Zero configuration networking

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Zero configuration networking
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Zero configuration networking (zeroconf), is a set of techniques that automatically creates a usable Internet Protocol (IP) network without manual operator intervention or special configuration servers.
Zero configuration networking allows inexpert users to connect computers, networked printers, and other network devices and expect a functioning network to be established automatically. Without zeroconf, a user must either set up special services, like Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System services (DNS), or set up each computer's network settings manually, which may be difficult or impossible for non-technical or novice users.
Zeroconf is built on three core technologies:
Assignment of numeric network addresses for networked devices (link-local address autoconfiguration)
Automatic resolution and distribution of computer hostnames (multicast DNS)
Automatic location of network services, such as printing devices through DNS service discovery. The Internet Protocol Suite
Application Layer
BGP · DHCP · DNS · FTP · GTP · HTTP · IMAP · IRC · LDAP · Megaco · MGCP · NNTP · NTP · POP · RIP · RPC · RTP · RTSP · SDP · SIP · SMTP · SNMP · SOAP · SSH · Telnet · TLS/SSL · XMPP · (more)
Transport Layer
TCP · UDP · DCCP · SCTP · RSVP · ECN · (more)
Internet Layer
IP (IPv4, IPv6) · ICMP · ICMPv6 · IGMP · IPsec · (more)
Link Layer
ARP/InARP · NDP · OSPF · Tunnels (L2TP) · PPP · Media Access Control (Ethernet, DSL, ISDN, FDDI) · (more)
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Contents
[hide]
1 Address selection
2 Name resolution
3 Service discovery
3.1 Apple's protocol: Multicast DNS/DNS-SD
3.2 Microsoft's protocol: UPnP SSDP
3.3 Efforts toward an IETF standard protocol
4 Standardization
5 Major implementations
5.1 Apple Bonjour
5.2 Avahi
5.3 Windows CE 5.0
5.4 Link-local IPv4 addresses
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Address selection
Both IPv4 and IPv6 have standard methods for address autoconfiguration. For link-local addressing IPv4 uses the special block 169.254.0.0/16 as described in RFC 3927 while IPv6 hosts use the prefix fe80::/16.
Most IPv4 hosts use link-local addressing only as a last resort when a DHCP server is unavailable. An IPv4 host otherwise uses its DHCP-assigned address for all communications, global or link-local. One r