The /.:/hosts entry is a directory containing entries for all of the host machines in the cell. Each host has a separate directory under hosts; its directory has the same name as the host. Four entries are created in each host's directory:
· self
This entry contains bindings to the host's DCE daemon (dced), which is responsible for, among other things, dynamically resolving the partial bindings that it receives in incoming RPCs from clients attempting to reach servers resident on this host.
· profile
This entry is the default profile entry for the host. This profile contains in its list of entries at least the /.:/cell-profile entry described in The Cell Profile.
· cds-clerk
This entry contains bindings to the host's resident CDS clerk.
· cds-server
This entry contains bindings to a CDS server.