NIS
E68057
NIS (Network Information Service) is a client-server directory service protocol developed by Sun Microsystems to centrally manage and distribute system configuration data such as user and host information across Unix networks.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| NIS canonical | 4 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T542357 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: NIS Context triple: [Sun Microsystems, notableTechnology, NIS]
-
A.
NSO
NSO is the commonly used abbreviation for the National Symphony Orchestra, a major American orchestra based in Washington, D.C.
-
B.
NI
NI is the vehicle registration code used on license plates for the German federal state of Lower Saxony.
-
C.
NCP
NCP (Network Control Protocol) was an early host-to-host communication protocol suite that enabled data exchange between computers on the ARPANET before the adoption of TCP/IP.
-
D.
NIP
NIP is the commonly used acronym for the U.S. National Intelligence Program, which funds and coordinates the nation’s primary intelligence activities across multiple agencies.
-
E.
NSS
The National Security Strategy of the United States (NSS) is a periodic policy document that outlines the U.S. government's overarching national security priorities, objectives, and approaches to global challenges.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: NIS Target entity description: NIS (Network Information Service) is a client-server directory service protocol developed by Sun Microsystems to centrally manage and distribute system configuration data such as user and host information across Unix networks.
-
A.
NSO
NSO is the commonly used abbreviation for the National Symphony Orchestra, a major American orchestra based in Washington, D.C.
-
B.
NI
NI is the vehicle registration code used on license plates for the German federal state of Lower Saxony.
-
C.
NCP
NCP (Network Control Protocol) was an early host-to-host communication protocol suite that enabled data exchange between computers on the ARPANET before the adoption of TCP/IP.
-
D.
NIP
NIP is the commonly used acronym for the U.S. National Intelligence Program, which funds and coordinates the nation’s primary intelligence activities across multiple agencies.
-
E.
NSS
The National Security Strategy of the United States (NSS) is a periodic policy document that outlines the U.S. government's overarching national security priorities, objectives, and approaches to global challenges.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
client-server protocol
ⓘ
directory service protocol ⓘ network protocol ⓘ |
| abbreviation | NIS self-link ⓘ |
| architecture | client-server ⓘ |
| commonAlternative |
Active Directory
ⓘ
Kerberos-based centralized authentication ⓘ LDAP ⓘ |
| configurationFileExample | /etc/yp.conf ⓘ |
| developer | Sun Microsystems ⓘ |
| formerName | Yellow Pages ⓘ |
| fullName |
NIS+
ⓘ
surface form:
Network Information Service
|
| managesDataType |
group information
ⓘ
host information ⓘ network configuration data ⓘ user account information ⓘ |
| networkModelLayer | application layer ⓘ |
| operatingSystemDomain |
Unix
ⓘ
Unix-like operating systems ⓘ |
| primaryFunction |
centralized management of system configuration data
ⓘ
distribution of system configuration data ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
/etc/nsswitch.conf
ⓘ
name service switch ⓘ |
| requiresComponent | NIS domain ⓘ |
| securityCharacteristic |
transmits data often unencrypted
ⓘ
weak authentication mechanisms ⓘ |
| serviceName |
ypbind
ⓘ
ypcat ⓘ ypserv ⓘ ypwhich ⓘ ypxfr ⓘ |
| status | legacy technology ⓘ |
| storesDataIn | NIS maps ⓘ |
| successor |
LDAP-based directory services
ⓘ
NIS+ ⓘ |
| transportProtocol |
Transmission Control Protocol
ⓘ
surface form:
TCP
UDP ⓘ |
| typicalEnvironment |
Unix network
ⓘ
enterprise Unix infrastructure ⓘ |
| typicalPort |
111
ⓘ
834 ⓘ |
| typicalUseCase |
centralized group and netgroup management
ⓘ
centralized host naming information ⓘ centralized user authentication data distribution ⓘ |
| usesComponent |
NIS client
ⓘ
NIS map ⓘ NIS server ⓘ |
| usesService |
ONC RPC
ⓘ
gRPC ⓘ
surface form:
RPC
|
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: NIS Description of subject: NIS (Network Information Service) is a client-server directory service protocol developed by Sun Microsystems to centrally manage and distribute system configuration data such as user and host information across Unix networks.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Solaris