Sams Teach Yourself TCP/IP in 24 Hours, Fourth Edition

Name Resolution Problems

A name resolution problem occurs when a hostname to which a message is addressed cannot be resolved on the network. A name resolution problem is (arguably) not a connectivity problem, because it doesn’t necessarily mean that the source computer cannot connect with the target. In fact, as was mentioned in an earlier section, the most common symptom of a name resolution problem is that the source computer can reach the target by IP address but can’t reach the target hostname. Even though a name resolution problem isn’t a connectivity problem in the strictest sense, as a practical matter, resources on today’s networks are referenced by hostname or NetBIOS name, and your first attempt to connect to a host will probably be ...