Sending Mail............................... 23
       10. Miscellaneous "Internet lore" questions..................... 27
       11. Suggested Reading........................................... 28
       12. References.................................................. 29
       13. Condensed Glossary.......................................... 30
       14. Security Considerations..................................... 42
       15. Authors' Addresses.......................................... 42

    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, while moving the redundancies away from the electronic
       mailing lists so that the lists' subscribers do not have to read the
       same queries and answers over and over again.

       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].

       The Q/A mailing lists are maintained by Gary Malkin at Xylogics.COM.
       They are used by a subgroup of the User Services Working Group to
       discuss the Q/A FYIs.  They include:

       quail@xylogics.com      This is a discussion mailing list.  Its
                               primary use is for pre-release review of
                               the Q/A FYIs.  It is not necessary to be
                               on this list to get the FYI documents.

       quail-request@xylogics.com  This is how you join and leave the quail
                                   mailing list.

       quail-box@xylogics.com  This is a write-only list which serves as a

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 2]

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                               repository for candidate questions and
                               answers.  It is not necessary to be on the
                               quail mailing list to forward to the
                               quail-box.  Please note that this is not a
                               place to ask questions to which you don't
                               know the answers.

    2. Acknowledgements

       The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions
       to this FYI Q/A: Corinne Carroll (BBN), Vint Cerf (CNRI), Peter
       Deutsch (McGill), John Klensin (MIT), Doug Mildram (Xylogics), Tracy
       LaQuey Parker (UTexas), Craig Partridge (BBN), Jon Postel (ISI), Matt
       Power (MIT), Joyce K.  Reynolds (ISI), Karen Roubicek (Faxon),
       Patricia Smith (Merit), Gene Spafford (Purdue), and Carol Ward (SRI).

    3. Questions About the Internet

       What is the Internet?

          The Internet is a large collection of networks (all of which run
          the TCP/IP protocols) that are tied together so that users of any
          of the networks can use the network services provided by TCP/IP to
          reach users on any of the other networks.  The Internet started
          with the ARPANET, but now includes such networks as NSFNET,
          NYSERnet, and thousands of others.  There are other major wide
          area networks, such as BITNET and DECnet networks, that are not
          based on the TCP/IP protocols and are thus not 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.

       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

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 3]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

          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 published by the NSF
          Network Service Center (NNSC) and is continuously being updated.
          The Resource Guide is distributed free via e-mail (send a note to
          resource-guide-request@nnsc.nsf.net to join the e-mail
          distribution) and via anonymous FTP (in nnsc.nsf.net:resource-
          guide/*).  Hardcopy is available at a nominal fee (to cover
          reproduction costs) from the NNSC.  Call the NNSC at 617-873-3400
          for more information.

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

          Three good sources to consult are "!%@:: A Directory of Electronic
          Mail Addressing and Networks" by Donnalyn Frey and Rick Adams;
          "The User's Directory of Computer Networks", by Tracy LaQuey; and
          "The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems
          Worldwide", by John Quarterman.

          In addition, it is possible to find some information about
          Internet sites in the WHOIS database maintained at the DDN NIC at
          Network Solutions, Inc..  The DDN NIC (Defense Data Network,
          Network Information Center) provides an information retrieval
          interface to the database that is also called WHOIS.  To use this
          interface, TELNET to NIC.DDN.MIL and type "whois" (carriage
          return).  No login is necessary.  Type "help" at the whois prompt
          for more information on using the facility.  WHOIS will show many
          sites, but may not show every site registered with the DDN NIC
          (simply for reasons having to do with how the program is set up to
          search the database).

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

          You really don't want that.  The list includes almost 727,000
          hosts.  Almost all of them require that you have access permission
          to actually use them.  However, there are many machines which
          serve special functions and are available to the public.  There is
          not yet a definitive list, but below are some available machines.
          They are available via telnet.

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 4]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

             A geographic information server which provides latitude,
             longitude and other statistics about a city.

                telnet martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000

             The Library of Congress maintains an online catalog.

                telnet dra.com

             NASA SpaceLink offers latest NASA news including shuttle
             launches and satellite updates.

                telnet spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

    4. Questions About TCP/IP

       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.

       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
          Activities 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.

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 5]

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    5.  Questions About the Domain Name System

       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.

