n 1. abbrev. nano-. See nano-. 2.

In mathematics, a symbol for a numerical quantity used to denote that any number can be substituted in place of the n or, quite commonly, n will represent any value within a stated number set such as any positive integer (whole numbers greater than zero). It is usually written in italics in lower or upper case. Scalable solutions to network configurations or database data sets are sometimes called n solutions to indicate that the system can be expanded to handle exceedingly large numbers or quantities far in excess of what might be needed in any given situation. See N definition #4. N 1. abbrev. noise, usually as it pertains to signal interference. Thus, S/N represents signal-to-noise ratio and C/N represents carrier-to-noise ratio. 2. abbrev. north, on a magnet or compass. The north-seeking end of a compass needle points to a region near the Earths North Pole called magnetic north. 3. symb. on, with F as the corresponding symbol for off. 4. symb. the last component, value, routine, link, or other virtual, conceptual, or physical aspect of a multipart system. In this context, it is usually written in italics. In a database, for example, N may be the largest conceivable number of records that might be expected to be needed or entered. In a distributed network, N may represent the largest number of hops that might be expected for a data transmission path. N is an important concept in both programming and physical topologies. The concept of N as a theoretical maximum enables planners to design and construct systems with the view of making the system efficient within the perceived constraints of N. See n definition #2. See N definition #1. 4. In a Central Office telephone code, any integer between 2 and 9. See NXX. N connector A standardized medium-power, barrelshaped cable/device coupler for interconnecting components in a system or devices on a network. N series connectors and adaptors come in a variety of shapes and configurations from simple connectors to extend the length of a cable to adaptors to change the sex of the cable between male and female to terminators for establishing the end link in a series of connections. N connectors are selectively coated in nickel, silver, or synthetics over brass, phosphor bronze, or beryllium

copper and typically support 50-ohm signals (though 70-ohm versions are available). They are widely used for connecting radio frequency (RF) coaxial components. For Ethernet connections, 10Base-5 thick Ethernet cables with N connectors are becoming less common in favor of 10Base-2 thin Ethernet cables with BNC connectors or 10Base-T twisted-pair phonestyle RJ-45 connectors. See F connector. N port, node port. A port that enables an endstation device (peripheral, computer, etc.) to be connected as a node in a Fibre Channel network. The N port is connected to the switched fabric port or F port. The N port is assigned a higher address than FL and NL ports and thus would have lower loop control priority compared to these ports. A name server in the Fibre Channel fabric switch typically uses a discovery process to determine the fabric topology to obtain the addresses of other N ports for port logins. The N port may be built into the connected device or may be contained on an interface board, such as a PCI-compatible board in a computer. High bandwidth devices, such as broadband storage devices, may have multiple Fibre Channel ports. See F port, FL port, NL port. n region In a semiconductor, a region in which the conduction-electron density exceeds the hole density. Usually referenced in relation to the p region, the n materials interact with the p materials at the p-n junction in some types of semiconductors. See p region, p-n junction. N Series Recommendations A series of ITU-T recommendations providing guidelines for the maintenance of international sound programming and television transmission circuits. These guidelines are available as publications from the ITU-T for purchase from the Net. Since ITU-T specifications and recommendations are widely followed by vendors in the telecommunications industry, those wanting to maximize interoperability with other systems need to be aware of the information disseminated by the ITU-T. A full list of general categories is listed in Appendix C and specific series topics are listed under individual entries in this dictionary, e.g., K Series Recommendations. See N Series Recommendations chart.

2002 by CRC Press LLC

ITU-T N Series Recommendations

Recom. Description N.17 N.18 N.21 N.23 Monitoring the transmission Monitoring for charging purposes, releasing Limits and procedures for the liningup of a sound-program circuit Maintenance measurements to be made on international sound-program circuits Multiple destination television transmissions and coordination centers Nominal amplitude of video signals at video interconnection points Measurements to be made before the line-up period that precedes a television transmission Tests to be made during the line-up period that precedes a television transmission Test signals to be used by the broadcasting organizations during the preparatory period Quality and impairment assessment Monitoring television transmissions use of the field blanking interval Maintenance of permanent international television circuits, links and connections Line-up and service commissioning of international videoconference systems operating at transmission bit rates of 1544 and 2048 Kbps Maintenance of international videoconference systems operating at transmission bit rates of 1544 and 2048 Kbps

General, Definitions N.1 Definitions for application to international sound-program and televisionsound transmission Definition and duration of the line-up period and the preparatory period Different types of sound-program circuit Control circuits Definition and duration of the line-up period and the preparatory period Sound-program control, subcontrol and send reference stations Limits for the lining-up of international sound-program links and connections Essential transmission performance objectives for international soundprogram centers (ISPCs) Definitions for application to international television transmissions Definition for application to international videoconference transmissions

N.54 N.2 N.3 N.4 N.5 N.10

N.52 N.60 N.61

N.62

N.11

N.63

N.51 N.81

N.64 N.67 N.73

Administration N.55 Organization, responsibilities and functions of control and subcontrol international television centers and control and subcontrol stations for international television connections, links, circuits and circuit sections N.86

N.90

Testing, Monitoring, and Measurements N.12 Measurements to be made during the line-up period that precedes a soundprogram transmission Measurements to be made by the broadcasting organizations during the preparatory period Maximum permissible power during an international sound-program transmission Identification signal

Supplements N.Sup5.1 Requirements for the transmission of television signals over long distances N.Sup5.2 Setting-up and testing of international videoconference studios N.Sup6.1 Effect on maintenance of the introduction of new components and of modern equipment design

N.13

N.15

N.16

2002 by CRC Press LLC

N-1, N-minus-one The second-to-last or penultimate node, device, link, router, hop, subroutine, loop, or other virtual or physical link or component. This concept is important in many respects. The secondto-last link in a programming loop, a physical or virtual network or other multipart system may have to be handled or configured differently, given that the next virtual or physical component in the system is the last. The penultimate item or data bit is often significant in programming routines. For example, in computer sorting algorithms, the number of iterations required in a particular function is frequently equal to N-1. The handling of software stacks, dynamic groupings of stored data, also is related to the concept of the penultimate item or data grouping in the stack. In routines where the program ends if it reaches the last or N data set, an awareness of reaching the penultimate set may be important to restarting, backtracking, or otherwise looping back and continuing program execution. See N definition #4. N-ISDN Narrowband ISDN, Narrowband Integrated Services Digital Network. Definitions vary but, in general, Narrowband ISDN is used to refer to earlier installations of ISDN providing lower data rates through copper wires as opposed to newer Broadband ISDN providing higher data rates through fiber optic cables. See ISDN for a fuller explanation. N-scope A type of radar display in which the target appears as a pair of vertical blips coming from a horizontal time base. The direction of the target is inferred by the amplitudes of the related vertical blips. A target distance can also be determined by comparison to a pedestal signal along the base line. N/A 1. not applicable. 2. not available. NA 1. See naming authority. 2. network administrator/administration. 3. See Night Answer. 4. night attendant. 5. North America. NAB 1. See National Alliance of Business. 2. See National Association of Broadcasters. NABTS See North American Basic Teletext Specification. NAC 1. Network Access Center. 2. See Network Access Control. 3. See Network Applications Consortium. 4. See Numbering Advisory Committee. 5. See null attachment concentrator. NACIC See National Counterintelligence Information Center. NACN See North American Cellular Network. NADC See North American Digital Cellular. NADF 1. See North American Directory Plan. 2. North Atlantic Directory Forum. nadir In satellite imaging, a point on the ground centered vertically below a remote sensing platform. NAK See negative acknowledge. name resolution A means of associating an assigned name with its origin, location, or other relevant characteristics. In a network where a name has been used as a mnemonic alias to allow easy recognition of an address, application, or process, there needs to be a mechanism to resolve the name into a form that can

