We present different classes of initial data to the three-dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, which generate a global in time, unique solution though they may be arbitrarily large in the end-point function space in which a fixed-point argument may be used to solve the equation locally in time. The main feature of these initial data is an anisotropic distribution of their frequencies. One of those classes is taken from previous papers by two of the authors and collaborators, and another one is new.