Maintenance of host information

Ways to maintain host information

Host information can be maintained in one or all of the following ways in Data ONTAP:

In the /etc/hosts file on the filer's default volume
For detailed information, see Using the /etc/hosts file to maintain host information.
On a Domain Name System (DNS) server
For detailed information, Using DNS to maintain host information.
On a Network Information Service (NIS) server
For detailed information, see Using NIS to maintain host information.

Search order for host information

If you use more than one of the above ways to maintain host information, the ways are used in the order determined by the /etc/nsswitch.conf file. For detailed information about this file, see Changing the host name search order.

The role of host name resolution in Data ONTAP

Data ONTAP relies on correct host name resolution to provide basic connectivity for filers on the network, including

Processing NFS mount requests
Establishing CIFS sessions
Authenticating RSH sessions to filers

If you are unable to access filer data or establish sessions, this inability may indicate problems with host name resolution on the filer or on a name server.