22Chapter 2
DNS
DNS is a protocol designed for converting the relatively easy-to-remember descriptive machine/terminal names into IP addresses, which is their actual representation on the Internet/intranet. Although DNS is not required for the terminals to be functional, it is strongly recommended to use DNS. For example www.name.com is a lot easier to remember than a string of numbers (nnn.n.nnn.nnn).
Many web sites have hard-coded names in their web pages, so if DNS is not configured, you will be able to get to the initial page but images and/or links on that page might not be resolved. Also, if DNS is not configured, you will need to configure every terminal’s hosts database via the Select System Setup Connectivity Internet dialog box or use IP address notation for every user action that requires a computer name (such as e-mail addresses, POP3 server, Web access, etc.).
Time Server
Time Service supports the Internet Standard Time Protocol (see RFC 868). There are many locations on the Internet that provide time server information. If a time server is not available the user can set the time manually, but this will have to be performed every time the user logs in to the terminal. e-mail and some Web pages require the time, and time is displayed in the terminal’s task bar; otherwise, time is not used by the terminal.
