How an Alias is Created

An alias is actually a combination of two aliases: a server alias and a share alias. The server alias is usually identical to the NFS server name minus the domain name. The exception occurs when you access two servers with the same name in different domains. For example, if the server sarge.bread.com is on your subnet and you add the server sarge.roses.com, the first sarge would be assigned the alias sarge, and the second might be assigned sarge~1. Network Provider stores both the NFS server name and its corresponding server alias.

Network Provider creates a share alias to match the name of the last subdirectory in a network path that you browsed or to which you mapped a drive.

Aliases Created When You Browse

If you browse servers in Network Neighborhood, the Solstice NFS Client Network Provider creates server aliases for all active NFS servers on your subnet. Network Provider first broadcasts to the NFS network servers on the local subnet, and any servers you have added. For each network server that responds, Network Provider translates the NFS name into a server alias. After server aliases are created, the list of responding servers is displayed in Network Neighborhood.

When you browse a particular server, Network Provider creates share aliases for the server's exported file systems. At this point, you can connect to those exports using the UNC format. When you browse a subdirectory within an export, a share alias is created only if you map a drive to the subdirectory. The share alias corresponds to the name of the last subdirectory in the path.

Aliases for Automount Maps

When you browse NFS automount maps or map a drive to an automount point, Network Provider creates a server alias for the automap and share aliases for the autokeys and subdirectories. For example, if you browsed the automount map for /home/joeuser, a server alias for /home and a share alias for /joeuser would be created. You could then use UNC format to access the directory.

Once Solstice NFS Client has created a UNC alias, you can connect to the network resource using either a UNC or NFS resource name format. When you enter the NFS name for a network resource, the Network Provider checks the entry for that name and uses the UNC name to connect the network resource on Windows 95 or NT. If no alias is found, Network Provider generates one automatically from the NFS name.