Domain Name System

networking (DNS) A general-purpose distributed, replicated,

data query service chiefly used on Internet for translating

hostnames into Internet addresses. Also, the style of

hostname used on the Internet, though such a name is

properly called a fully qualified domain name. DNS can be

configured to use a sequence of name servers, based on the

domains in the name being looked for, until a match is found.

The name resolution client (e.g. Unix's gethostbyname()

library function) can be configured to search for host

information in the following order: first in the local

/etc/hosts file, second in NIS and third in DNS. This

sequencing of Naming Services is sometimes called "name

service switching". Under Solaris is configured in the file

/etc/nsswitch.conf.

DNS can be queried interactively using the command nslookup.

It is defined in STD 13, RFC 1034, RFC 1035, RFC 1591.

BIND is a common DNS server.

Info from Virtual Office, Inc..

(2001-05-14)