National Science Foundation (NSF) - A U.S. government agency whose purpose is to promote the advancement of science. NSF funds science researchers, scientific projects, and infrastructure to improve the quality of scientific research. The NSFNET, funded by NSF, is an essential part of academic and research communications. It is a highspeed "network of networks" which is hierarchical in nature. At the highest level, it is a backbone network currently comprising 16 nodes connected to a 45Mb/s 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.

netiquette - A pun on "etiquette" referring to proper behavior on a network.

Netnews - See: Usenet

Network - The connection between 2 or more computers so they can share resources. An "internet" is the connection between 2 or more networks.

network - A computer network is a data communications system which interconnects computer systems at various different sites. A network may be composed of any combination of LANs, MANs or WANs. See also: Local Area Network, Metropolitan Area Network, Wide Area Network, internet

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

Network Information Center (NIC) - A NIC provides information, assistance and services to network users.

network number - See: network address

Networking - Stacks/TCP/IP determines the configuration of your computer. It establishes your ppp/slip connection, allowing users to use Internet applications such as FTP and Web Browsers without using an on-line service.

News Readers - Software that organizes Usenet News messages so they can be written to and read from.

NIC - See: Network Information Center

node - An addressable device attached to a computer network. See also: host, router.

NS-Lookup - A method of searching any domain located on the Internet and presenting information about it.