Zero-configuration networking
technologies for automatic network connection configuration
Zero-configuration networking (zeroconf) is a set of technologies that automatically creates a usable computer network based on the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) when computers or network peripherals are interconnected. It does not require manual operator intervention or special configuration servers. Without zeroconf, a network administrator must set up network services, such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS), or configure each computer's network settings manually.
Zeroconf is built on three core technologies: automatic assignment of numeric network addresses for networked devices, automatic distribution and resolution of computer hostnames, and automatic location of network services, such as printing devices.
Background
Computer networks use numeric network addresses to identify communications endpoints in a network of participating devices. This is similar to the telephone network, which assigns a string of digits to identify each telephone. In modern networking protocols, information to be transmitted is divided into a series of network packets. Every packet contains the source and destination addresses for the transmission. Network routers examine these addresses to determine the best network path in forwarding the data packet at each step toward its destination.
Similar to telephones being labeled with their telephone number, it was a common practice in early networks to attach an address label to networked devices.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Zero-configuration networking” is technologies for automatic network connection configuration. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Zero-configuration, networking and technologies, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Zero-configuration networking” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.