What is canonical name? - Definition from Whatis.com

A canonical name is the properly denoted host name of a computer or network server. A CNAME specifies an alias or nickname for a canonical host name record in a domain name system (DNS) database. In programming, the term "canonical" means "according to the rules." The DNS is the standard method of defining the locations of sites on the Internet, particularly Web sites.

This was last updated in July 2007
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