The primary goal of the Telnet Protocol [2] is to provide a standard interface for terminal devices and terminal oriented processes on the network. The Telnet Protocol provides a general bidirectional, 8 bit transparent communication channel.
The Telnet Protocol is normally used over TCP/IP networks, but is not limited to use of this type of transport protocol. All that is required is an error free transport service. For example, in a scenario where an employee located at his home uses a modem to dial in to the office UNIX computer, the Telnet Protocol could be used.
The Telnet Protocol is built upon two main ideas: ``Network Virtual Terminal'' and the principle of negotiated options.