       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, PARIS.NISC.SRI.COM is a Fully Qualified Domain Name for
          the host at 192.33.33.109.  In addition, NISC.SRI.COM is the FQDN
          for the NISC domain.

    6. Questions About Internet Documentation

       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

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 6]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

          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 1111, "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
          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 "IAB Official Protocol Standards"
          [2] memo is the reference for determining the correct RFC to refer
          to for the current specification of each protocol.

       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 US ones, FTP the file in-
          notes/rfc-retrieval.txt from the host ISI.EDU.  That host supports
          anonymous login.  You can also get information about RFC
          repositories via electronic mail.  Send a message to rfc-
          info@isi.edu.  In the body of the message, type
          "help: ways_to_get_rfcs" (without the quotes).

          Two examples of obtaining RFCs online follow.

          RFCs can be obtained via FTP from NIC.DDN.MIL, with the pathname
          rfc/rfcNNNN.txt (where "NNNN" refers to the number of the RFC).
          Login using FTP, username "anonymous" and password "guest".

          RFCs can also be obtained via FTP from NIS.NSF.NET.  Using FTP,

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 7]

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          login with username "anonymous" and password "guest"; then connect
          to the RFC directory ("cd RFC").  The file name is of the form
          RFCnnnn.TXT-1 (where "nnnn" refers to the number of the RFC).  The
          NIS also provides an automatic mail service for those sites which
          cannot use FTP.  Address the request to NIS-INFO@NIS.NSF.NET and
          leave the subject field of the message blank.  The first line of
          the text of the message must be "SEND RFCnnnn.TXT-1", where nnnn
          is replaced by the RFC number.

          Requests for special distribution should be addressed to either
          the author of the RFC in question, to NIC@NIC.DDN.MIL, or to
          NISC@NISC.SRI.COM.  SRI International operates the
          FTP.NISC.SRI.COM online repository of RFCs and other files, and
          makes the RFCs available in hardcopy for those people who have
          neither FTP nor e-mail access to the Internet.  Hardcopy RFCs are
          sold by SRI on a cost-recovery basis.  In addition, SRI has a
          hardcopy subscription service for RFCs, as well as several
          publications that incorporate selections of RFCs.  Unless
          specifically noted otherwise on the RFC itself, all RFCs are for
          unlimited distribution.

       How do I obtain a list of RFCs?

          SRI maintains a file that is an index of the RFCs.  It lists each
          RFC, starting with the most recent, and for each RFC provides the
          number, title, author(s), issue date, and number of hardcopy
          pages.  In addition, it lists the online formats (PostScript or
          ASCII text) for each RFC and the number of bytes each such version
          is online.  If an RFC is also an FYI, that fact is noted, with the
          corresponding FYI number.  (There is a parallel FYI Index
          available).  Finally, the Index notes whether or not an RFC is
          obsoleted or updated by another RFC, and gives the number of that
          RFC, or if an RFC itself obsoletes or updates another RFC, and
          gives that RFC number.  The index is updated online each time an
          RFC is issued.

          This RFC Index is available online for anonymous FTP from the
          FTP.NISC.SRI.COM host as rfc/rfc-index.txt.  The FYI Index is
          online as fyi/fyi-index.txt.  They are also available via
          electronic mail by sending a message to mail-server@nisc.sri.com.
          In the body of the message, say "send rfc-index" or "send fyi-
          index" (don't use quotes, but do use lowercase).  The RFC Index is
          also available from the SRI in hardcopy for $12, as are individual
          RFCs.  Call SRI at 1-415-859-3695 for help in obtaining the Index.

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 8]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

       What is the RFC-INFO service?

          The Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern
          California (ISI) has announced 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 e-mail based service to help in locating and
          retrival of RFCs and FYIs.  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 e-mail to RFC-INFO@ISI.EDU with your
          requests in the body 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 matches everything]
    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]

    User Services Working Group                                     [Page 9]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

      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]

       Which RFCs are Standards?

          See "IAB Official Protocol Standards" (currently, RFC 1280) [2].

       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 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

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          zeroes.

       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 IAB 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.

       What is the Internet Monthly Report?

          The Internet Monthly Report communicates online to the Internet
          Research Group 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 Internet Monthly Report is for Internet information purposes
          only.

