1.3 Overview

This protocol enables clients to retrieve the network name of a server from a name service provider interface (NSPI) referral server. Clients use this protocol before performing any NSPI requests, in order to retrieve the name of the NSPI server to connect to. This gives the NSPI referral server the ability to control which NSPI server an NSPI client will connect to, for purposes including but not limited to balancing the client load across multiple NSPI servers, choosing the best version of NSPI server for that particular client, or satisfying network requirements that are not discernible by the client. Clients also use this protocol to retrieve the FQDN of the mailbox server, when only the DN the mailbox server is known. Figure 1 shows the request to the NSPI referral server for the name of the NSPI server and the server’s response to the client. Figure 2 shows the request to the NSPI referral server for the FQDN of the mailbox server and the server’s response to the client.

Figure 1 Client retrieving NSPI server name from the NSPI referral server

Figure 2 Client retrieving mailbox server name from the NSPI referral server