.\" $NetBSD: ns.me,v 1.1.1.1 2000/04/28 03:39:17 itojun Exp $ .\" .\" ++Copyright++ 1986, 1988 .\" - .\" Copyright (c) 1986, 1988 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software .\" must display the following acknowledgement: .\" This product includes software developed by the University of .\" California, Berkeley and its contributors. .\" 4. 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IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" - .\" Portions Copyright (c) 1993 by Digital Equipment Corporation. .\" .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies, and that .\" the name of Digital Equipment Corporation not be used in advertising or .\" publicity pertaining to distribution of the document or software without .\" specific, written prior permission. .\" .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. DISCLAIMS ALL .\" WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL DIGITAL EQUIPMENT .\" CORPORATION BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR .\" PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS .\" ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS .\" SOFTWARE. .\" - .\" --Copyright-- .\" .\" @(#)ns.me 6.3 (Berkeley) 9/19/89 .\" .sh 1 "The Name Service" .pp The basic function of the name server is to provide information about network objects by answering queries. The specifications for this name server are defined in RFC1034, RFC1035 and RFC974. These documents can be found in \fI/usr/src/etc/named/doc\fP in 4.3BSD or \fIftp\fPed from \fBftp.rs.internic.net\fP. It is also recommended that you read the related manual pages, \fInamed\fP\|(8), \fIresolver\fP\|(3), and \fIresolver\fP\|(5). .pp The advantage of using a name server over the host table lookup for host name resolution is to avoid the need for a single centralized clearinghouse for all names. The authority for this information can be delegated to the different organizations on the network responsible for it. .pp The host table lookup routines require that the master file for the entire network be maintained at a central location by a few people. This works fine for small networks where there are only a few machines and the different organizations responsible for them cooperate. But this does not work well for large networks where machines cross organizational boundaries. .pp With the name server, the network can be broken into a hierarchy of domains. The name space is organized as a tree according to organizational or administrative boundaries. Each node, called a \fIdomain\fP, is given a label, and the name of the domain is the concatenation of all the labels of the domains from the root to the current domain, listed from right to left separated by dots. A label need only be unique within its domain. The whole space is partitioned into several areas called \fIzones\fP, each starting at a domain and extending down to the leaf domains or to domains where other zones start. Zones usually represent administrative boundaries. An example of a host address for a host at the University of California, Berkeley would look as follows: .(b \fImonet\fP\|\fB.\fP\|\fIBerkeley\fP\|\fB.\fP\|\fIEDU\fP .)b The top level domain for educational organizations is EDU; Berkeley is a subdomain of EDU and monet is the name of the host.