Multicast DNS (mDNS) provides a naming service system that is easy to set up and maintain for systems on a local link. All participating network devices on the same local link perform standard DNS functions, using mDNS rather than unicast, and do not need a unicast DNS server. For administrators, the primary advantage of mDNS is that no unicast DNS server needs to be maintained on the local network. There is no need, for example, to update and maintain host names in files to resolve hostname to IP address requests for systems on the local link that are using mDNS.