          You can receive the report online by joining the mailing list that
          distributes the rerpot.  Requests to be added or deleted from the
          Internet Monthly report list should be sent to "cooper@isi.edu".

          In addition, back issues of the Report are available for anonymous
          FTP from the host NIS.NSF.NET in the 'imr' directory with the file
          names in the form IMRYY-MM.TXT, where YY is the last two digits of
          the year and MM two digits for the month.  For example, the June
          1991 Report is in the file IMR91-06.TXT.

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       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 available,
          for review and comment by the IETF members, draft documents that
          will be submitted ultimately to the IAB and the RFC Editor to be
          considered for publishing as an RFC.  The Internet Drafts
          Directories are maintained primarily at the NSFNET Network Service
          Center (NNSC).  There are several "shadow" machines which contain
          the IETF and Internet Drafts Directories.  They are:

             NSF Network Service Center:  nnsc.nsf.net
             DDN NIC:  nic.ddn.mil
             SRI International: ftp.nisc.sri.com
             Pacific Rim:  munnari.oz.au
             Europe:  nic.nordu.net (192.36.148.17)

          To access these directories, use anonymous FTP.  Login with
          username, "anonymous", password, "guest".  Once logged in, change
          to the directory, "cd internet-drafts".  Internet Draft files can
          then be retrieved.

          For further information on the Internet Drafts of the IETF, or if
          you have problems with retrieving Internet Draft documents,
          contact Megan Davies (mdavies@nri.reston.va.us) or Greg Vaudreuil
          (gvaudre@nri.reston.va.us) for assistance.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 12]

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       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 SRI and
          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

             Available through anonymous ftp from ftp.nisc.sri.com
             (192.33.33.22) as:

                netinfo/gosip-v2.txt        -- ascii
                netinfo/gosip-v2.ps         -- PostScript

             Hardcopy sources:

                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 13]

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                Network Information Systems Center
                SRI International, Room EJ291
                333 Ravenswood Ave.
                Menlo Park, CA  94025
                1-415-859-3695

    7. Questions about Internet Organizations and Contacts

       What is the IAB?

          The Internet Activities Board (IAB) is the coordinating committee
          for Internet design, engineering and management [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 current Chair of the IAB is Lyman Chapin.  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)   Sets 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.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 14]

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          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.

       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 chaired by Phill Gross and managed by its Internet
          Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  The IETF is a large open
          community of network designers, operators, vendors, and
          researchers concerned with the Internet and the Internet protocol
          suite.  It is organized around a set of several technical areas,
          each managed by a technical area director.  In addition to the
          IETF Chairman, the area directors make up the IESG membership.

          The IAB has delegated to the IESG the general responsibility for
          making the Internet work and for the resolution of all short- and
          mid-range protocol and architectural issues required to make the
          Internet function effectively.

       What is the IRTF?

          To promote research in networking and the development of new
          technology, the IAB established the Internet Research Task Force
          (IRTF).

          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.

          The IRTF is a community of network researchers, generally with an
          Internet focus.  The work of the IRTF is governed by its Internet
          Research Steering Group (IRSG).  The chairman of the IRTF and IRSG
          is Jon Postel.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 15]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

       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) anticipates that it will
          integrate 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 NNSC.NSF.NET in the directory isoc.
          Here is a list of the files available:

          Filename (Topic)          Description

          index-isoc                An index of the isoc directory

          announcement              Internet Society Announcement

          charter                   Internet Society Charter

          inet-conference           INET 92 Internet Society Annual Meeting
                                    Announcement and Call for Participation

          isoc-advisory-council     The Internet Society advisory council

          isoc-founding-members     List of the Internet Society founding
                                    members

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 16]

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          isoc-secretariat          Information about the Internet Society
                                    secretariat

          isoc-trustees             List of the Internet Society trustees

          questions-and-answers     Internet Society Questions & Answers
                                    by Vint Cerf

          membership-organizations  Internet Society Organizational
                                    Membership Form

          membership-individuals    Internet Society Individual Membership
                                    Form

          This information is also available via electronic mail via the
          NNSC Info-Server.  The Info-Server is an automated program that
          retrieves information through electronic mail.  To receive these
          files via the Info-Server, send a mail message to: info-
          server@nnsc.nsf.net. In the body of the message, type "Request:
          isoc" followed by the topic names of any files you'd like.  For
          example:

             Request: isoc
             Topic:   inet-conference
             Topic:   questions-and-answers
             Topic:   charter
             Topic:   announcement
             Request: end

          Notice that the "Topics" for the Info-Server correspond to the
          file names used when FTPing.

