Discuss the problems raised by the use of aliases in a name service, and indicate how, if at all, these may be overcome.

What will be an ideal response?

Firstly, if aliases are private and not publicly defined, then there is a risk of misunderstanding through a user referring to an object using an alias. The alias might refer to an (incorrect) object in the other user’s name space.

The second problem with aliases is that they may introduce cycles into the naming graph. For example, a name /users/fred can in principle be made an alias for /users. A resolver will potentially cycle infinitely in attempting to resolve this name. A solution is to place a limit on the number of aliases that a resolver is prepared to encounter when it resolves a name.