The Network Computer Reference Profile (NCRP) is a set of guidelines offered by Apple, IBM, Netscape, Oracle and Sun as a ``common denominator of popular and widely used features and functions'' [1]. It defines minimum hardware requirements and software protocols necessary to achieve NC-compliance. Among the required protocols and software are TCP/IP and the Java Application Environment.
The NCRP specification proposes that Sun's Network File System (NFS) be optionally used as a file system for NC devices: ``NCs which do not implement a distributed file system need not implement this protocol'' [1]. It does, however, mandate support of the TCP/IP-based Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to enable Web browsing and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for file exchange.