Introduction to Name Services

This chapter provides an overview of name services (also called network information services). It introduces the DNS, NIS, and NIS+ name services then concludes with comparisons and interoperability issues.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Name Services Overview
• Domain Name System (DNS) Overview
• Network Information Service (NIS) Overview
• Network Information Service+ (NIS+) Overview
• NIS and NIS+ Differences
• NIS+ Security Overview
• NIS-Compatibility Mode
• Using NIS+ Commands