network byte order
The order in which the bytes of a multi-byte number are transmitted on a network - most significant byte first (as in "big-endian" storage). This may or may not match the order in which numbers are normally stored in memory for a particular processor.
http://sun.com/realitycheck/headsup980803.html. http://hp.com/unixwork/whatsnew/fyi/bissue/aug98/article3.htm.