Got a strange problem where on a server 2008 machine I am trying to browse to another server 2008's shares on a different site.
I can ping the server's ip address fine, I can ping the servername fine and I can ping the fqdn ok.
I just cant access the \\servername's shares via windows explorer. I can access the shares fine via IP address.
Only way I can resolve this is by restarting the machine. It then works fine for a few days and reverts back to the same problem above.
Anyone ever had the same problem?
Thanks for your time.
Best Answer
Please DO NOT install WINS, or enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP. Can you please confirm whether or not you can get to the resource using \\<FQDN>\<SHARE>.
Also, check the remote server's firewall (if on). Is it passing TCP 445 (SMB). If not, allow it.
Background info: legacy NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) connections use TCP port 139. If WINS is configured, and NBT enabled, the server may try this method of communication, meaning NetBIOS name lookups come into play. NetBIOS uses a "flat" namespace, so there is no need for any DNS domain "context".
However, if you're not using NetBIOS (and hopefully, you're not), SMB/CIFS (Server Message Blocks) is used instead. SMB relies on proper name resolution, and therefore FQDNs come into play, or at least servers that all have common DNS domains / suffix search orders.