In
computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
systems, name resolution refers to the retrieval of the underlying numeric values corresponding to computer hostnames, account user names, group names, and other named entities.
Computer operating systems commonly employ multiple key/value lists that associate easily remembered names with integer numbers used to identify users, groups, other computers, hardware devices, and other entities. In that context, ''name resolution'' refers to the retrieval of numeric values given the associated names, while ''reverse name resolution'' refers to the opposite process of finding name(s) associated with specified numeric values:
* In
computer networking
A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. In order to communicate, the computers and devices must be connected by wired media like copper cables, optical fibers, or b ...
, it refers to processes used to obtain the assigned
IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...
es needed to communicate with devices whose
host
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
* Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica
People
* ...
or
domain names are known. Examples include the
Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...
(DNS),
Network Information Service
The Network Information Service, or NIS (originally called Yellow Pages or YP), is a client–server directory service protocol (computing), protocol for Distributed computing, distributing system configuration data such as User (computing), user ...
and
Multicast DNS
Multicast DNS (mDNS) is a computer networking protocol that resolves hostnames to IP addresses within small networks that do not include a local name server. It is a Zero-configuration_networking#Name_service_discovery, zero-configuration service, ...
(mDNS). IP addresses for devices on the local segment can in turn be resolved to
MAC address
A MAC address (short for medium access control address or media access control address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC) for use as a network address in communications within a network segment. This use i ...
es by invoking the
Address Resolution Protocol
The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a communication protocol for discovering the link layer address, such as a MAC address, associated with a internet layer address, typically an IPv4 address. The protocol, part of the Internet protocol s ...
(ARP).
* Unix operating systems associate both an alphanumeric name and a
user
Ancient Egyptian roles
* User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty
* Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User"
Other uses
* User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...
or
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
ID with each
user
Ancient Egyptian roles
* User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty
* Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User"
Other uses
* User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...
account or defined
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
of user names.
The
GNU C Library
The GNU C Library, commonly known as glibc, is the GNU Project implementation of the C standard library. It provides a wrapper around the system calls of the Linux kernel and other kernels for application use. Despite its name, it now also dir ...
provides various operating system facilities that shell commands and other applications can call to resolve such names to the corresponding addresses or IDs, and vice versa. Some Linux distributions use an
nsswitch.conf file to specify the order in which multiple resolution services are used to effect such lookups.
See also
*
Name server
A name server is a computer application that implements a network service for providing responses to queries against a directory service. It translates an often humanly meaningful, text-based identifier to a system-internal, often numeric identi ...
*
Multicast DNS
Multicast DNS (mDNS) is a computer networking protocol that resolves hostnames to IP addresses within small networks that do not include a local name server. It is a Zero-configuration_networking#Name_service_discovery, zero-configuration service, ...
*
Name Service Switch
*
Identity resolution
*
Naming collision
A naming collision is a circumstance where two or more identifiers in a given namespace or a given scope cannot be unambiguously resolved, and such unambiguous resolution is a requirement of the underlying system.
Example: XML element names
In ...
References
Computer libraries
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