Various discovery mechanisms are usually available on an OES network.
DNS/DHCP
Directory services
Local host configuration files
Service Location Protocol (SLP services)
NOTE:NetWare 3 and 4 used the IPX-based Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) as the discovery mechanism. All the servers advertised their services automatically. If a server went offline, the SAP information on the network was dynamically refreshed.
Starting with NetWare 5 and pure TCP/IP, the Service Location Protocol was adopted as the default, though optional, discovery mechanism. SLP was chosen because it was the TCP/IP-based protocol most like SAP in its automatic nature and dynamic refresh capabilities.
For more information, see Section 12.5, SLP.
Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) server
Some systems are designed to leverage only a single discovery technology. Others choose among the various providers. And some use different technologies in combination with each other.
NetWare 3 and 4 used the IPX-based Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) as the discovery mechanism. All the servers advertised their services automatically. If a server went offline, the SAP information on the network was dynamically refreshed.
Starting with NetWare 5 and pure TCP/IP, the Service Location Protocol was adopted as the default, though optional, discovery mechanism. SLP was chosen because it was the TCP/IP-based protocol most like SAP in its automatic nature and dynamic refresh capabilities.
For more information, see Section 12.5, SLP.