test

Solaris Naming Administration Guide

Global Naming Services

A global naming service identifies (names) those enterprise-level networks around the world that are linked together via phone, satellite, or other communication systems. This world-wide collection of linked networks is known as the "Internet." In addition to naming networks, a global naming service also identifies individual machines and users within a given network.

FNS currently supports two global naming services:

Note -

You can only federate a global naming service if your enterprise-level name service is NIS+ or NIS. If you are using a files-based name service for your enterprise, you cannot federate either DNS or X.500/LDAP.

See Chapter 26, FNS and Global Naming Systems, for administration information regarding FNS and enterprise-level naming services.

FNS and DNS

The Internet Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical collection of name servers that provide the world Internet with host and domain name resolution. FNS uses DNS to name enterprise objects globally.

A domain name is the name DNS uses to identify an enterprise-level network (LAN or WAN). Networks using NIS+ permit creation of subdomains within the parent domain, and DNS can identify such subdomains.

Names can be constructed for any enterprise that is accessible on the Internet; consequently, names can also be constructed for objects exported by these enterprises. For more information about FNS and DNS, see "Federating Under DNS".

FNS and X.500

X.500 is a global directory service. Its components cooperate to manage information about objects in a worldwide scope. Such objects include countries, organizations, people, and machines. FNS federates X.500 to enable global access to enterprise name services. You can choose to use one of two APIs to access the X.500 global directory service:

See "Federating Under X.500/LDAP" for information on federating X.500.