The term that encompasses all of the Oracle networking components, including: Oracle Net, the listener, Oracle Connection Manager, Oracle Names, Oracle Net Configuration Assistant, and Oracle Net Manager.

The Oracle client/server communication software that offers transparent operation to Oracle tools or databases over any type of network protocol and operating system.

The foundation of the Oracle family of networking products, allowing services and their client applications to reside on different computers and communicate. The main function of Oracle Net Services is to establish network sessions and transfer data between a client application and a server. Oracle Net Services is located on each computer in the network. Once a network session is established, Oracle Net Services acts as a data courier for the client and the server.