At the topmost layer, VINES provided the standard file and print services, as well as the unique "StreetTalk", likely the first truly practical globally consistent name-service for an entire internetwork. Using a globally distributed, partially replicated database, StreetTalk could meld multiple widely separated networks into a single network that allowed seamless resource-sharing. It accomplished this through its rigidly hierarchical naming-scheme; entries in the directory always had the form "item"@"group"@"organization". This applied to user accounts as well as to resources like printers and file servers.