be easily recognized and subsequently located by the system. In other words, mysite.com has to be translated into a machine-readable address of the location of the host site for mysite.com. This is done through name resolution, usually through a lookup table or larger database. Sometimes the name itself will provide some information about its origin or date of establishment, e.g., the name is a set of alphanumeric characters assigned according to a system that can be understood by humans. See naming authority. naming authority 1. A legislative or organizational body that assigns names, usually as unique identifiers. Various types of naming structures include hierarchical, flat, random, etc. There are many wellknown naming authorities: the U.S. Library of Congress; R.R. Bowker (ISBN); IANA (Internet). On the Internet, the various registered domains may assign subauthorities and subnames for local machines. See IANA. 2. In a hierarchical document management system, a tree of entities which provides a unique identifier to each document. This task may be shared by subauthorities. NAMPS Narrowband Analog Mobile Phone Service. An analog cellular communications technology which provides triple the capacity of an analog cellular voice channel by splitting the channel into 10 kHz bandwidth narrow bands. Narrowband standards were released by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in 1992 (IS-88, IS-89, IS90). Digital mobile phone services are gaining ground on traditional analog systems. See AMPS, DAMPS, code division multiple access, time division multiple access. NAMTS See Nippon Advanced Mobile Telephone System. NANC See North American Numbering Council nano- (abbrev. n) A unit prefix for one billionth (North American system), or 10 -9, that is, .000 000 001. NANOG See North American Network Operators Group. NANP See North American Numbering Plan. NANPA See North American Numbering Plan Administration. NAP See Network Access Point. NAPP See National Aerial Photography Program. NAPT Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. narrowband 1. A term which varies in definition depending upon the industry and its bandwidth needs, and on the current state of technology. Narrowband usually represents the lower end of the available capacity or spectrum of a system. In some cases it is used to denote a single band within a multiplexed group of bands sent more-or-less simultaneously. In traditional telephony, it represents a subvoice-grade line. In cellular communications, it represents one division of the broadcast spectrum consisting of a channel frequency (CF) of about 30 kHz, usually accomplished through frequency division duplexing (FDD). See AMPS, NAMPS.

2002 by CRC Press LLC

Narrowband Analog Mobile Phone Service See NAMPS. narrowband ISDN ISDN services at basic channel speeds up to 64 kbps, which is fine for voice and some data communications, but only adequate for applications like full-motion video, or video and sound. Efforts are being made to incorporate new standards into broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) that will remove the fixed channel structure limitation of narrowband ISDN. narrowcasting A type of program delivery that targets specific people and often specific services to those people. If broadcasting is considered to be program delivery to a wide and sometimes scattered audience, from one to many, then narrowcasting can be seen as one to one or one to few. For example, electronic industries personnel might subscribe to programming on circuit board fabrication. At an even more specific level is pointcasting, that is, program services which target user-selected information, a type of electronic clipping service providing electronic information on specified topics of interest. NARTE See National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers. NAS See network-attached storage. NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration. nasa7 A double-precision Systems Performance Evaluation Cooperative (SPEC) benchmark used in scientific and engineering applications. A benchmark tends to be a specific quantitative measure of a particular aspect of computer functioning, and by itself conveys a picture of overall system performance. However, in the specific context for which it is intended, a benchmark can provide valuable information for design engineers, researchers, and manufacturers. Nasa7 generates input data, performs one of seven floating point-intensive kernel routines, and compares the results against an expected reference measure. It is used to evaluate performance, memory, I/O operations, and networking factors. See benchmark, Rhealstone, Whetstone. NASD Project Network-Attached Storage Devices Project. A project of the National Storage Industry Consortium (NSIC) to explore, validate, and document the technologies needed to enable the deployment of network-attached storage device systems and subsystems. The project was initiated because the trend towards large distributed networks is causing people to rethink the most efficient ways to implement storage capabilities, and more networks are using remote rather than local storage to handle large data repositories. Fibre Channel is seen as one of the technologies appropriate for fast-access remote storage. See National Storage Industry Consortium. NASDA 1. National Association of State Development Agencies. 2. See National Space Development Agency of Japan. NASTD See National Association of State Telecommunications Directors. NATA See North American Telecommunications Association.

National Aerial Photography Program NAPP. A program initially established in 1980 as the National High Altitude Photography (NHAP) program. In 1987, the height of the satellites was lowered, and the name changed to NAPP. NAPP is administered by the U.S. Geological Surveys National Mapping Division, and exists to coordinate the collection and processing of aerial photos of the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii in a format that meets the requirements of a variety of U.S. Federal and state agencies. National Alliance of Business NAB. An association established to promote innovative, long-term solutions for improving the quality of the workforce, in terms of productivity, education, and security. National Association of Broadcasters NAB. A well-known American broadcast industry association providing support and education to its members through literature, standards activities, programming, conventions, and seminars. http://www.nab.org/ National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers NARTE. An international professional association which provides support to members along with certification programs. National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners NARUC. A Washington D.C.-based organization serving the needs of the various United States government utility commissioners. http://www.naruc.org/ National Association of State Telecommunications Directors (NASTD). An association of telecommunications professionals in state government engaged in the promotion and advancement of effective telecommunications policies and technology implementation to improve government operations. NASTD was founded in 1978 and is affiliated with the Council of State Governments (CSG). It includes representatives from the American states, territories, and the District of Columbia. http://www.nastd.org/ National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors NATOA. A professional association which supports and services the telecommunications needs of local governments. NATOA provides education, information, and advocacy for their members. http://www.natoa.org/ National Bell Telephone Company A merger of the Bell Telephone Company and the New England Telephone Company, in a bid to achieve widespread national coverage of services. A court decree dissolved the company only 4 years later. National Broadcasting Company NBC. A major broadcast company for many decades, formed in 1926 by David Sarnoff. NBC provides general television programming, entertainment, sports, news, local/interactive, programming transcripts, contests, games, and arts. See Sarnoff, David. National Bureau Of Standards NBS. A bureau of the U.S. government which provides testing and standardization services. The NBS had an important role in the development of early computing devices in the 1940s when it undertook the construction of two large-scale computing machines for its internal

2002 by CRC Press LLC

needs, one to be installed on each coast. This resulted in the building of the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC) and the Standards Western Automatic Computer (SWAC). National Cable & Telecommunications Association NCTA. Formerly the National Cable Television Association, the NCTA is the primary trade association of the cable television industry in the U.S., founded in 1952. It provides members with industry information and a unified voice for advancing the technology and industry of cable telecommunications, serving more than 150 cable program networks. NCTA hosts an annual industry trade show. http://www.ncta.com/ National Cable Television Association NCTA. A trade association representing the cable broadcast industry founded in 1952. NCTA represents the interests of its members to public policy makers in the U.S. Congress, the judicial system, and the public. NCTA hosts a large annual trade show. NCTA is now the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. National Center for Supercomputing Applications NCSA. A research center at the University of Illinois, best known for the development of NCSA Mosaic, the historic Web information browser that preceded Netscape Navigator. National Code Change A designated day in the U.K. when old telephone codes and numbers were changed to revamp the system. New codes and telephone numbers became available in August 1994 and the Code Change took place in April 1995. On the same day, the dialing code for international calls originating in the U.K. changed from 010 to 00. National Committee for Information Technology Standardization NCITS. A U.S. organization for developing national information technology (IT) standards in cooperation with national and international standards bodies. http://www.ncits.org/ National Communications System NCS. A branch of the U.S. government formed in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The recommendation of an interdepartmental committee reporting to President John F. Kennedy was to form a single communications system to serve the President, the Department of Defense (DoD), diplomatic and intelligence activities, and civilian leaders. The NCS was officially established in 1963 to link, improve, and extend the communication facilities and components of various federal agencies. It cooperates with various standards bodies, and develops emergency procedures for the American communications infrastructure. It also provides documents and CD-ROMs, including a Glossary of Telecommunications Terms (FS-1037C). The NCS is administered by the General Services Administration (GSA). See Glossary of Telecommunications Terms. http://www.ncs.gov/ National Continental Telephone, Telegraph & Cable Company of America Founded in 1899, this ambitious undertaking was an attempt to gain control of all the independent telephone companies, that is, all those not controlled by Bell. Despite backing by some of Americas richest high-profile financiers,
2002 by CRC Press LLC