       What is the IANA?

          The task of coordinating the assignment of values to the
          parameters of protocols is delegated by the Internet Activities
          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 Network Information Center at
          Network Solutions, Inc.  This responsibility has been delegated by
          the IANA to the DDN NIC which serves as the Internet Registry.
          The IANA is located at USC/Information Sciences Institute.

          Current types of assignments listed in Assigned Numbers and

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 17]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

          maintained by the IANA are:

             Address Resolution Protocol Parameters
             ARPANET and MILNET X.25 Address Mappings
             ARPANET and MILNET Logical Addresses
             ARPANET and MILNET Link Numbers
             BOOTP Parameters and BOOTP Extension Codes
             Domain System Parameters
             IANA Ethernet Address Blocks
             Ethernet Numbers of Interest
             IEEE 802 Numbers of Interest
             Internet Protocol Numbers
             Internet Version Numbers
             IP Time to Live Parameter
             IP TOS Parameters
             Machine Names
             Mainl Encryption Types
             Multicast Addresses
             Network Management Parameters
             Point-to-Point Protocol Field Assignments
             PRONET 80 Type Numbers
             Port Assignments
             Protocol and Service Names
             Protocol/Type Field Assignments
             Public Data Network Numbers
             Reverse Address Resolution Protocol Operation Codes
             TELNET Options
             Terminal Type Names
             Unix Ports
             X.25 Type Numbers

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

       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 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.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 18]

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       What is "The NIC"?

          "The NIC" usually refers to the Defense Data Network, Network
          Information Center (DDN NIC), which is now at Network Solutions,
          Inc.  The DDN NIC is a network information center that maintains a
          repository for RFCs and Internet Drafts.  The host name is
          NIC.DDN.MIL.  Shadow copies of the RFCs and the Internet Drafts
          are maintained on several other hosts as well, including
          NIS.NSF.NET and FTP.NISC.SRI.COM.

          The DDN NIC also provides various user assistance services for DDN
          users; contact NIC@NIC.DDN.MIL or call 1-800-365-3642 for more
          information.  In addition, the DDN NIC is the Internet
          registration authority for the root domain and several top and
          second level domains; maintains the official DoD Internet Host
          Table; is the site of the Internet Registry (IR); and maintains
          the WHOIS database of network users, hosts, domains, networks, and
          Points of Contact.

          This NIC was located for many years at SRI International, so you
          may also hear the term "SRI NIC".  SRI also maintains an online
          information repository and provides general Internet information
          services.  For example, the SRI Network Information Systems Center
          is currently the only site that provides paper copies of the RFCs,
          which are made available on a cost recovery basis.  Call 415-859-
          3695 for more information on this service.

       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 may, in the future,
          allocate the authority to assign network identifiers to other
          organizations; however, it will continue to gather data regarding
          such assignments.  At present, the DDN NIC at Network Solutions,
          Inc., serves as the IR.

    8. Questions About Services

       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.  The largest directories are the WHOIS
          database at the DDN NIC, the PSInet White Pages, and KNOWBOT.
          Generally, it is still necessary to ask the person for his or her
          email address.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 19]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

       How do I use the WHOIS program at the DDN NIC?

          To use the WHOIS program to search the WHOIS database at the DDN
          NIC, TELNET to the NIC host, NIC.DDN.MIL.  There is no need to
          login.  Type "whois" to call up the information retrieval program.
          Next, type the name of the person, host, domain, network, or
          mailbox for which you need information.  If you are only typing
          part of the name, end your search string with a period.  Type
          "help" for a more in-depth explanation of what you can search for
          and how you can search.  If you have trouble, send a message to
          NIC@NIC.DDN.MIL or call 1-800-365-3642.

       How do I become registered in the DDN NIC's WHOIS database?

          If you would like to be listed in the WHOIS database, you must
          have an electronic mailbox accessible from the Internet.  First
          obtain the file netinfo/user-template.txt.  You can retrieve this
          file via anonymous FTP from NIC.DDN.MIL.

