UNC

Stands for "Universal Naming Convention or Uniform Naming Convention."

UNC is a standard format for naming and accessing shared resources on a local area network (LAN). Using it allows an operating system that supports UNC (like Windows) to access files and folders over a network just as easily as on the local computer. UNC can identify many types of devices on the network — computers, printers, scanners, NAS devices, or any other device that can store and share files.

A UNC path consists of three elements: the server name, the shared directory, and the filename, separated by backslashes. A UNC can be entered anywhere in an operating system that a local file path would be to access a shared network resource.

A typical UNC path appears as follows:

\\server-name\shared-directory\filename

  • The server name can be a string that identifies a server set by the server's administrator using DNS or WINS, or it could be the server's IP address.
  • The shared directory is a directory shared on the other device. Each share on the server is separate from the others.
  • The filename is not necessarily only a file name. It can also contain subfolders of the shared directory to display the full file path.
Updated November 2, 2022 by Brian P.

quizTest Your Knowledge

What is the purpose of a hostname?

A
It links the hardware ID of the motherboard to the operating system.
0%
B
It provides way to customize the name of a wireless router.
0%
C
It allows a printer to connect to a computer via USB.
0%
D
It identifies a hardware device on a network.
0%
Correct! Incorrect!     View the Hostname definition.
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