this project was unsuccessful. National Coordinating Center NCC. A joint U.S. government-industry organization established by the National Communications System (NCS) to provide for the U.S. governments telecommunications service requirements. The NCC initiates, coordinates, and restores NS/EP telecommunications services. It is one of several divisions of the Office of the Manager of the National Communications System (OMNCS). National Coordination Office for Computing, Information, and Communications NCO. A U.S. information and communications coordinating agency. http://www.hpcc.gov/ National Counterintelligence Information Center A U.S. government center within the National Security Council (NSC) for coordinating the identification and countering of foreign intelligence threats to the U.S. national/economic security. National Digital Cartographic Data Base NDCDB. A U.S. database of digital cartographic/ geographic data files compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The database includes elevation, planimetric, landcover, and landuse data at various scales. National Electrical Code NEC. A code developed to safeguard public safety and property from hazards associated with the use of electricity. This includes wiring and electrical device construction, materials, installation, and maintenance and is adopted in many parts of the country as law for various building, equipment, and utility pole (below supply space) installations. The Code is developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). See National Electrical Safety Code. National Electrical Safety Code NESC. A code governing electrical facilities located in public rightsof-way to ensure the safety of the public and installation/maintenance professionals. It is published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). See National Electrical Code. National Emergency Number Association NENA. A not-for-profit standard-setting organization that supports and promotes the development and availability of a universal emergency telephone number system (currently 911). NENA was founded in 1982 as a result of meetings of the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA). NENA further supports research and education in the advancement and use of emergency number services. http://www.nena9-1-1.org/ National Exchange Carrier Association NECA. A nonprofit organization established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1983 to administer issues related to service and access charges. The NECA serves the interests of incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs), and administers the universal service fund (USF), which subsidizes certain loop services. http://www.neca.org/ National Federation of Community Broadcasters NFCB. A national U.S. alliance of noncommercial community-oriented radio wave broadcast stations

and producers. The NFCB was founded in the 1970s as a result of discussions at a meeting called the National Alternative Radio Konvention (NARK). It subsequently provided assistance and education to community broadcasters including the publishing of Audiocraft and The Public Radio Legal Handbook as standard references. In 1995, the head office was moved from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco. NFCB member stations are committed to community support and participation. They are funded by listeners, grants, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Almost half of them service rural communities, and a third are dedicated to minority radio broadcasting. The NFCB has become a lobbying voice at Congressional hearings and liaises with other national organizations. Lynn Chadwick has been credited with long-term leadership of the organization through some of its most important growth and development phases. See Community Broadcasters Association, Communications Policy Project. http://www.nfob.org/ National Geophysical Data Center NGDC. One of three data and information centers of the U.S. National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). National High Altitude Photography NHAP. Originally established in 1980 with satellites at 40,000 feet, the height was lowered to 20,000 feet, and the program renamed to National Aerial Photography Program in 1987. See National Aerial Photography Program. National Communications System NCS. A governmental organization established in 1963 as a result of the Cuban missile crisis during which the U.S., NATO, and the U.S.S.R. experienced communications problems that could have had deadly repercussions. Following the crisis, President Kennedy ordered the investigation of national security communications and a committee recommended a single, unified system to serve the President, the Department of Defense (DoD), and other relevant bodies. The NCS focused on interconnectivity and survivability of an extended, interlinked governmental communication system. In 1984, the NCSs mandate was broadened to include national security and emergency preparedness. Support for the NCS within the Operations Division is provided by Training, Planning & Operational Support (TPOS). See National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications. http://www.ncs.gov/ National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications NCC. A joint government and industry organization for coordinating the initiation, restoration, and reconstitution of U.S. government national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications services in the U.S. and abroad. The National Communications System Operations Division (N3) provides guidance to NCC. See National Communications System. http://www.ncs.gov/ncc/ National ID Card An identification concept proposed many times over the decades for a variety of reasons. In the U.S., there has been a great deal of

opposition to the concept, with concerns about security breaches (people using the information in unethical ways to access private information in centralized databases), loss, replacement, forgeries, and more. In a sense, National ID Cards already exist for non-American legal residents (and a National ID Card doesnt solve the problem of illegal residents). The commonly called Green Card (Immigration Visa for Resident Aliens/Permanent Residents) is a biometric national identification card issued over the course of many decades that includes a photo and a fingerprint (bio metric identifier) tied to a Federal database that already serves the purposes most people want a National ID Card to cover. To get a Green Card, you have to provide birth, background, educational, and other personal information to the Federal Government and be approved through a background check and interview, which is usually repeated approximately every 10 years. Asking every U.S. citizen to also carry a National ID Card in addition to the many drivers license/passport/birth certificate/social security documents already issued calls to question why yet another card should be issued and how it would be any different or better than the documents already routinely carried. Some people have even compared it somewhat radically to the skin branding that the Nazi regime carried out to identify Jewish people in the World War II holocaust. A National ID Card can be easily lost, as with any other card, and fall into the wrong hands. Wrongdoers often use forged or stolen documents; this might give them one more document to forge or steal and may not have any substantial security benefits in relation to the increased security risks associated with the loss of the card. Nevertheless, after the events of September 11, 2001, the issue of National ID cards has again been brought forward and will no doubt be debated for a long time. In the world of electronics, where the information on the ID card may be directly linked to a powerful central database, it must be carefully weighed whether a National ID Card program should be undertaken, especially given that, once the database exists, it may over time be commandeered for other purposes by future governments, or eventually be used by law enforcement agencies to track and profile individuals without their knowledge. Stranger things have happened in the past. National Information and Communications Infrastructure Africa NICI. A framework for developing policy, guidelines, regulations, and laws for directing and shaping Africas communications infrastructure. In 2001, the number of Internet users in Africa was approaching 3 million, the majority being in the Sub-Saharan region, primarily South Africa. National Information Infrastructure NII. The name for the political, administrative, and physical underpinnings of an interconnected collection of public and commercial national narrowband and broadband data networks. One of the biggest

2002 by CRC Press LLC

stakeholders in the NII is the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIIAC), established in 1994 through a 1993 executive order. The NIIAC is responsible for advising the government on a national strategy for promoting development of the NII and the Global Information Infrastructure (GII). The NII is a physically and regionally diverse system which is considered as a whole, mainly on the basis of interconnectivity. It includes small and large networks, wireless and wireline connections, public and private systems, and many sizes and types of organizations and individuals. The NII is also known by the catchphrase Information Superhighway, although this describes the communications aspect of the NII and could be considered a subset. National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST. This national standards organization is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Commerce. http://www.nist.gov/ National Internet Services Provider NISP or NSP. An Internet Services Provider of national scope, usually with broader regional access and a variety of connection points. The Internet services provided by local ISPs and NSPs are usually similar. The main difference is that national providers often have dialups in major cities that the user can access with a local call when traveling, thus avoiding long-distance connect charges. National ISDN Council See ISDN associations. National Laboratory for Applied Network Research NLANR. An organization that researches leading-edge networks and supports the evolution of a U.S. national network infrastructure. Its main function is to provide technical, engineering, and traffic analysis support to National Science Foundation High Performance Connection sites. NLANR is divided into three main areas serving applications and users, engineers, and measurement and analysis professionals. It began as a collaborative project among NSF-supported supercomputer sites and was established in 1995. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA. A U.S. government agency which sets strategic goals for environmental assessment, prediction, and stewardship and describes and predicts changes in the Earths environment, to manage coastal and marine resources. http://www.noaa.gov/ National Public Broadcasting Archives NPBA. Housed at the University of Maryland in the Hornbake Library, the NPBA started as a cooperative project of several broadcasting and educational institutions. It was initiated by Donald R. McNeil, a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) board member, and officially dedicated in June 1990. NPBS provides an archival record of major documents and selected programming from U.S. noncommercial broadcasting history. http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/NPBA/ National Public Radio NPR. A major award-winning producer and distributor of public radio broadcast programs developed by independent producers. Based in Washington, D.C., NPR provides popular shows such as All Things Considered, Car Talk, and