          Fill out the name and address information requested in the file
          and return it to REGISTRAR@NIC.DDN.MIL.  Your application will be
          processed and you will be added to the database.  Unless you are
          an official Point of Contact for a network entity registered at
          the DDN NIC, the DDN NIC will not regularly poll you for updates,
          so you should remember to send corrections to your information as
          your contact data changes.

       How do I use the White Pages at PSI?

          Performance Systems International, Inc. (PSI), sponsors a White
          Pages Pilot 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 *".

          For more information, send a message to WP-INFO@PSI.COM.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 20]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

       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 nri.reston.va.us and sol.bucknell.edu.
          From a UNIX host, use "telnet nri.reston.va.us 185".  There is
          also an electronic mail interface avaliable by sending mail to
          netaddress at either nri.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 thorgh 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.

          The default list of directory services currently includes the
          whois services at the DDN NIC and the white pages service for
          MCIMail.  If an organization is specified, the PSI X.500 service
          is also searched.  Other services can be requested explicitly.

       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, UUCP, BITNET, and others.  USENET is not part of the
          Internet proper.  Netnews can be a valuable tool to economically
          transport traffic that would otherwise be sent via mail.  USENET
          has no central administration.

       How do I get on USENET?

          To get on USENET, you must acquire the 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

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 21]

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          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.

       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 allow any password and
          request that the password you choose is your userid.  If this
          fails, the generic password is usually "guest".

       What is "archie"?

          The archie system was created by a group at McGill University in
          Montreal to automatically track anonymous FTP archive sites, and
          this is still its primary function.  The system curently makes
          available the names and locations of some 1,500,000 files at some
          900 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.
          Additional databases are planned for the coming months.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 22]

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       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.  There are currently nine
          archie servers located throughout the world.

          To try the TELNET interface to archie you can TELNET to the host
          ARCHIE.MCGILL.CA and login as user "archie" (there is no password
          required).  Type "help" to get you started.  The "servers" command
          can be used to locate an archie server closer to your site.  Using
          an archie server closer to you relieves some of the load on the
          McGill host.

          You can obtain details on using the electronic mail interface by
          sending mail to "archie@archie.mcgill.ca" with the word "help" in
          either the subject or body of the message.

          Documentation on archie is available for anonymous ftp from
          ARCHIE.MCGILL.CA in the subdirectory "archie/doc".  A variety of
          archie client programs are available in the subdirectory
          "archie/clients".  Questions, comments, and suggestions can be
          sent to the archie development group by sending mail to "archie-
          group@archie.mcgill.ca".

       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.

    9. Mailing Lists and Sending Mail

       What is a mailing list?

          A mailing list is really nothing more than an alias that has
          multiple destinations.  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 large, "public" mailing lists, such as
          IETF and TCP-IP, have an additional mail address to which requests
          to be added or deleted may be sent.  Usually, these are of the

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 23]

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          form listname-request.

          There is a "list-of-lists" file available on the host
          ftp.nisc.sri.com that lists most of the major mailing lists,
          describes their primary topics, and explains how to subscribe to
          them.  The file is available for anonymous ftp in the netinfo
          directory as interest-groups (that is, the path is:
          netinfo/interest-groups).  It can also be obtained via electronic
          mail.  Send a message to mail-server@nisc.sri.com with the body of
          the message reading, "Send netinfo/interest-groups" and the file
          will be returned in moderate size pieces via electronic mail.

       How do I contact the administrator of a mailing list rather than
          posting to the entire list?

          For every mailing list mentioned in the "interest-groups" file,
          there is a description of how to join the list or send other such
          administrative messages to the person in charge of the list.  In
          general, however, it is usually safe to assume that you can send a
          message to an address in the format of ListName-request@domain.
          The convention of having a parallel mailbox conforming to the "-
          request" format is very widely followed.  All administrative
          messages regarding using, joining, or quitting the list should be
          sent to that mailbox instead of to the whole list so that the
          readers of the list don't have to read them.

       What are some good mailing lists?

          The TCP-IP, IETF, and RFC Distribution lists are primary lists for
          new Internet users who desire further information about current
          and emerging developments in the Internet.  The first two lists
          are unmoderated discussion lists, and the latter is an
          announcement service used by the RFC Editor.

