Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

PC name/address resolution?

0 helpful
5 replies

by ballyb

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Scenario..
I have PC Anywhere (ver 9.x) on my office PC and am dialing into a client's PC (s) with PC Anywhere, on a nearby Trading floor. Sometimes I type in the name of the PC, as it is easier to remember; we have a Win 2000 domain, all TCP/IP, not sure if Active Directory is fully implemented, and in this case I was going from one Win 2000 PC to another.
Question: am I using DNS to resolve the host name to the IP address (in this case with PC Any)? Or am I using WINS or some kind of NetBios?

Any help/clarification would be appreciated...

5 replies

by joseph moore

The name resolution from within PCAnywhere would be handled by the OS resolving the name, not by some special PC Anywhere function.
So, if you are connecting from a Win2K box, it would use DNS first.
Now, Win2K does name resolution in 5 different ways; in order of preference they are:
1. DNS
2. local HOSTS file
3. WINS
4. local LMHOSTS file
5. network Broadcast (using Named Pipes, I believe)

So, even if you are running Active Directory and DNS, it could be possible for a name resolution to go over WINS.
The only way for you to know for sure is to run a packet sniffer on the dialing out box and examine the packets. See what protocols the sniff comes up with.

This discussion is closed to new replies.