.\" Copyright (c) 1985 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\" @(#)ns.4 1.5 (Berkeley) %G%
ns \- Xerox Network Systems(tm) protocol family
.IX "ns device" "" "\fLns\fP \(em Xerox NS protocol family"
The NS protocol family is a collection of protocols
.I Internet Datagram Protocol
(IDP) transport layer, and using the Xerox NS address formats.
The NS family provides protocol support for the
SOCK_STREAM, SOCK_DGRAM, SOCK_SEQPACKET, and SOCK_RAW socket types; the
SOCK_RAW interface is a debugging tool, allowing you to trace all packets
entering, (or with toggling kernel variable, additionally leaving) the local
NS addresses are 12 byte quantities, consisting of a
4 byte Network number, a 6 byte Host number and a 2 byte port number,
all stored in network standard format.
(on the VAX these are word and byte reversed; on the Sun they are not
reversed). The include file
defines the NS address as a structure containing unions (for quicker
Sockets in the Internet protocol family use the following
where an ns_addr is composed as follows:
Sockets may be created with an address of all zeroes to effect
``wildcard'' matching on incoming messages.
The local port address specified in a
call is restricted to be greater than NSPORT_RESERVED
(=3000, in <netns/ns.h>) unless the creating process is running
as the super-user, providing a space of protected port numbers.
The NS protocol family supported by the operating system
the Internet Datagram Protocol (IDP)
Error Protocol (available through IDP),
Sequenced Packet Protocol (SPP)
SPP is used to support the SOCK_STREAM and SOCK_SEQPACKET abstraction,
while IDP is used to support the SOCK_DGRAM abstraction.
The Error protocol is responded to by the kernel
to handle and report errors in protocol processing;
only accessible to user programs through heroic actions.
intro(3), byteorder(3), gethostbyname(3), getnetent(3),
getprotoent(3), getservent(3), ns(3),
intro(4), spp(4), idp(4), nsip(4)
Internet Transport Protocols, Xerox Corporation document XSIS-028112
An Advanced 4.3BSD Interprocess Communication Tutorial