Morning Edition plus NPR hourly news on the Internet. It also hosts lively discussion groups online about issues raised on NPR programs. See Public Radio International. http://www.npr.org/ National Public Safety Telecommunications Council NPSTC. A federation of associations representing and advocating telecommunications for public safety, founded in 1997. Recommendations from the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC) are followed up by NPSTC. The associations affiliated with NPSTC include the National Association of State Telecommunications Directors, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), the National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Directors (NASEMSD), and others. http://npstc.du.edu/ National Research and Education Network NREN. A government-funded, gigabit-per-second, national research backbone proposed in the early 1990s after an initial proposal was presented in 1987 to the Congress by the Federal Coordinating Committee for Science Engineering and Technology (FCCSET). It was intended to support voice and video, and to become a significant means of finding and disseminating information. See National Science Foundation. National Research Council NRC. A U.S. organization established in 1916 by the National Academy of Sciences to serve the needs of the science and technology community in advising the federal government. It is now the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The NRC provides services to the government, scientific and engineering communities, and the public. It is administered jointly by the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. In 1989, the NRC expressed concern in a report about the vulnerability of a fully interconnected public switched network (PSN) and its implications for national security. See Network Reliability and Interoperability Council. http://www.nas.edu/nrc National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative NRTC. A trade organization supporting over 1000 rural utilities organizations in 46 states in delivering telecommunications and information technology services. NRTC was founded in 1986 by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). In the early 1990s, in partnership with DIRECTV, Inc., NRTC made a significant investment toward launching the first U.S. highpower direct broadcast satellite (DBS) system, acquiring exclusive sales rights to 8% of DIRECTV subscribers. It is now the leading distributor of satellite broadcasting services and hardware to rural consumers. To promote legislative and distribution support for rural satellite technologies, NRTC also collaborated in the development of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act in 1999. See LOCAL TV Act of 2000, Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act. http://www.nrtc.org/

2002 by CRC Press LLC

National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee NSTAC. A committee of corporate leaders representing major telecommunications industries providing advice to the U.S. President on issues and vulnerabilities in national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications policies. See National Communications System. http://www.ncs.gov/ National Science Foundation NSF An independent U.S. government agency, established in 1950 to promote public welfare through science and engineering research and education projects through various types of educational and financial support. The NSF was established by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, and provided with additional authority through the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act. It is administered by the National Science Board appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. See NSFNET. http://www.nsf.gov/ National Space Development Agency NASDA. A Japanese national agency established to promote the development and peaceful use of space through the Japanese Space Development Program, NASDA was founded in October, 1969. The headquarters are located at the Tanegashima Space Center, where satellites are launched into orbit. In 1972, a further Tsukuba Space Center was established, followed six years later by an Earth Observation Center and, in 1980, by the Kakuda Propulsion Center. By the early 1990s, NASDA was involved in a number of national and collaborative space experiments. NASDA jointly supports the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) system in conjunction with the Japan Meteorological Association. See Geostationary Meteorological Satellite. http://www.nasda.go.jp/ National Spatial Data Infrastructure NSDI. A U.S. Executive Order signed in 1994 under which federal agencies must document, and make accessible through the electronic Clearinghouse network, all new geospatial data collected or produced, either directly or indirectly, using the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standard. National Standards System NSS. A Canadian standards association which is managed by and works in conjunction with the Standards Council of Canada and a committee of volunteers to write standards, and to test and certify products and systems. See Canadian Standards Association, Standards Council of Canada. National Storage Industry Consortium NSIC. A nonprofit consortium of more than 50 universities, research laboratories, and corporations dedicated to research and development in digital information storage systems. NSIC is headquartered in San Diego, California, and was incorporated in April 1991. Among other things, NSIC defines, organizes, and manages longer-range research projects such as the Extremely High Density Recording (EHDR) Project and the Network-Attached Storage Devices (NASD) Project. See NASD Project. http://www.nsic.org/ National Technical Information Service NTIS. An

agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, through the Technology Administration. NTIS is the official source for various types and formats of U.S. government-sponsored global scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information, supplied by many U.S. government agencies. http://www.ntis.gov/ National Telecommunications and Information Administration NTIA. An Executive Branch agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce founded in 1978. NTIA is responsible for domestic and international telecommunications policy issues, and is a principal advisor to the President. NTIA works to promote efficient and effective uses of telecommunications information and resources in order to support U.S. competitiveness and job opportunities. NTIA is descended from a reorganization of the Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP) and the Office of Telecommunications (OT). It cooperates with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in managing broadcast spectrum administration and assignment. Various endowment and grant programs have been transferred to the NTIA, including the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The NTIA has a laboratory for conducting applied research in telecommunications, located in Boulder, Colorado. See Federal Communications Commission, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ National Telecommunications Commission - Philippines NTC. An independent government agency created in the late 1970s, superseding the Board of Communications and the Telecommunications Control Bureau. The NTC performs regulatory and quasijudicial functions for enforcing telecommunications in the Philippines. It is affiliated with the Department of Transportation and Communications; however, decisions are accountable directly to the Supreme Court. The NTC traces its origins to a regulatory office established when the Ship Radio Station Law was enacted in 1927. In 1995, a Special Committee for Children was established to deal with the problem of sexual abuse and child prostitution using children as performers or models. Internet entrepreneurs were exploiting and promoting Filipino children as easily available for sexual tourism. Due to the growing prevalence and concern over cable piracy, the NTC formed the Cable TV Piracy Task Force (CTP-TF) to cooperate with other agencies in educating the public about cable piracy with the goal of reducing cable broadcast signals theft. National Telecommunications Damage Prevention Council NTDPC. Initially established in 1989 as the California Common Carrier Steering Committee, the group first addressed contractual issues related to railroad coastal cable ducts. Over time, the mandate of the group grew to support the protection of all below-surface telecommunications facilities.

2002 by CRC Press LLC

In the mid-1990s, the name was changed to The National Common Carriers Cable Hazard Prevention Committee and then changed to NTDPC to reflect the broader focus; a number of significant telecommunications carriers joined the organization. The NTDPC is a noncompetitive forum dedicated to protecting all telecommunications networks, regardless of ownership, with a focus on preventing damage to buried facilities forming part of the nations communications infrastructure. National Telephone Cooperative Association NTCA. A national trade association representing over 500 small and rural independent local exchange carriers (LECs), based in Arlington, Virginia. Small telephone cooperatives overseas are also becoming part of the organization, in addition to nonlocal exchange businesses (wireless, Internet, cable television, DBS). NTCA promotes the regulatory and educational needs of its members, and supports and coordinates a number of employee benefit programs. http://www.ntca.org/ National Television System Committee See NTSC. native format The structure of a raw application or data file prior to modification for compatibility, emulation, or compression. A format designed to work optimally with a particular architecture. For example, many Amiga computer programs were designed to take advantage of the Amigas unique hardware features such as the blitter and NTSC output. Color cycling, hardware sprites, video output, and other graphics capabilities that were native on the Amiga were not available on other systems at the time without special hardware add-ons. Native file formats abound in many applications programs, that is, data formats for saved files that dont work with other applications. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was developed as a file-transfer solution for a variety of types of files from otherwise incompatible applications, thus allowing the user to combine the speed and ease of native formats with the practical interchange of data between programs. See ASCII, Electronic Data Interchange. native mode The common way of running software within the natural operating functions of a specific computer platform, i.e., software specifically designed to run on a system without emulation or modification to mimic or support a different architecture. Since no emulation overhead is needed, native mode software typically runs faster than emulation software. In spite of this, the trend is away from native mode software. Since intercompatibility and especially Internet compatibility are high priorities and since machines are now fast enough that emulators run reasonably well, platform-independent, non-native mode software or software which falls somewhere in between is becoming more prevalent and practical. See native format. Contrast with emulator, Java, OpenGL, Perl, platform-independent. NATOA See National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors natural antenna frequency An antennas lowest natural resonance frequency when operated without

