(FQDN) The full name of a system, consisting of its local hostname and its domain name. For example, "venera" is a hostname and "venera.isi.edu" is an FQDN. A FQDN should be sufficient to determine a unique Internet address for any host on the Internet. The same naming scheme is also used for some hosts which are not on the Internet, but share the same name-space for electronic mail addressing. A host which does not have a FQDN (which is not "domainist") must be addressed using a bang path.
All Internet computers and most UUCP sites can now resolve FQDNs, thanks to a large amount of behind-the-scenes magic and PD software written since 1980 or so.
See also network, the, network address.
(01 Dec 1994)