Oracle Database - Net Service Name (tnsname)

A simple name for a service that resolves to a connect descriptor.

Users initiate a connect request by passing a user name and password, along with a net service name in a connect string, for the service to which they want to connect:

CONNECT username@net_service_name

For instance with SQL Plus :

sqlplus user/password@net_service_name

You can connect in an other way with the easy connect method

Depending on your needs, net service names can be stored in a variety of places, including:

• Local configuration file,  tnsnames.ora, on each client
• Directory server
• External naming service, such as  NIS

It is used to define the database service where you want to make a connection.

ref:  http://gerardnico.com/wiki/database/oracle/net_service_name