An RJE protocol for a resource sharing network

For many users of networks like the ARPANET, an RJE protocol is probably as important in terms of utility as the TELNET (or Virtual Terminal) protocol. In fact, the facilities provided by a TELNET and an RJE protocol are probably of most interest to the majority of users of computer networks. For these users, the network provides a fast, cheap telephone surrogate to a variety of computers for RJE and terminal access. The collection (and layers) of protocols that are used to provide these services must be organized to efficiently support a wide variety of applications and user needs. They should not pose an undue software burden on the user.

The "official" NETRJE protocol for the ARPANET is built on top of the Telnet and File Transfer Protocols (FTP). A user of NETRJE establishes a Telnet connection using the User NETRJE program on his local host to a Server NETRJE process at the host where he wishes to submit a job (see Figure 1). The user then sends to the Server process appropriate commands to log in, to describe where the job is that is to be submitted, to describe how the job is to be transferred, and to describe what is co be done with output when the job is completed. The Server NETRJE process on the foreign host then uses the FTP to transfer the input file to the foreign host, and then may use FTP again later to send the output back to the user. This protocol is very general and allows a user to submit his input from one host, process it at a second, and send the output to a third.