external capacitance or inductance. natural frequency The frequency at which an otherwise uninfluenced or unimpeded body will oscillate when stimulated to move. natural language A human language, such as Japanese, Russian, English, French, Indian, Chinese, Arabic, Senegalese, Hawaiian, etc. Natural language processing, both in written and spoken form, is one of the ongoing challenges of computing, with many of the algorithms derived from studies in artificial intelligence. natural language programming Natural language computer programming is the creation of computer instructions similar to a human language. The implementation of natural language programming is as yet still somewhat rudimentary and experimental, although success in specific areas has been achieved. Even the BASIC programming language, which was developed to be similar to the English language, is symbolic in its syntax and structure in ways that are different from English. See speech recognition. natural magnet There are two types of permanent magnets. One is a substance that exhibits and retains magnetic properties without application of a current after it has been magnetized with another magnetic source. The second is a substance which exhibits magnetic properties as it comes out of the ground, without needing to be exposed to magnetic influences for it to become a magnet. The second type of permanent magnet is called a natural magnet. See lodestone. natural wavelength The wavelength that corresponds to an antennas natural frequency. Matching an antennas resonant frequency to the characteristics of the wave being received (or transmitted) is an important aspect of antenna design. nautical mile NM. A standard means of describing a distance traveled through water. A knot is one nautical mile per hour, or 6076 ft (1 knot = 1.15 mph). An international nautical mile is 1852 m. The term knot originates from a physical means of estimating the distance. A log line was marked by knots at 47.33 foot intervals. A weighted log chip was attached to one end and thrown overboard to the stern. It would remain somewhat stationary as the boat moved away, and the line was allowed to run for 28 seconds and then hauled back into the boat. The knots that slipped away were tallied to calculate the boats speed. navigate 1. To move on or through, with selective consideration of the path taken along the way. 2. To follow a course through the various features of the Internet, to surf the Net. In its broadest sense, the path may be selected in many different ways and combinations, including by geography, topic, name, feature, whim or personal interest, institution, server, etc. Pathways through the Web can be followed through hypertext links embedded in HTML pages. 3. On the World Wide Web, to follow a course through a path of hypertext links set up by the designers of the Web pages. NAVSTAR A series of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites operated by the U.S. Department of

2002 by CRC Press LLC

Defense, whose navigational signals are available to civilian users. See Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Standard Positioning Service.

The 19th NAVSTAR satellite was launched in 1993, on board an Air Force Delta II craft. The NAVSTAR satellites are used for GPS data and geodite research. [NASA/Marshall images.]

NAVTEX An international, automated weather and maritime navigational warning distribution system. NAVTEX sends warnings to ships as they move in and out of areas for which broadcast information is available that may be relevant to marine safety. See Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.

Navy Navigation Satellite System NNSS. A system of satellites moving in polar orbits about 700 miles above Earth, which preceded the Global Positioning System (GPS) used today. NNSS Doppler technology could compute group positions on or around the Earth to about 1-meter accuracy by means of multiple readings. The long time between transits over the same location (about 90 minutes), and the difficulty of determining instantaneous velocity led to the development of the GPS system. See Global Positioning System. NBC See National Broadcasting Company. NBFCP See NetBIOS Frames Control Protocol. NBFM narrowband frequency modulation. NBMA nonbroadcast multiple access. NCACHE, DNS NCACHE Negative caching is a part of the DNS specification that deals with caching the nonexistence of a domain name or RRset, thus reducing message load and response time for negative answers. With the growth of network traffic and increased need for quick and frequent resolution of domain names, the importance of negative caching has grown to the point where it was suggested by Andrews and others that negative caching be routine rather than optional. See negative caching, RFC 1034, RFC 2308. NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research. NCC 1. National Communications Committee. 2. National Coordinating Center. NCCS Network Control Center System. NCHPC National Consortium for High-Performance Computing. NCIA native client interface architecture. An SNA applications-access architecture developed by Cisco Systems. NCIA encapsulates SNA traffic on a client computer, preserving the user interface from the native SNA system so that the end-user can work in a familiar environment and also have direct TCP/IP access. NCITS See National Committee for Information Technology Standardization. NCO See National Coordination Office for Computing, Information, and Communications. NCOP Network Code Of Practice. NCS See National Communications System. NCSA 1. See National Center for Supercomputing Applications. 2. National Computer Security Association. Now the International Computer Security Association. NCSA Mosaic A well-known Internet information browser and World Wide Web client developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Mosaic was the predecessor to Netscape Navigator distributed by Netscape Communications. Navigator was later declared open source software. See Mosaic for a fuller history; see Netscape Navigator. NCUG National Centrex Users Group. NDCDB National Digital Cartographic Data Base. NDIS See Network Driver Interface Specification. NDSI See National Spatial Data Infrastructure. NDT 1. network downtime. In telephony, the elapsed

2002 by CRC Press LLC

time from when network managers become aware of a problem until the moment at which the subscribers service is restored. In computer networking, the time during which normal processes are unable to execute due to electrical outages, software crashes, network link disconnections, processing overload, malicious tampering, or unintentional bugs that interfere with processes outside of the application that has the bugs. 2. No Dial Tone. NE See network element. near end crosstalk NEXT. When wires are packed tightly together, and signals are traveling through most or all of the wires, especially in two directions, the signals originating at one end can exceed or interfere with weaker signals coming from the other end, resulting in crosstalk. With much higher speed transmissions media, such as gigabit Ethernet, which involve bidirectional signals in more complex systems of aggregated wires, this can be a severe impediment. One means of compensating for NEXT is to include a NEXT canceler, which detects and adjusts for noise in the circuit. See far end crosstalk. NEC See National Electrical Code. NECA See National Exchange Carrier Association. neck The narrow portion of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) at the end where the electron beams are emitted from the cathode. needle An instrument used to probe the holes in punched metal discs, punch cards, or punch tape, or to create or read the grooves in a phonograph record to play back the sound. A phonograph needle, sometimes called a stylus, is often made of steel or sapphire. needle chatter, needle talk Undesirable sounds produced by the extraneous vibration of a phonograph needle when it comes in contact with a rotating platter. needle telegraph See telegraph, needle. negative acknowledge, negative acknowledgment NAK A commonly used international communications control character which indicates that data was not received, or not received so that it could be understood. This is common to handshaking protocols, in which an acknowledgment is required before the sender can continue. See acknowledge. negative bias In an electron tube, voltage applied to a control grid to make it hold more of a negative charge than the electron-emitting cathode. Manipulation of the control grid is what makes it possible to control the flow of electrons from the cathode to the anode, and thus to create different types of circuits and effects. negative caching The storage of information about the nonexistence of an object, entity, or service. The availability of this information can reduce the time it takes to determine the components or configuration of a system or file. Negative caching statistics are commonly stored in tables or headers, depending on the application. On computer networks, for example, storage of the nonexistence of certain servers or machines can lead to more efficient polling or routing of processes or network services. If certain