       How do I subscribe to the TCP-IP mailing list?

          To be added to the TCP-IP mailing list, send a message to:

             TCP-IP-REQUEST@NIC.DDN.MIL

       How do I subscribe to the IETF mailing list?

          To be added to the IETF mailing list, send a message to:

             IETF-REQUEST@ISI.EDU

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 24]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

       How do I subscribe to the RFC Distribution list?

          To be added to the RFC Distribution list, send a message to:

             RFC-REQUEST@NIC.DDN.MIL

          Note that all announcements to this list are also sent to the IETF
          list.  So, if you are on the IETF list, you don't need to be on
          this list, too.

       How do I send mail to other networks?

          Mail to the Internet is addressed in the form user@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 e-mail 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 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

            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.

            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.

       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.

       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.  The same
          is true for creating newsgroups.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 26]

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    10. Miscellaneous "Internet lore" questions

       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!

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

          Often commmon 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).

       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.

          Other information is also routinely posted.  Here are the subject
          lines of several general information postings provided on USENET:

             Answers to Frequently Asked Questions  (the "FAQ" list)
             Introduction to news.announce
             What is Usenet?
             Rules for posting to Usenet

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 27]

    RFC 1325            FYI Q/A - for New Internet Users            May 1992

             How to Create a New Newsgroup
             How to Create a New Trial Newsgroup
             A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
             Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
             Hints on writing style for Usenet
             USENET Software: History and Sources
             List of Active Newsgroups
             Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part I
             Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part II
             How to Construct the Mailpaths File
             Regional Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part I
             Regional Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part II
             Regional Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part III
             List of Moderators
             Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, Part I
             Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, Part II
             Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, Part III
             List of Periodic Informational Postings
             How to Get Information about Networks
             A Guide to Social Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

          All of these articles are normally archived for FTP access on
          pit-manager.mit.edu in /pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers.

    11. Suggested Reading

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

          Bowers, K., T. LaQuey, J. Reynolds, K. Roubicek, M. Stahl, and A.
          Yuan, "Where to Start - A Bibliography of General Internetworking
          Information", RFC 1175, FYI 3, CNRI, U Texas, ISI, BBN, SRI,
          Mitre, August 1990.

          Comer, D., "Internetworking with TCP/IP: Principles, Protocols,
          and Architecture", Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1989.

          Krol, E., "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet", RFC 1118,
          University of Illinois Urbana, September 1989.

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    12. References

       [1] Reynolds, J., and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 1060,
           USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1990.

       [2] Postel, J., Editor, "IAB Official Protocol Standards", RFC 1280,
           Internet Activities Board, March 1992.

       [3] Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP), RFC
           959, USC/Information Sciences Institute, October 1985.

       [4] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol - DARPA Internet Program Protocol
           Specification", RFC 791, DARPA, September 1981.

       [5] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol - DARPA Internet
           Program Protocol Specification", RFC 793, DARPA, September 1981.

       [6] Leiner, B., R. Cole, J. Postel, 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", RFC 821,
           USC/Information Sciences Institute, August 1982.

       [9] Postel, J., and J. Reynolds, "TELNET Protocol Specification", RFC
           854, USC/Information Sciences Institute, May 1983.

      [10] Postel, J., "Request for Comments on Request for Comments -
           Instructions to RFC Authors", RFC 1111, USC/Information Sciences
           Institute, August 1989.

      [11] Malkin, G., A. Marine, 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.

    User Services Working Group                                    [Page 29]

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    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 two separate uses of this term in internet
               networking: "electronic mail address" and "internet
               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.
               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
               A group that certifies organizations which develop U.S.
               standards for the information processing industry.  ANSI
               accredited groups participate in defining network protocol
               standards.

       ARP     Address Resolution Protocol
               An Internet protocol which runs on Ethernet and all IEEE
               802.X LANs which maps internet addresses to MAC addresses.

       ARPA    Advanced Research Projects Agency
               The former name of what is now called DARPA.

       ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
               A pioneering long haul 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 gateways (routers) under a single
               administrative authority using a common Interior Gateway
               Protocol for routing packets.

