[IMR] $READ.ME                                      11 April 1991
 
                       Merit/NSFNET Information Services
                           NIS.NSF.NET   (35.1.1.48)
 
 
     Welcome to the Merit/NSFNET Information Services machine.  Information
     files are available on this machine under the following directories:
 
         ANONYMOUS --  List of public directories from which files may
                       be retrieved by FTP or electronic mail
 
         CISE      --  Documents regarding the announcement for
                       Coordination Theory and Collaboration Technology
                       initiative issued by the NSF.
 
         IMR       --  The Internet Monthly Reports communicating the
                       accomplishments, milestones reached, or
                       problems discovered by participating organizations.
 
         LINKLTTR  --  Text-only editions of the Link Letter, a monthly
                       newsletter published by Merit/NSFNET.  File
                       names contain the publication date for easy
                       retrieval.
 
         MAPS      --  PostScript versions of regional network maps
                       (available only by FTP)
 
         MICHNEWS  --  Issues of the Michnet News, the newsletter for
                       the statewide network in Michigan operated by
                       Merit Network, Inc., beginning with March 1990
                       (Vol. 5, No. 1). Pre-1990 newsletters are
                       available in hard-copy by request to
                       info@merit.edu or INFO@MERIT.BITNET.
 
         MICHNET   --  Michnet information files which include
                       descriptions of the network, its command
                       language, host attachment policies, and how
                       to access Merit from across the country and
                       overseas
 
         NSFCONFG  --  Configuration files for nodes on the NSFNET
                       backbone (available only by FTP)
 
         NSFNET    --  Merit/NSFNET administrative information,
                       policies regarding management of the
                       backbone, and government reports relevant
                       to networking
 
         NSFSITES  --  A catalog of hosts registered on the NSFNET
                       backbone (available only by FTP)
 
         RESOURCE  --  Basic references on TCP/IP and internetworking
 
         RFC       --  All Requests for Comments currently available
                       from the SRI-NIC
 
         STATS     --  Statistics collected from the NSFNET backbone 
                       for each monthly reporting period include:
                       - Inpacket totals by node (INPKTS)
                       - One-way delay times by node (PING)
                       - Packet totals by network (PTRAFFIC)
                       - Byte totals by network (BTRAFFIC)
                       - Packet and byte totals by service (PORTS)
                       Note: byte information by network or by port
                       is not available prior to October, 1990.
                       (all statistics available only by FTP)
 
 
 
   Directories:
 
   The directory layout on the Information Services machine is a flat file
   system, rather than a hierarchical or tree structure.  To move from one
   directory to another, issue the command:
 
                              cd <directoryname>
 
   From any directory, the command, "cd anonymous" will return you to
   the default directory.
 
 
   File names:
 
   FTP on the Information Services machine is running under VM on an
   IBM 4381 mainframe.  In the VM/CMS context, filenames starting with
   a '$' are legal (and force a file to appear at the top of a DIR
   listing where alpha collation is the default).  On some systems,
   a '$' at the start of a filename may not be legal, or may have a
   different interpretation.  Because of this, you may need to use the
   following form of the FTP 'get' command to assign a name compatible
   with your local system when transferring a file:
 
                      get <remote.file> <localfile>
 
   where "<remote.file>" is the name of the file on the Information
   Services machine, and "<localfile>" is the name you are transferring
   the file to on your host.
 
 
   FTP "TYPE":
 
   People who FTP to/from IBM mainframe systems need to remember that
   these machines are EBCDIC-based, and you should NOT do binary
   transfers of text files, otherwise you will end up with an unreadable
   file on your ASCII system.  Do not type BINARY in FTP unless you are
   transferring executables or other non-text files.
 
 
   Electronic mail query:
 
   Based on the Remote SPIRES product developed at Stanford, this system
   enables users to send a message to a server, which will respond with
   information from its databases.  The server can be queried by sending
   a message to:
 
                          nis-info@nis.nsf.net   or
                          nis-info@merit  (Bitnet)
 
   Commands for the server should be the first text line of the message;
   additional lines will be ignored.  A list of the directory indices
   that are available on the NSFNET-IS machine may be obtained by issuing
   the command:
 
                          index
 
   A specific index can be retrieved with the command:
 
                          index <directoryname>
 
   To retrieve documents from any of the directories, issue the command:
 
                          send <file.name>
 
   Some files due to their length or content (binary data), will not be
   returned by the server.  In such cases the requester will receive
   a message to that effect, and information on anonymous FTP.
 
   A list of other available mail query commands may be obtained with
   the command:
 
                          help
 
   If assistance is needed in using the server, a message should be sent
   to the Information Services staff at
 
                          UserHelp@nis.nsf.net    or
                          UserHelp@merit  (Bitnet)