printers or fax servers are offline for maintenance, negative caching information can be used to prevent overflowing queues. If certain hosts are offline, routing of packets can be renegotiated through other servers. If certain elements of an image file do not exist, negative caching can be used to prevent expensive production tasks on a printing press or milling machine holding up the line. See NCACHE. negative glow A luminous glow which can be observed between an electron-emitting cathode and the Faraday dark space in a cold-cathode discharge tube. See Faraday dark space. negative image An image in which the dark and the light values are reversed, or in which the complements of the colors are displayed instead of the normal colors; also called an inverse image. Photographic negatives contain a negative image. In desktop publishing, negative images are sometimes created so the printout can be processed some way in manufacturing. For example, an image printed on film for subsequent exposure to a printing plate might be printed in negative. Negative images are often used for posterization and other special effects. In monochrome television display systems, a negative image may arise from reversal of the polarity of the signals. negative plate, negative terminal In a storage battery, the grid and any conductive material directly attached to the negative terminal, that is, the terminal that emits electrons when the circuit is active. negative-going video In a four-field analog video sequence, a reference point in the subcarrier cycle (the other being positive-going) that is related to the start of an NTSC video frame. The positive-going and negative-going cycles alternate in sequence to form the video field. A video frame is constructed by drawing scanlines in a sequential, repeating pattern from left to right and top to bottom at a specified rate (e.g., 30 frames per second). When the electron beam is moving from right to left to begin the next line (or from bottom right to top left when it has finished the full screen) it is turned off or blanked so as not to interfere with the image on the screen. In an interlaced system, it takes two screen images to make up the full frame since only the odd or even lines are drawn with each half-frame. The process happens so fast that the human eye resolves two half-frames as a full image (although a bit of flicker may be noticed). A horizontal drive (H drive) triggers a low-voltage negative-going pulse at the beginning of the horizontal blanking point (in standard systems this is at the right edge of the screen, the trailing edge of the scanline that has just been drawn) and ending where the edge of the sync for the next line begins. Subcarrier/horizontal (SC/H) phase resolution is synchronization between the zero crossing point of the subcarrier sine wave and the negative-going (leading) edge of the horizontal sync in the first field and a specified line at the halfway point. This aids in resolving phase issues that are important in vide tape recording. The timing provided by the leading edge

2002 by CRC Press LLC

of a negative-going pulse to the leading edge of the subsequent negative-going pulse can be used as a start-stop mechanism. Similarly, negative-going and positive-going edges of the same pulse can be useful for timing and integration of signals from multiple video components. Some display monitors expect horizontal and vertical sync polarities to conform to certain specifications and, thus, some graphics output devices will include a hardware switch to output the signal with negative-going polarities. A grab pulse can be a positive-going or negative-going polarity output pulse for synching video to a component such as a frame grabber. Negroponte, Nicolas Outspoken author, philosopher, and educator, Negroponte is well known for his lectures and back-page editorials in Wired magazine. He is the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys celebrated Media Laboratory, established in the late 1980s. Prior to that, he founded MITs Architecture Machine Group, a think tank and research lab for discussing new approaches to human-computer interfaces. neighbors A networking term used to describe nodes attached to the same link. NENA See National Emergency Number Association. neon gas (symb. Ne) An inert gas with many industrial and commercial applications. When ionized, neon glows red. It was popularly used to illuminate signs in the 1940s and 1950s, and is still used for this purpose, along with other gases that emit other colors. neon lamp A long glass illuminating tube with an electrode at each end and low-pressure neon gas inside, which may be angled into interesting shapes. When illuminated, it produces a red-orange light that can be seen in daylight and can penetrate fog better than most conventional types of lights. Neon has also been used in older tubes in the broadcasting industries, in simple oscillating circuits, and in commercial signs. neper (pron. nay-per, symb. Np ) A dimensionless mathematical unit for expressing relative measurements. It is used to express ratios that are useful in physics and electronics, as for voltage and current relationships. The neper is similar to the decibel except that it is established upon a base of 2.718281828...; quantities expressed by nepers are based upon natural (Napierian) logarithms rather than base 10 logarithms. The neper is not a Systme Internationale (SI) unit, but it is widely used and thus 1 Np has been assigned an SI equivalent value of 1. In terms of decibels, 1 Np = 8.686 dB. The neper is named after the Scottish mathematician John Napier (Jhone Neper) who did historic research on logarithms. See decibel; Neper, Jhone. Neper, Jhone (1550-1617) A Scottish mathematician, now more commonly known as John Napier, who did pioneer work in logarithms and published Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio in Latin,

in 1614. There were no computers in those days, so logarithmic tables had to be methodically calculated and inscribed by hand. Neper published a followup document in 1617 describing a means of simplifying calculations using ivory numbering rods (Napiers bones) marked with numbers (a physical calculating device that facilitates computations just as a slide rule facilitates computations). Nepers logarithmic discoveries were important fundamentals for many future discoveries in mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Nernst effect A potential difference develops in a heated metal band or strip when it is placed perpendicular to a magnetic field. NESC See National Electrical Safety Code. NESDIS National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. nesting In computer programming, a nest is a programming structure in which a block of data or a function, procedure, or subroutine is logically placed within another structure. Nesting is a means of organizing information and the order of processing data. Nesting is a common means of setting up routines to repeat, sometimes within recursively repeating routines several layers deep. Here is an example of a trivial, inelegant progress and warning subroutine in BASIC-like pseudocode which executes i, the outer loop, a specific number of times (3) and produces an audible beep signal each time it begins; then nested within i is j, which executes up to the value of a variable n - 1, which comes from outside the subroutine, but only if n has a value of minimum_var or more. Further nested within this are two print statements, if j is 50 or less, the dashes are not printed, but three dots are always printed (provided n has a value of the prestated minimum_var or more). If the routine fails the minimum variable test (minimum_var), then three signal beeps will be sounded in succession, with no characters printed. At the minimum_var value or above, however, three dots followed by three dashes will be printed, a visual SOS warning sign that a value of 50 has been exceeded: Nest_routine (n, minimum_var): For i = 1 to 3 Print beep For j = 1 to n-1 unless n < minimum_var Print ... Print if j > 50 Next J Next I Return While nests can be many layers deep, it may be a sign of weak program structure if they routinely are more than about three or four levels deep. See recursion. Net Citizen, Net Denizen See Netizen. Net Police A generic term for the various individuals who moderate communications on the net for appropriateness, tact, good taste, honesty, and fair

2002 by CRC Press LLC

use. Although some resent the activities of the Net Police, for the most part, these folks are committed, caring, hard-working volunteers who want to see the broadest possible access to the Internet, and who encourage voluntary compliance with Netiquette in order to try to prevent government regulation of the Internets open communications forums. See Netiquette. NET/ROM A packet radio communications protocol which has largely superseded AX.25. It provides support for a wider variety of types of packets with automatic routing. See AX.25. NetBIOS Frames Control Protocol NBFCP. Originally the NetBEUI protocol, NBFCP establishes NBF Protocol to run over Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). NBFCP enables an end system to connect to a peer system or to the local area network (LAN) in which the peer is located. It is not suitable for interconnecting LANs. NBFCP defines a method for encapsulating multiprotocol datagrams, a link control protocol (LCP) for establishing and configuring the data link connection, and a family of network control protocols (NCPs) for establishing and configuring different network-layer protocols. See RFC 2097. NETBLT NETwork BLock Transfer Protocol. This is a transport level networking protocol intended for the fast transfer of large quantities of data. It provides flow control and reliability characteristics, with maximum throughput over different types of networks. It runs over Internet Protocol (IP), but need not be limited to IP. The protocol opens a connection between two clients, transfers data in large data aggregates called buffers, and closes the connection. Each buffer is transferred as a sequence of packets. Enhanced Trivial File Transfer Protocol (ETFTP) is an implementation of NETBLT. See RFC 998. Netcast Broadcasting through the Internet. See Webcast. Netgod An individual recognized by colleagues, or a large body of Internet participants, as having made significant contributions to the development and functioning of the Internet. NetHead, Net Junkie Someone who has no life outside the Internet. An Internet addict (yes, they exist). Employers sometimes have to curtail the activities of NetHeads who are accessing the Internet for personal entertainment on company time. Parents sometimes are concerned, as well, that their children will spend too little time outside or with friends and relatives, if they spend too much time on the Net. NetHead need not have a negative connotation; sometimes being a NetHead isnt so bad. The Net has opened up a world of communication to people who are bedridden or have trouble getting around. Not only does the Net give them a world to explore, but people on the Net get to know them without any prejudices they may have toward those who have physical limitations to free movement. Netiquette Newsgroup etiquette, Network etiquette. An important, well-respected voluntary code of ethics and etiquette on the Internet. Many people have
2002 by CRC Press LLC

