OSF DCE Administration Guide--Core Components

OSF DCE Administration Guide—Core Components

11.5.3 DNSNames

The DCE naming environment supports the version of DNS that is based on Internet

Request for Comments (RFC) 1034 and RFC 1035. Many networks currently use DNS

primarily as a name service for host names. The most commonly used implementation

of DNS is the Berkeley Internet Naming Domain (BIND). The BIND namespace is a

hierarchical tree with its topmost levels under the control of the Network Information

Center (NIC). (See the for information on how to contact the NIC Domain Registrar to

The names directly under the root of the BIND namespace include 2-letter codes for

countries, such as us and gb, as deﬁned in ISO Standard 3166, ‘‘Codes for the

Representation of Names of Countries.’’ Other names one level below the root include

several generic administrative categories, such as com (commercial), edu (educational),

gov (government), and org (other organizations). The owners of these names can grant

permission to companies and organizations to create new subordinate names. Figure

11-6 shows a sample portion of the BIND namespace. (The double quotes indicate that

the root of the namespace has a null name and is not addressable.) Note that, like CDS

names, DNS names are not typed; that is, they do not consist of pairs of attribute types

and values.

Figure 11-6. Sample Portion of the BIND Namespace

com edu g o v org

mit usc

" "

A DNS name consists of a string of hierarchical names that are separated by . (dots) and

arranged right to left from the root of the namespace. For example, the name ai.mit.edu

represents the branch of the namespace owned by the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology artiﬁcial intelligence department. Note that the order of elements in the

name is the reverse of the order for CDS and GDS names.

To use a DNS cell name as part of a global DCE name, specify the DNS name intact

between two slashes. For example, a cell whose DNS name is ai.mit.edu might contain

a directory whose CDS name is /.:/proﬁles. Users should enter /.../ai.mit.edu/proﬁles to

refer to the directory by its global name.

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