computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

, object identifiers or OIDs are an

identifier An identifier is a name that identifies (that is, labels the identity of) either a unique object or a unique ''class'' of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, physical countable object (or class thereof), or physical noncountable ...

mechanism standardized by the

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

(ITU) and

ISO/IEC ISO/IEC JTC 1, entitled "Information technology", is a joint technical committee (JTC) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Its purpose is to develop, maintain and pr ...

for naming any object, concept, or "thing" with a globally unambiguous persistent name.

Syntax and lexicon

An OID corresponds to a

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph * Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, line ...

in the "OID tree" or hierarchy, which is formally defined using the ITU's OID standard, X.660. The root of the tree contains the following three arcs: * 0:

ITU-T The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and Information Commu ...

* 1:

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Is ...

* 2: joint-iso-itu-t Each node in the tree is represented by a series of integers separated by periods, corresponding to the path from the root through the series of ancestor nodes, to the node. Thus, an OID denoting

Intel Corporation Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 series ...

appears as follows, :1.3.6.1.4.1.343 and corresponds to the following path through the OID tree: * 1 ISO * 1.3 identified-organization, * 1.3.6 DoD, * 1.3.6.1 internet, * 1.3.6.1.4 private, * 1.3.6.1.4.1 IANA enterprise numbers, * 1.3.6.1.4.1.343 Intel Corporation A textual representation of the OID paths is also commonly seen; for example, * iso.identified-organization.dod.internet.private.enterprise.intel Each node in the tree is controlled by an assigning authority, which may define child nodes under the node and delegate assigning authority for the child nodes. Continuing with the example, the node numbers under root node "1" are assigned by ISO; the nodes under "1.3.6" are assigned by the US Department of Defense; the nodes under "1.3.6.1.4.1" are assigned by

IANA The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Interne ...

; the nodes under "1.3.6.1.4.1.343" are assigned by Intel Corporation, and so forth.

Usage

* In

computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

, OIDs serve to name almost every object type in X.509 certificates, such as components of Distinguished Names, CPSs, etc. * Within X.500 and

LDAP The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP ) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Directory serv ...

schemas and protocols, OIDs uniquely name each attribute type and object class, and other elements of schema. * In

Simple Network Management Protocol Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behaviour. Devices that typically ...

(SNMP), each node in a

management information base A management information base (MIB) is a database used for managing the entities in a communication network. Most often associated with the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the term is also used more generically in contexts such as in ...

(MIB) is identified by an OID. * IANA assigns Private Enterprise Numbers (PEN) to companies and other organizations under the 1.3.6.1.4.1 node. OIDs down-tree from these are among the most commonly seen; for example, within SNMP MIBs, as LDAP attributes, and as vendor suboptions in the

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a cli ...

(DHCP). * In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, Health Level Seven (HL7), a standards-developing organization in the area of electronic health care data exchange, is the assigning authority at the 2.16.840.1.113883 (joint-iso-itu-t.country.us.organization.hl7) node. HL7 maintains its ow
OID registry
and as of December 1, 2020 it contained almost 20,000 nodes, most of them under the HL7 root. *

DICOM Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the standard for the communication and management of medical imaging information and related data. DICOM is most commonly used for storing and transmitting medical images enabling the integ ...

uses OIDs. * The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georg ...

uses OIDs to manage the many complex values sets or "vocabularies" used in the Public Health Information Network (PHIN) Vocabulary Access and Distribution System
VADS
.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Object Identifier Repository

Global OID reference database

Harald Tveit Alvestrand's Object Identifier Registry

IANA Private Enterprise Numbers

HL7 OID registry

Obtaining an Object Identifier
Identifiers Network management ASN.1

Syntax and lexicon

Usage

See also

References

External links