| Platform SDK: Windows Sockets |
There are three different types of name spaces in which a service could be registered:
Dynamic name spaces allow services to register with the name space on the fly, and for clients to discover the available services at run time. Dynamic name spaces frequently rely on broadcasts to indicate the continued availability of a network service. Examples of dynamic name spaces include the SAP name space used within a Netware environment and the NBP name space used by Appletalk®.
Static name spaces require all of the services to be registered ahead of time, that is, when the name space is created. The DNS is an example of a static name space. Although there is a programmatic way to resolve names, there is no programmatic way to register names.
Persistent name spaces allow services to register with the name space on the fly. Unlike dynamic name spaces however, persistent name spaces retain the registration information in nonvolatile storage where it remains until such time as the service requests that it be removed. Persistent name spaces are typified by directory services such as X.500 and the NDS (Netware Directory Service). These environments allow the adding, deleting, and modification of service properties. In addition, the service object representing the service within the directory service could have a variety of attributes associated with the service. The most important attribute for client applications is the service's addressing information.