Providing identifying information for computers on a network

A hostname configuration unit associates a display hostname with a regular hostname of a host, where the regular hostname identifies the host and the display hostname identifies a service associated with the host, where the service is provided by a client application. The hostname configuration unit further associates a graphical representation with the display hostname. A hostname query unit is configured to provide the client application the regular hostname, the display hostname, and the graphical representation in response to a request for hostname data received from the client application. The regular hostname, the display hostname, and the graphical representation are used by the client application to advertise a service to allow a remote node to access the advertised service of the application over a network.