R – Can’t see win2k8 server by hostname, but can see it by IP

networkingwindows-server-2008

On my home network I have an installation of Windows Server 2008 and for some reason, the windows vista workstations on the network can connect to the server via remote desktop only via the server's IP address, not the hostname. Same for connecting to an instance of SQL Server 2008 that's on the server, only works by IP, not by hostname.

Yet, I have some file shares on the same server, and the workstations can see them just fine using the server's hostname.

The server/workstations are on the same private network, and have the same workgroup name.

Any idea why I can't seem to find the server via hostname in the situations outlined above?

Best Answer

File shares are probably handled via NETBIOS, RDP and SQL connections are probably using DNS. Have you added the server to your Vista system's hosts file? I'm assuming that since they are on a private network you're not running your own DNS and thus to get at them via protocols that use IP names you need to put entries in hosts manually.

Related Solutions

C# – How to provide user name and password when connecting to a network share

I liked Mark Brackett's answer so much that I did my own quick implementation. Here it is if anyone else needs it in a hurry:

public class NetworkConnection : IDisposable
{
    string _networkName;

    public NetworkConnection(string networkName, 
        NetworkCredential credentials)
    {
        _networkName = networkName;

        var netResource = new NetResource()
        {
            Scope = ResourceScope.GlobalNetwork,
            ResourceType = ResourceType.Disk,
            DisplayType = ResourceDisplaytype.Share,
            RemoteName = networkName
        };

        var userName = string.IsNullOrEmpty(credentials.Domain)
            ? credentials.UserName
            : string.Format(@"{0}\{1}", credentials.Domain, credentials.UserName);

        var result = WNetAddConnection2(
            netResource, 
            credentials.Password,
            userName,
            0);

        if (result != 0)
        {
            throw new Win32Exception(result);
        }   
    }

    ~NetworkConnection()
    {
        Dispose(false);
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        Dispose(true);
        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
    }

    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        WNetCancelConnection2(_networkName, 0, true);
    }

    [DllImport("mpr.dll")]
    private static extern int WNetAddConnection2(NetResource netResource, 
        string password, string username, int flags);

    [DllImport("mpr.dll")]
    private static extern int WNetCancelConnection2(string name, int flags,
        bool force);
}

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class NetResource
{
    public ResourceScope Scope;
    public ResourceType ResourceType;
    public ResourceDisplaytype DisplayType;
    public int Usage;
    public string LocalName;
    public string RemoteName;
    public string Comment;
    public string Provider;
}

public enum ResourceScope : int
{
    Connected = 1,
    GlobalNetwork,
    Remembered,
    Recent,
    Context
};

public enum ResourceType : int
{
    Any = 0,
    Disk = 1,
    Print = 2,
    Reserved = 8,
}

public enum ResourceDisplaytype : int
{
    Generic = 0x0,
    Domain = 0x01,
    Server = 0x02,
    Share = 0x03,
    File = 0x04,
    Group = 0x05,
    Network = 0x06,
    Root = 0x07,
    Shareadmin = 0x08,
    Directory = 0x09,
    Tree = 0x0a,
    Ndscontainer = 0x0b
}

Sql – Can’t see win2k8 server by hostname, but can see it by IP

From our experience, SSMS-2005 won't work with SS-2008 by name. Use SSMS-2008 or SS-2000 Query Analyser.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – How to provide user name and password when connecting to a network share

Sql – Can’t see win2k8 server by hostname, but can see it by IP

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