This glossary was written and prepared by Blair Bergum of  DNSnews.net
For additions or corrections to this glossary, please send email to glossary at dnsnews dot net

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Nairobi Treaty

established in 1981, the Nairobi Treaty establishes protection of the Olympic symbols from commercial use without first being authorized by the International Olympic Committee.

named

the Name daemon program from BIND.

name-based hosting

a term sometimes used by hosting companies to denote using your own domain name as opposed to using a directory name which is either appended before or after, ones' hosting company's own domain name or website name. i.e:

1) geocities.com/your_directory

2) yourdirectory.hypermart.net.

named.boot

boot file which contains the zone names, authorizations, and pointers to zone files.

named.conf

DNS file that contains the information for configuring NS as Primary Master or Slaves, and Authoritative NS for multiple zones.

named.root

file that is the standard file in the BIND DNS server software that resides in the /etc/domain directory.

name resolution

the process of resolving the domain name into an IP address. Also known as resolution. See also resolution.

name servers

are the programs of the DNS that perform the name service (translation of the domain name into an IP address) and stores the zone record information about the domain name space. A name server associated with a SLD domain name has authority over that zone. A looser definition is the server that contains the NS program.

Name Server Record

see NS record.

Name Service

is the network service of translating the domain name into an IP address on a DNS server with respect to the DNS. Name Service is only a subset of the DNS.

name space

1) a set of unique domain names identifying resources used in a shared network environment.

2) is the hierarchical flowchart of domains in the DNS. It is composed of a TLD and a SLD, and possibly other subdomains that are children to the SLD.

NAP

Network Area Provider, providing networking infrastructure to the surrounding area or community. See also Network Area Provider.

NAS

Network-Attached Storage, keeps sites up and running even during routine maintenance by storing the website data on a network-attached server rather than on the server that is serving up the applications to clients. NAS is typically designed for less than or equal to 10TB capacity for multiple servers in a single location. Can be used for shared read/writes. NAS is good for clustered-database applications.

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration contributed to the network facilities to NSFNET. http://nasa.gov

NAT

Network Address Translation, used by devices that sit between an internal network and the Internet which maps unregistered IP addresses to registered IP addresses. NAT was developed by Cisco Systems and can work with a device (firewall, router, or computer). The following types of NAT are as follows:

1)Static mapping: mapping an unregistered IP to a registered IP address.

2)Dynamic mapping: mapping an unregistered IP to a dynamically generated or selected IP address.

3)Overloading: mapping unregistered IP addresses to a single registered IP address, using different ports for each IP. Also known as Port Address Translation, Single Address NAT, and port-level multiplexed NAT.

4) Overlapping: mapping IP registered addresses on an internal network to registered IP addresses on another network.

NCDNHC

Non-Commercial Domain Name Holders Constituency.

NATLD

North American Top Level Domain Organization.

NCRI

Networking and Communications Research and Infrastructure, is a group within the NSF.

Net

short for the Internet.

netblocks

a block or group of IP addresses that are assigned to a web hosting company or ISP that can be individually re-assigned to a web client.

Netscape Communicator

a web browser package that provides Internet access and converts HTML into webpages a user can view on a computer. Formerly, the browser was called Netscape Navigator.

Netscape Navigator

a web browser that converts HTML into webpages that can be viewed on a computer by a user. Later the product was renamed Netscape Communicator.

Netsol

short for Network Solutions is the URL for the master global registry of domain name records. Specifically, netsol.com. Now purchased and operated by Verisign, Netsol still remains the website that contains the master registry.

Netscape

created a browser for connecting to the Internet and the World Wide Web.

network

a system of interconnected computers and devices that can share applications and other resources with each other.

Network Address Translation

see NAT.

Network Area Provider

provider that provides network infrastructure to a surrounding area or community. NAP for short.

Network-based IDS

monitors network traffic and identifies network behavior that might be associated with a possible attack.

Network Service Provider

see NSP.