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       ASCII   American (National) Standard Code for Information Interchange

       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  Because It's Time Network
               BITNET has about 2,500 host computers, primarily at
               universities, in many countries.  It is managed by
               EDUCOM, which provides administrative support and
               information services.  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
               Term used when describing different versions
               of the Berkeley UNIX software, as in "4.3BSD
               UNIX".

       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

       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

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               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
               BITNET and CSNET have recently merged to form CREN.

       CSNET   Computer + Science Network
               A large data communications network for institutions doing
               research in computer science.   It uses several different
               protocols including some of its own.  CSNET sites include
               universities, research laboratories, and commercial
               companies.  See CREN.

       DARPA   U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
               The government agency that funded the ARPANET and later
               started the Internet.

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

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

       DDN     Defense Data Network
               Comprises the MILNET and several other DoD networks.

       DDN NIC The network information center at Network Solutions, Inc.
               It is the primary repository for RFCs and Internet Drafts,
               as well as providing other services.

       DEC     Digital Equipment Corporation

       DECnet  Digital Equipment Corporation network
               A networking protocol for DEC computers and network devices.

       default route
               A routing table entry which is used to direct any data
               addressed to any network numbers not explicitly listed
               in the routing table.

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       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 mechanism used in
               the Internet for translating names of host computers
               into addresses.  The DNS also allows host computers
               not directly on the Internet to have registered
               names in the same style, but returns the electronic
               mail gateway which accesses the non-Internet network
               instead of an IP address.

       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 Internet
               addresses of the form A.B.C.D; where each letter represents,
               in decimal, one byte of the 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

       EGP     Exterior Gateway Protocol
               A protocol which distributes routing information to the
               gateways (routers) which connect autonomous systems.

       Ethernet
               A network standard for the hardware and data link levels.
               There are two types of Ethernet: Digital/Intel/Xerox (DIX)
               and IEEE 802.3.

       FDDI    Fiber Distributed Data Interface
               FDDI is a high-speed (100Mb) token ring LAN.

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       FIPS    Federal Information Processing Standard

       FTP     File Transfer Protocol
               The Internet standard high-level protocol for
               transferring files from one computer to another.

       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 fields.

       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 Activities Board
               The IAB is the coordinating committee for Internet
               design, engineering and management.

       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.

       IEEE    Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers

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       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 Activities Board for final approval.  The IETF
               meets three times a year and extensive minutes of the
               plenary proceedings are issued.

       internet
       internetwork
               Any connection of two or more local or wide-area networks.

       Internet
               The global collection of interconnected local, mid-level and
               wide-area networks which use IP as the network layer
               protocol.

       internet address
               An assigned number which identifies a host in an internet.
               It has two or three parts: network number, optional subnet
               number, and host number.

       IP      Internet Protocol
               The network layer protocol for the Internet.  It is a packet
               switching, datagram protocol defined in RFC 791.

       IRTF    Internet Research Task Force
               The IRTF is a community of network researchers,
               generally with an Internet focus.  The work of the IRTF
               is governed by its Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG).

       ISO     International Organization for Standardization

       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).

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       LAN     Local Area Network
               A network that takes advantage of the proximity of computers
               to offer relatively efficient, higher speed communications
               than long-haul or wide-area networks.

       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
               For broadcast networks, it is the method which devices use
               to determine which device has line access at any given
               time.

       Mac     Apple Macintosh computer.

       MAN     Metropolitan Area Network

       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.

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       NASA    National Aeronautics and Space Administration

       NBS     National Bureau of Standards
               Now called NIST.

       network number
               The part of an internet address which designates the
               network to which the addressed node belongs.

       NFS     Network File System
               A network service that lets a program running on one
               computer to use data stored on a different computer on
               the same internet as if it were on its own disk.

       NIC     Network Information Center
               An organization which provides network users with
               information about services provided by the network.

       NOC     Network Operations Center
               An organization that is responsible for maintaining
               a network.

       NIST    National Institute of Standards and Technology
               Formerly NBS.

       NSF     National Science Foundation

       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 currently comprising 16 nodes connected
               to a 45Mbps facility 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 set of protocols designed to be an international standard
               method for connecting unlike computers and networks.  Europe
               has done most of the work developing OSI and will probably

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               use it as soon as possible.

       OSI Reference Model
               An "outline" of OSI which defines its seven layers and
               their functions.  Sometimes used to help describe other
               networks.

