Name Resolution Overview

Name Resolution Overview

Proper name resolution is an essential component of client-server and client-client communications. The licensing mechanism provided with HyperChem for Networks requires that the server can resolve the name of the clients into an IP address. Without this functionality, HyperChem for Networks will not operate correctly. There are several mechanisms for name resolution available to Microsoft Windows peer-to-peer and Windows NT Domain networks.

Broadcast Method

For some networks, name resolution can be handled by broadcast and no further setup is necessary. However, if this method is shown not to work, another method of name resolution will be required. In this case, you will need to set the LSHOST environment variable to the license server's computer name or IP address, on both the server and on each client.

Domain Name System

Computers having a permanent IP address use the Domain Name System (DNS) for name resolution, and each computer must have an entry in the DNS server. The only concern is that the computer name must match the hosts setting (for Windows 95, 98 and ME the setting is within TCP/IP properties under Network Control Panel) and the entry in the DNS server.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

For clients receiving temporary IP addresses from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, there are several options for name resolution. If there is no other mechanism in place, computers will broadcast a request for name resolution to the network and wait for a response from the computer to which a connection is requested. Broadcast calls can be problematic because they require a lot of network traffic, are usually slow and will not pass through routers. For small and simple networks this method usually works well, however for more complex networks, performing name resolution through a other means is preferable and may be required.

HOSTS File

Another option for name resolution is to edit the 'hosts' or 'hosts.sam' file that can be found in the C:\Windows or C:\Winnt\system32\drivers\etc directory. This is a text file that may contain IP addresses and computer names and serves as a look-up table for name resolution. You may edit the file and add a line at the end of the file that contains the IP address of the license computer followed by a few spaces and then the fully qualified domain name of the license computer.

Windows Internet Name Service

The final option is to use the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) for name resolution. If you are using WINS, confirm that the license server computer name is entered in the WINS list along with the list of names of all the clients that will access the license server. This is to insure that the client computers can resolve the host name and IP address of the license server computer.

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