N

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

name resolution

The process of mapping a computer name (friendly name) into its corresponding numeric IP address.

namespace

A tree-formatted, ordered list of all the nodes available in the current tool. The display of the namespace is similar to a folder and directory structure on a hard drive. It is required for the Domain Name System (DNS) to work properly. The DNS namespace is hierarchical in nature and allows host names to be stated in absolute or relative terms. Absolute names, or fully qualified domain names (FQDNs), are defined from the root of the namespace and uniquely identify a node in the hierarchy. Relative names are represented relative to a name in the hierarchy.

NAT

See network address translation (NAT).

negative caching

The caching of HTTP error conditions associated with accessing a particular URL. If the URL is unavailable, the error response message can be cached and returned to subsequent clients that request the same URL.

NetBIOS

See network basic input/output system (NetBIOS).

network address translation (NAT)

The process that a computer forwarding packets uses to convert the IP addresses and TCP/UDP port numbers of packets from the private values that are used on the source network to public values that are recognized on the destination network. See also secure network address translation (SecureNAT).

network adapter

A hardware device that enables a computer to connect to a network. A network adapter in the form a card that can be inserted into a motherboard slot is sometimes called a network interface card (NIC).

network basic input/output system (NetBIOS)

An API that can be used by applications on a local area network (LAN). NetBIOS provides applications with a uniform set of commands for mapping input/output (I/O) operations into equivalent network operations.

Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP)

The Internet standard protocol for posting, distributing, and reading network news messages posted among news groups on the Internet. Messages are posted to NNTP servers and are accessed by NNTP clients (newsreaders).

Network Policy Server (NPS)

The Microsoft implementation of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server and proxy in Windows Server 2008. NPS supersedes the Internet Authentication Service (IAS). When acting as a Network Access Protection (NAP) health policy server, NPS performs system health evaluation for NAP clients based on configured health and network policies.

NNTP

See Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP).

NTFS file system

An advanced file system that supports file system recovery, very large storage media, and object-oriented applications. NTFS also offers enhanced security over the older FAT file system.


Send comments about this topic to Microsoft

Build date: 11/30/2009

© 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.