NNTP


Stands for “Network News Transfer Protocol.” NNTP is the protocol used to connect with Usenet servers and switch newsgroup articles between programs over the Internet. It is just like the SMTP protocol used for sending e-mail messages, however is designed particularly for newsgroup articles.

NNTP allows each server/server and shopper/server communication. NNTP servers, for instance, can talk with one another and replicate newsgroups amongst one another. This is how the Usenet network is created and maintained. In the client-server mannequin, NNTP permits a shopper system to connect with a Usenet server and supplies instructions for looking and viewing articles on the server.

Usenet was initially based mostly on UUCP (Unix-to-Unix Copy), an early protocol used for file transfers between Unix programs. The solely technique to learn articles through UUCP was to log right into a Usenet server and browse articles instantly from the native disk. NNTP made it doable to entry a Usenet server remotely from a shopper system operating newsreader software program.

Examples of instructions supported by the Network News Transfer Protocol embody:

  • ARTICLE – retrieve an article from a Usenet server
  • GROUP – choose a particular newsgroup
  • IHAVE – inform the server the shopper has an article it might need
  • LIST – retrieve a listing of newsgroups accessible on the server
  • NEWSGROUPS – obtain a listing of newsgroups created after a particular date and time
  • NEWNEWS – obtain a listing of articles created after a particular date and time
  • NEXT – go to the following message within the newsgroup
  • POST – submit a message or reply to an present one

In most circumstances, these and different NNTP instructions are dealt with mechanically by newsreader software program. Newsreaders use these instructions to speak with Usenet servers and supply a graphical consumer interface GUI for looking and viewing articles on the server.

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