       OSPF    Open Shortest-Path First Interior Gateway Protocol
               A proposed replacement for RIP.  It addresses some
               problems of RIP and is based upon principles that have
               been well-tested in non-internet protocols.  Originally
               acronymed as OSPFIGP.

       packet  The unit of data sent across a packet switching network.
               The term is used loosely.  While some Internet
               literature uses it to refer specifically to data sent
               across a physical network, other literature views
               the Internet as a packet switching network
               and describes IP datagrams as packets.

       PC      Personal Computer

       PCNFS   Personal Computer Network File System

       PPP     Point-to-Point Protocol
               The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) provides a method for
               transmitting datagrams 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 Internet's Request for Comments documents series
               The 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.

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       RIP     Routing Information Protocol
               One protocol which may be used on internets simply to pass
               routing information between gateways.   It is used on many
               LANs and on some of the NSFNET intermediate level networks.

       RJE     Remote Job Entry
               The general protocol for submitting batch jobs and
               retrieving the results.

       router  A special-purpose dedicated computer that attaches to
               two or more networks and routes packets from one
               network to the other.  In particular, an Internet
               router forwards IP datagrams among the networks it
               connects.  Gateways route packets to other
               gateways until they can be delivered to the final
               destination directly across one physical network.

       RPC     Remote Procedure Call
               An easy and popular paradigm for implementing the
               client-server model of distributed computing.

       server  A computer that shares its resources, such as printers
               and files, with other computers on the network.  An
               example of this is a Network Files System (NFS)
               Server which shares its disk space with one or more
               workstations that may not have local disk drives of
               their own.

       SLIP    Serial Line Internet Protocol
               SLIP is currently a defacto standard, commonly used for
               point-to-point serial connections running TCP/IP.  It is
               not an Internet standard but is defined in RFC 1055.

       SMTP    Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
               The Internet standard protocol for transferring
               electronic mail messages from one computer to another.
               SMTP specifies how two mail systems interact and the
               format of control messages they exchange to transfer mail.

       SNA     System Network Architecture
               IBM's data communications protocol.

       SNMP    Simple Network Management Protocol
               The Simple Network Management Protocol (RFC 1157) is the
               Internet's standard for remote monitoring and management
               of hosts, routers and other nodes and devices on a network.

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       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      A 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
               A transport layer protocol for the Internet.  It is a
               connection oriented, stream protocol defined by RFC 793.

       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-switching network operated by US Sprint.
               Also known as "SprintNet".

       TELNET  The Internet standard protocol for remote terminal
               connection service.  TELNET allows a user at one site
               to interact with a remote timesharing system at
               another site as if the user's terminal was connected
               directly to the remote computer.

       Token Ring
               A type of LAN.   Examples are IEEE 802.5, ProNET-10/80 and
               FDDI.  The term "token ring" is often used to denote 802.5

       Tymnet  A public character-switching/packet-switching network
               operated by British Telecom.

       UDP     User Datagram Protocol
               A transport layer protocol for the Internet.  It is a
               datagram protocol which adds a level of reliability and
               multiplexing to IP datagrams.  It is defined in RFC 768.

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       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
               A protocol used for communication between consenting
               UNIX systems.

       VMS     Virtual Memory System
               A Digital Equipment Corporation operating system.

       WAN     Wide Area Network

       WHOIS   An Internet program which allows users to query a database of
               people and other Internet entities, such as domains,
               networks, and hosts, kept at the DDN NIC.  The information for
               people shows a person's company name, address, phone number
               and email address.

       XNS     Xerox Network System
               A data communications protocol suite developed by Xerox.  It
               uses Ethernet to move the data between computers.

       X.25    A data communications interface specification developed to
               describe how data passes into and out of public data
               communications networks.  The public networks such as
               Sprintnet and Tymnet use X.25 to interface to customer
               computers.

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    14. Security Considerations

       Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

    15. Authors' Addresses

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

       Phone:  (617) 272-8140
       EMail:  gmalkin@Xylogics.COM

       April N. Marine
       SRI International
       Network Information Systems Center
       333 Ravenswood Avenue, EJ294
       Menlo Park, CA  94025

       Phone:  (415) 859-5318
       EMail:  april@nisc.sri.com

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