Connectionless-mode Network Service

Connectionless-mode Network Service (CLNS) or simply Connectionless Network Service is an OSI Network Layer datagram service that does not require a circuit to be established before data is transmitted, and routes messages to their destinations independently of any other messages. As such it is a "best-effort" rather than a "reliable" delivery service. CLNS is not an Internet service, but provides capabilities in an OSI network environment similar to those provided by the Internet Protocol (IP) and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

Connectionless-mode Network Protocol (CLNP)

Is an OSI protocol deployment. CLNS is the service provided by the Connectionless-mode Network Protocol (CLNP). CLNP is widely used in many telecommunications networks around the world because IS-IS (an OSI routing protocol) is mandated by the ITU-T as the protocol for management of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) elements. From August 1990 to April 1995 the NSFNET backbone supported CLNP in addition to TCP/IP. However, CLNP usage remained low compared to TCP/IP.