Names or Addresses?

It is important to understand that names are not the same as addresses. They are conceptually distinct and some schemes implement them distinctly.

• An identifier is a name with particular persistence and uniqueness properties.
• A naming scheme is a system for creating these names.
• A name is resolved to an address by a resolution service.
• An object server uses the address to retrieve the named object.
• If you have a name, you need a registry service to tell you what resolution services are appropriate for it.

A practical advantage of the separation of names and addresses is that an address can be ephemeral even if the name is permanent. By separating resolution as a separate service, a name can outlast its originating organisation [14].