Network Solutions

(NSI) was the single historical and original Domain Name Services Provider and Registrar who maintained the master global registry of all registered domain names for the entire world. NSI was awarded a temporary contract from the U.S. government’s NSF to administer the registry for gTLD’s for a temporary contractual period of time. It was initially a five year contract, but has been extended repeatedly. http://www.netsol.com

NIC

1) Network Information Center, also known as a NOC.

2) Network Interface Card, that is used to interface between hosts (computers) and the network.

NIC handle

a unique database identifier, automatically generated, and used by the InterNIC to aid in database functions that contain the domain name, user, and network Resource Record for each domain name.

Nice Agreement

the international classification of goods and services, established for the purpose of trademark registration and protection by an international treaty. It was signed at Nice on June 15th, 1957 and categorizes trademarks into 42 classifications, 34 for goods, and 8 for services.

NII

National Information Infrastructure. http://www.nii.nchc.gov.tw

NOC

Network Operations Center

node

1) a processing location in a network, such as a computer or a printer.

2) a point where two or more lines intersect in a data tree structure or flowchart.

NOI

Notice of Inquiry, a government process where the public is asked for input on formal issues. It was used with the Internet, when it referred to an RFC on the Registration and Administration of Internet Domain Names by the DOC’s NTIA between July and August of 1997.

Northern Regional Registry

see the InterNIC.

NSF

National Science Foundation, has statutory authority for supporting and strengthening basic scientific research, engineering, and educational activities in the U.S. including the maintenance of computer networks to connect research and educational institutions.

NSFNET

National Science Foundation Network, is a national highspeed network based upon the Internet protocols under an award from the NSF, developed by IBM, MCI, and Merit, in 1987. NSFNET was the largest of the governmental networks providing a backbone to more than 4000 research and educational institutions throughout the country.

nslookup

a software tool for looking up an IP address from a host name. It will also do a reverse name lookup and reveal the host name from an inputted IP address.

NSI

Network Solutions, Inc. See Network Solutions.

nslookup

is a program that will return an IP address for a given host name, and will also do reverse name lookup by providing a host name for a given IP address.

ns[N].

the Authoritative NS for a zone, where N refers to the number of the Name Server. For example, one of the NS’ for DNSNEWS.NET would be written in the following format: NS1.DNSNEWS.NET.  See also NS.

NSP

Network Service Provider, a provider who provides network services on a national or regional level.

NS Record

Name Server Record, specifies a host name on a zone file.

NSS

Networked System Survivability Program, is located at the SEI, of Carnegie Mellon University.

NS

Name Server, the host name that proceeds a domain name followed by a period for domain names that are registered as Name Servers as well. Every domain name is assigned two NS that will hold the zone information for a domain name. When a domain name is registered as a NS then that domain name can be used as the Name Servers for other domain names that wish to resolve to that Name Server.

NS1

Name Server 1, see NS.

NS2

Name Server 2, see NS.

NS1

Name Server 3, see NS.

NS2

Name Server 4, see NS.

NTEPPTF

New TLD Evaluation Planning Process Task Force, created by ICANN to report on implementation recommendations of introducing new gTLD’s.

NTIA

National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is the Executive Branch’s voice on domestic and international telecommunications and information technology policy issues.

NRE

Non-Recurring Expense.

NTP

Network Time Protocol

ntp.

Network Time Protocol Server. See also NTP.

n+1

the designation of redundant or backup systems (usually referring to cooling systems, HVAC) that are in addition to what is needed. N+1 means there is one more than what is required. N+1 is not a recommended setup since it is common to have one unit offline for maintenance, and should the other fail, there would not be adequate cooling.

n+2

the designation of redundant or backup systems (usually referring to cooling systems, HVAC) that are in addition to what is needed. N=2 means there are two more than what is required. N+2 means that there are two units that are redundant and used for backup if as many as two units should fail. N+2 is the recommended minimum for a first class data center.

n+3

the designation of redundant or backup systems (usually referring to cooling systems, HVAC) that are in addition to what is needed. N+3 means there are three more units than what is required. N+3 means that three units could fail and there would still be adequate cooling. N+3 is used in very large data centers.