Naming Services

Digital UNIX Version 4.0 supports the following distributed naming services:

• The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) service

• The Network Information Service (NIS), formerly named Yellow Pages

The library routines in /usr/lib/libc.a allow transparent access to BIND, NIS, and local /etc files. The name services configuration file, /etc/svc.conf, dictates which naming services are queried, and in what order, for a particular database.

The Digital UNIX Version 4.0 software allows you to convert from an NIS-distributed environment to a BIND-distributed environment, or to run both services in the same environment. Because the source files for both BIND and NIS can be /etc- style files, a distributed Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) source area can be shared between the two services by means of symbolic links.

The BIND Service

The Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) service is a host name and address lookup service for the Internet network. The BIND service is based on the client-server model. It allows client systems to obtain host names and addresses from BIND servers. Digital UNIX Version 4.0 only supports the hosts database.

Note: Depending on which naming services your LAN is running, the hosts file can be located in /etc, /var/yp/src, or /etc/namedb/src.

You can use the BIND service to replace or supplement the host table mapping provided by the local /etc/hosts file or NIS.

Digital UNIX Version 4.0 supports BIND 4.9.3.

Network Information Service

The Network Information Service (NIS) is a distributed name service that allows participating hosts to share access to a common set of system and network files. NIS allows the system administrator to manage these shared files on a single system.

NIS is intended for use in a secure environment only, where gateways do not allow outside access from the Internet to the NIS protocol.