Name Application Suitability

Explain when it is and is not appropriate to use Oracle Names.
Oracle Names has some bugs and anomalies that make it unsuitable for some types of Net8 environments.
Let us explore the issues.
The most obvious problem is that the product introduces a single point of failure. If the Names server fails for any reason, the entire Oracle network is crippled and all connectivity is lost. Without Oracle Names, each PC independently resolves services names with its tnsnames.ora file. Oracle Names has addressed this issue by allowing the definition of multiple Oracle Names servers that can dynamically share information with one another.
Another problem is the nascent technology of Oracle Names. As Oracle Names continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly become more robust, but within Oracle8 the Oracle Names product still exhibits some unreliability. Of course, this will become less of an issue as Oracle Names matures. Oracle Names is ideally suited to environments that:

1. Have very reliable network connections
2. Are very dynamic with new databases being added and frequently changed
3. Are willing to risk a single point of failure in the network

Oracle Names is not suited to Net8 sites that have a very static database environment where databases rarely change.
Let us look now at how to configure a names.ora file that will store all of the information required for an Oracle Names server.