contributed to Netiquette, but it was mainly developed by Rachel Kadel at the Harvard Computer Society, and subsequently maintained by Cindy Alvarez. The whole point of having Netiquette is so that network citizens can enjoy maximum freedom by not abusing the rights and sensibilities of others, so that the Net will remain largely unregulated and unrestricted. This freedom depends upon the cooperation of everyone. In the early days of BBSs, in the late 1970s, most systems were completely open and not password protected. Gradually the constant vandalism and lack of consideration for others caused passwords to be implemented. Eventually, by the mid-1980s, even this was not sufficient to curtail childish or destructive behavior and many of the system operators (sysops) gave up trying to maintain the systems. Many of the same unfortunate patterns of abuse have damaged the USENET newsgroup system, which used to be a fantastic open forum for discussion, with many scientific and cultural leaders participating under their real names in the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, this system is now abused by bad language, inappropriate remarks, and get-rich-quick come-ons. Consequently, many groups have been forced to close up or go to moderated status, and most celebrities now use assumed names. If members of the Internet community realize that it is completely possible to voluntarily appreciate and respect the rights of others, the Internet can remain an open resource for all. Its a good idea to read Netiquette. Its adherents encourage people to choose voluntary self-restraint and freedom over regulation. See emoticon, Frequently Asked Question, Netizen. Also, Arlene H. Rinaldis Net User Guidelines and Netiquette in text format is available at many sites on the Internet, including: ftp://ftp.lib.berkeley.edu/pub/net.training/FAU/netiquette.txt Netizen Net citizen or Net denizen. A responsible user of the Internet. Many founders and users of the Internet consider themselves members of a new type of global community that shares and promotes a vision of an open, freely accessible, self-governed communications venue in which participants voluntarily deport themselves with responsibility, integrity, charity, and tolerance toward the many diverse opinions expressed online. A Netizen is one who contributes to the positive evolution of the Net and respects online Netiquette. One could also more broadly say that anyone who uses the Net is a Netizen, although some people online have less polite terms for those who abuse their freedoms and those of others on the Net. See Netiquette. netmask A symbolic representation of an Internet Protocol (IP) address that identifies which part is the host number and which part is the network number through a bitwise-AND operation. The result of this logical operation is the network number. Netmasks are specified for different classes of addresses, and are used in classless addressing as well. See name resolution. NetRanger An intrusion detection utility from Cisco Systems now known as the Cisco Secure Intrusion

Detection System. A service pack was issued to support the detection system sensor component to reduce the chance of the system being circumvented by an encoding vulnerability. See CodeRed, virus. NETS See Normes Europenne de Tlcommunications. Netscape Communications Originally Mosaic communications, Netscape Communications is the developer and distributor of Netscape Navigator, the best-known browser on the Internet. The company was founded by Mark Andreessen and some very experienced business people from Silicon Graphics Corporation and McCaw Cellular Communications. It had one of the highest profile public offerings in the computer industry. See Andreessen, Mark. Netscape Navigator The most broadly distributed and used Web browser on the World Wide Web, and the name of its related server software. Descended from Mosaic, the browser was developed by Netscape Communications and widely distributed as shareware until late 1997. At that point, Netscape made the decision, in 1998, to freely distribute the software as open source software and concentrate on marketing their server software. The first beta release was distributed in 1994. NETscout Applications software from Cisco Systems which provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for network system administrations data collection, reporting, monitoring of statistics, and protocol analysis. Netware A commercial proprietary networking product from Novell Corporation. Netware is widely distributed for use on local area networks (LANs). network An interconnected or inter-related system, fabric, or structure. A logical, physical, or electrical grouping in which there is some electromagnetic or biological intercommunication between some or all of the parts. A broadcast network is a physical and communications association of directors, actors, production personnel, and technologies which together cooperate and are used to create and distribute programming to its viewers. A computer network is one in which computers are able to intercommunicate and share resources by means of wireless and/or wired connections and transmissions protocols. A cellular communications network is one in which a cooperative system of wireless communications protocols, geographically spaced transceivers, relay and controlling stations, and transceiving user devices are used to interconnect callers while moving within or among transceiving cells. network-attached storage NAS. In general terms, a dedicated file storage device or system of associated devices on a network server. The NAS is intended to take the storage burden off the processing server so that a greater amount of storage and more specialized storage-related resources can be concentrated within the NAS. In more specific terms, NAS is the implementation of a storage access protocol over a network transmissions protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) such that the storage resources are concentrated and separate from the process server (and may even be

in a remote location). The advantage of NAS is that storage devices can be placed where it is convenient to install or maintain them and large storage closets can be established for high-end storage needs. The disadvantage is that the burden of the transmissions between remote users and the NAS is handled across the network, increasing traffic over what would occur if the storage devices were associated with individual workstations and decreasing access times, depending upon the distance and the relative load on the network. NAS is often implemented within a storage area network (SAN), which is a broader concept, and may be designated as SAN/NAS. See NASD Project, National Storage Industry Consortium, storage area network. network, broadcast n. A commercial or amateur radio or television broadcast station. A few examples of well-known broadcast networks include CBC (Canada), BBC (Britain), ABC, NBC, and PBS. Amateurs often run local or special-interest radio, television, or slow-scan television broadcasts. See ANIK. network, computer n. 1. A system comprising nodes and their associated interconnected paths. 2. A system of interconnected communications lines, channels, or circuits. A small-scale computer network typically consists of a server, a number of computers, some printers, modems, and sometimes scanners, and facsimile machines. The highway system is a type of network, as is the very effective train system in Europe. See local area network, wide area network. network, social A social communications system consisting of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. A great deal of the content of human networks consists of unrecorded oral communications (although with email, video phones, and online public chats, recorded conversations are increasing, a dynamic probably of interest to historians and biographers). The term networking is often used in association with business and political alliances formed through social contacts, trade shows, trade association memberships, and referrals. network access control NAC. Network policies, configurations, and administrative steps that control the data transmissions to a server, switching/routing component, network, workstation, or peripheral device. Password accounts, dedicated workstations and peripherals, gateways, firewalls, and employee passcards are examples of NAC components and procedures. NAC policies and systems are of particular interest at institutions where sensitive information or expensive services must be handled efficiently or protected from tampering or misuse. NAC is important in business and educational local area networks and particularly important in classified government and military systems, especially on systems where links to the outside world through the Internet are desired without compromising internal security. In some cases biometrics (e.g., iris scans) may be used to control

