[PLUG] Name resolution

[Mke C>]

On 04/05/2018 12:00 PM, plug-request at pdxlinux.org wrote:
> There are a bunch of Windows machines and the server hooked to a Netgear
> Nighthawk wireless router.? It points at nameservers out on
> the Internet that don't have the local names.?
Create a hosts file which maps ip addr to machine name. Copy to each 
machine on the LAN. By default, both Linux & MS Win will check the local 
hosts file first for name resolution and then send out a DNS query. This 
default order of operations can be changed so I'd check to confirm on 
each machine that it's set to check the hosts file first.

"Host Name Resolution Using a Hosts File

One common way to resolve a host name to an IP address is to use a 
locally stored database file that contains IP-address-to-host-name 
mappings. On most UNIX systems, this file is /etc/hosts. On Windows 2000 
systems, it is the Hosts file in the 
\%/SystemRoot/%\system32\drivers\etc directory.

Following is an example of the contents of the Hosts file:

|#|

|# Table of IP addresses and host names|

|#|

|127.0.0.1 localhost|

|139.41.34.1 router|

|167.91.45.121 server1.central.slate.com s1|

Within the Hosts file:

  *

    Multiple host names can be assigned to the same IP address. Note
    that the server at the IP address 167.91.45.121 can be referred to
    by its FQDN (server1.central.slate.com) or a nickname (s1). This
    allows the user at this computer to refer to this server using the
    nickname*s1*rather than typing the entire FQDN.

  *

    Entries can be case sensitive depending on the platform. Entries in
    the Hosts file for UNIX computers are case sensitive. Entries in the
    Hosts file for Windows 2000 and Windows NT–based computers are not
    case sensitive.

The advantage of using a Hosts file is that it is customizable for the 
user. Each user can create whatever entries they want, including 
easy-to-remember nicknames for frequently accessed resources. However, 
the individual maintenance of the Hosts file does not scale well to 
storing large numbers of FQDN mappings."

More info here => 
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/172218/microsoft-tcp-ip-host-name-resolution-order