For an RMI client to contact a REMOTE RMI server, the client must FIRST hold a reference to the server. The Naming.lookup method call is the most common mechanism by which clients initially obtain references to remote servers. Remote references may be obtained by other means, for example: all remote method calls can return remote references. This is what Naming.lookup does; it uses a well-known stub to make a remote method call to the rmiregistry, which sends back the remote reference to the object requested by the lookup method. Every remote reference contains a server HOSTNAME and port number that allow clients to locate the VM that is serving a PARTICULAR remote object. Once an RMI client has a remote reference, the client will use the hostname and port provided in the reference to open a socket CONNECTION to the remote server. Please note that with RMI the terms client and server can refer to the same program. A Java program that acts as an RMI server contains an exported remote object. An RMI client is a program that invokes one or more methods on a remote object in another virtual machine. If a VM performs both of these functions, it may be referred to as an RMI client and an RMI server.

For an RMI client to contact a remote RMI server, the client must first hold a reference to the server. The Naming.lookup method call is the most common mechanism by which clients initially obtain references to remote servers. Remote references may be obtained by other means, for example: all remote method calls can return remote references. This is what Naming.lookup does; it uses a well-known stub to make a remote method call to the rmiregistry, which sends back the remote reference to the object requested by the lookup method. Every remote reference contains a server hostname and port number that allow clients to locate the VM that is serving a particular remote object. Once an RMI client has a remote reference, the client will use the hostname and port provided in the reference to open a socket connection to the remote server. Please note that with RMI the terms client and server can refer to the same program. A Java program that acts as an RMI server contains an exported remote object. An RMI client is a program that invokes one or more methods on a remote object in another virtual machine. If a VM performs both of these functions, it may be referred to as an RMI client and an RMI server.