Editing AppleTalk (section)

== Design ==
The AppleTalk design rigorously followed the [[OSI model]] of protocol layering. Unlike most of the early [[local area network|LAN]] systems, AppleTalk was not built using the archetypal [[Xerox XNS]] system. The intended target was not Ethernet, and it did not have 48-bit addresses to route. Nevertheless, many portions of the AppleTalk system have direct analogs in XNS.

One key differentiation for AppleTalk was it contained two protocols aimed at making the system completely self-configuring. The ''AppleTalk address resolution protocol'' (''AARP'') allowed AppleTalk hosts to automatically generate their own network addresses, and the ''Name Binding Protocol'' (''NBP'') was a dynamic system for mapping network addresses to user-readable names. Although systems similar to AARP existed in other systems, [[Banyan VINES]] for instance. Beginning about 2002 [[Bonjour (software)|Rendezvous]] (the combination of [[Zero-configuration networking#DNS-based service discovery|DNS-based service discovery]], [[Multicast DNS]], and [[link-local address]]ing) provided capabilities and usability using IP that were similar to those of AppleTalk.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.multicastdns.org/ |title=Multicast DNS |last=Cheshire|first=Stuart |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite IETF
 |rfc=6762  |title=Multicast DNS 
 |last1=Cheshire |first1=S |author1-link=Stuart Cheshire |last2=Krochmal |first2=M |date=February 2013
 |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref>

Both AARP and NBP had defined ways to allow "controller" devices to override the default mechanisms. The concept was to allow routers to provide the information or "hardwire" the system to known addresses and names. On larger networks where AARP could cause problems as new nodes searched for free addresses, the addition of a router could reduce "chattiness." Together AARP and NBP made AppleTalk an easy-to-use networking system. New machines were added to the network by plugging them in and optionally giving them a name. The NBP lists were examined and displayed by a program known as the ''[[Chooser (Mac OS)|Chooser]]'' which would display a list of machines on the local network, divided into classes such as file-servers and printers.