Microsoft NNTP Service implements the Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP), which is a client/server protocol. Microsoft NNTP Service is the server; Microsoft Internet Mail and News is a typical client.
Clients connect to Microsoft NNTP Service through a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network. The default TCP port is 119 for regular connections. For encrypted SSL connections, the default TCP port is 563.
Microsoft NNTP Service runs as a service on Windows NT Server. The service is configured to start automatically. In Windows NT Server Control Panel under the Services application, the service name is “Microsoft NNTP Service.”
Posting Articles
You post newsgroup articles to Microsoft NNTP Service using a news client such as Microsoft Internet Mail and News. The client connects to Microsoft NNTP Service and requests to post the article to one or more newsgroups. Microsoft NNTP Service receives the connection request and verifies that the user is authorized to post to the specified newsgroups. Microsoft NNTP Service then adds the article to the newsgroup and updates the newsgroup index.
Viewing Articles
You view newsgroup articles on Microsoft NNTP Service using a news client such as Microsoft Internet Mail and NeWs. The first step in viewing newsgroup articles is to get a list of available newsgroups. The client connects to Microsoft NNTP Service and requests the list of available newsgroups. Microsoft NNTP Service receives the connection request, verifies that the user is authorized to access newsgroups, and then sends the client a list of all available newsgroups.
The second step is to select the newsgroup the user wants to view. The client requests the list of articles for the selected newsgroup. Microsoft NNTP Service verifies that the user is authorized to access the specified newsgroup and sends the client a list of all articles in that newsgroup.
As the user selects articles, the client requests the selected articles from Microsoft NNTP Service. Microsoft NNTP Service then returns the contents of the specified articles.
Microsoft NNTP Service Data Structures
Microsoft NNTP Service stores newsgroup articles in one or more directory hierarchies. Each newsgroup has its own directory, and each article is stored as a file in that directory.
The main directory is
C:Inetpubnntproot
by default, which can be changed on the Home Directory tab of the Microsoft NNTP Service property page. Yoir can create additional directory hierarchies on other disk drives or other computers by defining virtual directories.
The newsgroup directory has the same name as the newsgroup. Microsoft NNTP Service automatically creates the required directories when you create new newsgroups. For example, the newsgroup named entertainmenLnews is stored in the directory EntertainmentNews under the root directory
C:Inetpubnntprootentertainmentnews by default.
Newsgroup article files have a .nws extension. Microsoft NNTP Service also creates files that list the subjects of stored articles. Microsoft NNTP Service creates one of these subject files, which has a .xix extension, for every 128 articles in a newsgroup.