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In
computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
, object identifiers or OIDs are an
identifier An identifier is a name that identifies (that is, labels the identity of) either a unique object or a unique ''class'' of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, person, physical countable object (or class thereof), or physical mass ...
mechanism standardized by the
International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information ...
(ITU) and
ISO/IEC ISO/IEC JTC 1, entitled "Information technology", is a joint technical committee (JTC) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Its purpose is to develop, maintain and ...
for naming any object, concept, or "thing" with a globally unambiguous persistent name.


Syntax and lexicon

An OID corresponds to a
node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...
in the "OID tree" or hierarchy, which is formally defined using the ITU's OID standard, X.660. The root of the tree contains the following three arcs: * 0:
ITU-T The International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three Sectors (branches) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating Standardization, standards fo ...
* 1:
ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...
* 2: joint-iso-itu-t Each node in the tree is represented by a series of integers separated by periods, corresponding to the path from the root through the series of ancestor nodes, to the node. Thus, an OID denoting
Intel Corporation Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing ...
appears as follows, :1.3.6.1.4.1.343 and corresponds to the following path through the OID tree: * 1 ISO * 1.3 identified-organization ( ISO/IEC 6523), * 1.3.6 DoD, * 1.3.6.1 internet, * 1.3.6.1.4 private, * 1.3.6.1.4.1 IANA enterprise numbers, * 1.3.6.1.4.1.343 Intel Corporation A textual representation of the OID paths is also commonly seen; for example, * iso.identified-organization.dod.internet.private.enterprise.intel Each node in the tree is controlled by an assigning authority, which may define child nodes under the node and delegate assigning authority for the child nodes. Continuing with the example, the node numbers under root node "1" are assigned by ISO; the nodes under "1.3.6" are assigned by the US Department of Defense; the nodes under "1.3.6.1.4.1" are assigned by
IANA The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Internet P ...
; the nodes under "1.3.6.1.4.1.343" are assigned by Intel Corporation, and so forth.


Usage

* ISO/IEC 6523 "International Code Designator" uses OIDs with the prefix "1.3". * In
computer security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and computer network, n ...
, OIDs serve to name almost every object type in X.509 certificates, such as components of Distinguished Names, CPSs, etc. * Within X.500 and
LDAP The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP ) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed Directory service, directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) networ ...
schemas and protocols, OIDs uniquely name each attribute type and object class, and other elements of schema. * In
Simple Network Management Protocol Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behavior. Devices that typically su ...
(SNMP), each node in a
management information base A management information base (MIB) is a database used for managing the entities in a communication network. Most often associated with the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the term is also used more generically in contexts such as in ...
(MIB) is identified by an OID. * IANA assigns
Private Enterprise Number Private Enterprise Numbers (PENs) are created and maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) in a public registry. The registry includes the name of the assignee, a publicly-displayed email address, and a "contact name." Any organ ...
s (PEN) to companies and other organizations under the 1.3.6.1.4.1 node. OIDs down-tree from these are among the most commonly seen; for example, within SNMP MIBs, as LDAP attributes, and as vendor suboptions in the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol, network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the netw ...
(DHCP). * In the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, Health Level Seven (HL7), a standards-developing organization in the area of electronic health care data exchange, is the assigning authority at the 2.16.840.1.113883 (joint-iso-itu-t.country.us.organization.hl7) node. HL7 maintains its ow
OID registry
and as of December 1, 2020 it contained almost 20,000 nodes, most of them under the HL7 root. *
DICOM Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is a technical standard for the digital storage and Medical image sharing, transmission of medical images and related information. It includes a file format definition, which specifies the str ...
uses OIDs. * The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
uses OIDs to manage the many complex values sets or "vocabularies" used in the Public Health Information Network (PHIN) Vocabulary Access and Distribution System
VADS
.


Acquisition

There are multiple ways to acquire a OID. Both free and paid ones exist. * Free registration with ANAbelow ''1.3.6.1.4.1'' (ASN.1-Notation '). * Below of ''2.25'' (ASN.1-Notation ') a self generated
UUID A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) is a 128-bit nominal number, label used to uniquely identify objects in computer systems. The term Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) is also used, mostly in Microsoft systems. When generated according to the ...
can be used. * At national agencies. Like e.g. for the health sector BfArM in Germany

BMSGPK in Austria

or :de:Refdata in Switzerland

* At any organization that already has an OID and decides to sub allocate them.


See also

*
Digital object identifier A digital object identifier (DOI) is a persistent identifier or handle used to uniquely identify various objects, standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). DOIs are an implementation of the Handle System; th ...
* Extended Validation Certificate * International Geo Sample Number * LSID * Persistent Object Identifier *
Surrogate key A surrogate key (or synthetic key, pseudokey, entity identifier, factless key, or technical key) in a database is a unique identifier for either an ''entity'' in the modeled world or an ''object'' in the database. The surrogate key is ''not'' deri ...
*
Uniform Resource Name A Uniform Resource Name (URN) is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that uses the scheme. URNs are globally unique persistent identifiers assigned within defined namespaces so they will be available for a long period of time, even after the re ...
*
Universally Unique Identifier A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) is a 128-bit label used to uniquely identify objects in computer systems. The term Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) is also used, mostly in Microsoft systems. When generated according to the standard methods ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


ITU-T OID project main page

Supplementary information on operation of a country Registration Authority, and on known country Registration Authorities

Object Identifier Repository

Global OID reference database

Harald Tveit Alvestrand's Object Identifier Registry

IANA Private Enterprise Numbers

HL7 OID registry

Obtaining an Object Identifier
Identifiers Network management ASN.1