2002 by CRC Press LLC

access to computer terminals or rooms. Monitors and logs may be implemented to oversee general use and to provide an audit trail to check back through unusual activities. See authentication, firewall, gateway. Network Access Point NAP. A major backbone point which provides service to ISPs and is designated to exchange data with other NAPs. NAP was a development in the mid-1990s which arose from the change in the U.S. Internet from a single, dominant backbone to a shared backbone across four NAPs (California, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, D.C.). See MAE East, MAE West, Metropolitan Area Ethernet, Public Exchange Point. network address An identifier for a physical or logical component on a network. Components often have a fixed hardware address, but may also have one or more logical addresses. Logical addresses may change dynamically as the network is altered physically, or as the network software is tuned or protocols changed. Network addresses are typically associated with nodes and stations. See address resolution, domain name, Media Access Control. network administrator 1. The human in charge of the installation, configuration, customization, security, and lower level operating functions of a computer network. On larger networks, these tasks may be divided among a number of professionals. See SysOp. 2. A software program that handles details of the job of a human network administrator. Activities automated with network administration software include monitoring, archiving, and system checks. See daemon, dragon. Network Applications Consortium NAC. A trade organization seeking to support and promote generally accepted standards rather than a large number of fragmented proprietary standards for network applications in order to promote interoperability. http://www.netapps.org/ Network Control Protocols NCP. The Point-toPoint Protocol handles assignment and management of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and other functions through a family of Network Control Protocols (NCPs) which manage the specific needs of their associated network-layer protocols. See Point-to-Point Protocol, RFC 1661. network drive A drive accessible to multiple users on a computer network. On some network systems, users have to specify and access a particular drive to take advantage of the shared storage space. On other systems, this shared arrangement can be set up so that it is transparent to the user and, in fact, a volume may traverse several drives. Network drives are sometimes set up to create data redundancy in case one of the drives or partitions is corrupted. This is a good idea and, since it is in constant effect, there is less chance of loss as with systems backed up only at intervals (although companies with important data should do both). See redundant array of inexpensive disks. Network Driver Interface Specification NDIS. A network protocol/driver interface jointly developed

by Microsoft Corporation and 3Com Corporation. NDIS provides a standard interface layer that receives information from network transport stacks and network adapter card software drivers. The transport protocols are thus hardware-independent. network element NE This is defined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as: ... a facility or equipment used in the provision of a telecommunications service. Such term also includes features, functions, and capabilities that are provided by means of such facility or equipment, including subscriber numbers, databases, signaling systems, and information sufficient for billing and collection or used in the transmission, routing, or other provision of a telecommunications service. See Federal Communications Commission, Telecommunications Act of 1996. network fax server A workstation equipped with fax/modem hardware and software so multiple users of the network can route a fax in and out through the server. This removes the necessity for having a fax modem (or fax machine) physically attached to each computer in a network. The fax server can then also be located near its associated phone line, or lines. Fax servers also exist that can use Internet connections (T1, frame relay, etc.) rather than phone lines to send and receive messages. network filter A transducer designed to separate transmission waves on the basis of frequency. Network Information Service NIS. A client/server protocol developed by Sun Microsystems for distributing system configuration data among networked computers, formerly and informally known as Yellow Pages. NIS is licensed to other Unix vendors. network interface NI. A junction or reference point in a network that supports or represents a change in the physical and/or logical structure of a link or, in some cases, represents a jurisdictional change (even if there is no physical change or data conversion). The point at which a phone service line connects to a subscribers premises is a network interface and various aspects of this connection have been standardized. For example, the network interface electrical characteristics and interactions for an analog connection between a telecommunications carrier and the customer premises are described in ANSI T1.401-1993. network interface card, network interface controller NIC. A PC board that provides a means to physically and logically connect a computer to a network. For microcomputers, typically these cards are equipped with BNC and/or RJ-45 sockets facing the outside of the computer and edge card connectors that fit into the expansion slots inside a computer. The cables resemble video cables, or fat phone cables, depending upon the type used. Most systems require a physical terminator on the physical endpoints of the network (if the network isnt working, it may be because termination is missing or incorrectly installed). Separate software, not included with

2002 by CRC Press LLC

the computer operating system, may be required to use the specific card installed. Many workstationlevel computers come with network hardware and software built in, and Macintosh users are familiar with the built-in AppleTalk hardware and software. The trend is for microcomputers to use TCP/IP networking over Ethernet. Network Integration Verification Test NIVT. A test designed to evaluate and improve three different Front End Processors (FEPs) handling routing and transport protocols in mixed high-performance routing systems with large Topology Databases to assess scalability. Information on NIVT and actual test reports are available through the IBM Web site. network intrusion detection system NIDS. A means or set of procedures and/or programs designed to alert the system administrator or individual users about vandalistic attacks or unauthorized access to a computer network. There are many types of intrusion, including system flooding, account access, file access, and physical access. NIDS more often refers to the first three categories. (Physical access to the electronics inside a computer may be detected by video cameras, marks, fingerprints, or detection chemicals, but this type of intrusion is less prevalent than day-to-day attempts by unauthorized users to view, steal, or compromise data on a system.) An intrusion detection system is rarely just one application or device, but rather the implementation of a collection of policies, procedures, and tools to ensure system security. In general, NIDS refers to systems that actively detect signs of intrusion (e.g., a utility that detects repeated entries of incorrect passwords) as opposed to passive systems that primarily deter intrusion (e.g., the necessity for a password). As networks are increasingly connected to the Internet, they become more accessible to outside intruders. Electronic commerce sites on the Web are particularly vulnerable, as there are people who search for credit card numbers and other commodities that are recorded on computer systems. Two of the more important intrusion detection mechanisms include: monitors These are applications that display realtime or recent statistics and events. On older systems and mainframes, monitors commonly represent data as text displays arranged in columns. On some of the newer systems, graphical tables and graphs are also available. System monitors are often bundled with operating systems to allow sysops to view CPU usage, connection requests, numbers of users, entries and exits to the system, locations of machines being accessed, numbers or types of packets being transferred, URLs of users accessing Web servers, etc. Operators use a combination of live audio/visual monitoring and software utilities to generate an alert when anomalous patterns occur. logs These are records of activities. The data generated by monitors are often kept in running logs that can be archived indefinitely or stored for a period of hours or months, depending on the need. In addition to system monitors, software installation and system reconfiguration activities are

often logged to record when changes were made, which files were added or deleted, and where the files were installed. Intruders are not always hightech computer experts; often they are employees snooping or stealing data with little understanding of the electronic trail they leave when they engage in unauthorized access. Even if they do search for logs, with the intention of changing or deleting them, they may be unsuccessful if the system is configured to duplicate log entries on another computer or a protected directory. One of the more difficult types of intrusion to detect is access by someone who has stolen a legitimate password. Since the intruder isnt breaking into the system, but logging on normally, the intrusion may go unnoticed for a long time. However, even this type of activity can sometimes be detected with a combination of monitors and logs. If CPU usage during the night or lunch hour is usually low, and the various monitors show John Does account becomes active during times when John isnt at his desk, there is reason to investigate the anomalous patterns. Intrusion detection systems are, in large part, dependent upon the ability of the system administrator and the capability of the system to determine normal usage patterns and variations from the norm. The most difficult type of intrusion to detect is unauthorized activity by a system administrator or programmer. A small percentage of sysops take advantage of their privileged positions for personal gain. Since a high-level administrator or systems programmer has access to almost everything on a network, its very difficult for others to detect tampering or unethical use of network resources. They are also expert at hiding a data trail when using one system to access another or when snooping on passwordprotected file systems. These types of intrusion often go unnoticed until funds disappear or until strange things happen after the individual leaves a project or firm. The primary ways to reduce system administrator intrusions are careful employee screening, built-in accountability policies and procedures, and good employee relations. For the most part, system administrators are intelligent, dedicated professionals, proud of their systems and concerned about maintaining good system security. Contrary to what might be expected, the majority of intrusions are probably not by system administrators, but by curious or mischievous programmers on the one hand and professionals trying to divert funds or information or save a buck on the other (statistics suggest that a surprising proportion of computer-related theft is by doctors and businesspeople as opposed to university students and teenagers). Network intrusion detection is not a simple configuration that can be set up and used indefinitely. Computer security requires a responsive approach to a dynamically changing environment, like a farmer adapting to constantly changing weather and market conditions. A system administrator must monitor, fine-tune, and reconfigure on an ongoing basis to achieve network security. See cracker, firewall, hacker, virus, worm.

2002 by CRC Press LLC