Zero configuration networking (zeroconf), is a set of techniques that automatically creates a usable Internet Protocol (IP) network without manual operator intervention or special configuration servers. Zero configuration networking allows inexpert users to connect computers, networked printers, and other network devices and expect a functioning network to be established automatically. Without zeroconf, a user must either set up special services, like Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System services (DNS), or set up each computer’s network settings manually, which may be difficult or impossible for non-technical or novice users.

Zeroconf is built on three core technologies:

1. Assignment of numeric network addresses for networked devices (link-local address autoconfiguration)
2. Automatic resolution and distribution of computer hostnames (multicast DNS)
3. Automatic location of network services, such as printing devices through DNS service discovery.

Reference – Zeroconf at Wikipedia

Zeroconf References

1. Zero Configuration Networking (Zeroconf) – Zeroconf is not limited to networks with just two hosts, but as we scale up our technologies to larger networks, we always have to be sure we haven’t forgotten the two-devices (and no DHCP server) case.
2. Zeroconf: IPv4 link local addresses – Zeroconf is a program that you can use to claim IPv4 link-local addresses. IPv4 link-local addresses are useful if you wish to setup ad-hoc networking between devices without the involvement of a either a DHCP server or your (very busy) network administrator.
3. Unix and Linux Zeroconf Networking – This project supports the IETF zeroconf protocols, and other techniques used to configure IP networks without needing either a sysadmin or any kind of master server. The OS support is for UNIX, with a focus on GNU/Linux and BSD type systems
4. Zeroconf and Python – Zeroconf (also previously called Rendezvous) is a protocol for discovering services available on the local network. Software using Zeroconf can ask for all services implementing a particular protocol, and then obtain more detailed information about one particular service instance. Zeroconf is used in Apple’s Mac OS X for discovering printers and HTTP servers, and Apple has made their implementation freely available. (See Apple’s Zeroconf developer site for more information.)
5. Mono.Zeroconf – Mono – Mono.Zeroconf is a cross platform Zero Configuration Networking library for Mono and .NET. It provides a unified API for performing the most common zeroconf operations on a variety of platforms and subsystems: all the operating systems supported by Mono and both the Avahi http://avahi.org/) and Bonjour/mDNSResponder transports.
6. Zeroconf Neighborhood Explorer for Windows – Networking is complex and in many ways getting more complex. To this end, many in the Internet standards area (including STG) are working to simplify the networking of devices by participating in the development of Zeroconf (Zero Configuration) networking standards. With the advent of Apple’s OS X operating system with integral support for Bonjour formerly Rendezvous – Apple’s Zeroconf implementation), many of the Zero Configuration technologies may already be kicking around your network.
7. How does Zeroconf compare with Viiv/DLNA/DHWG/UPnP? -Taking the broadest view, the stories of Zeroconf and UPnP began with the same high-level observation: “Why is IP networking so hard? Why can’t it be like AppleTalk was in 1986, where you just plug things together and it all works automatically?”
8. Zero configuration networking: Information from Answers.com – zero configuration Installing a peripheral in a computer or connecting a computer or device to a network without requiring any technical configuration.
9. Technical Ramblings Zeroconf – There’s not a lot of webpages out there on the neat things you can do with Zeroconf. For some reason, this surprises me. I feel like it’s a pretty interesting technology, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s done much with it
10. Cycle Gap: How Come ZeroConf is Not Yet Wildly Popular – I have always wondered why Zeroconf adoption has been so poor. Stuart Cheshire of Apple who pioneered this technology, briefly explains one of the reasons in a presentation introducing zeroconf(6:16-7:30) at the 2006 Emerging Telephony Conference.