Take the 2-minute tour ×

I have SQL server running on a legacy Windows 2003 box on IP address There seems to be a reference to the server with some old connection strings for a web application. I'm merely using it for comparison purposes because we just upgraded to Windows Server 2008, .NET 4.0 and Enterprise Library 5.0. The server is referenced with "SQL01" not the IP address. On the network where this IP address resides, I can ping "SQL01", but when I VPN to that network, I cannot. Why wouldn't this work over a VPN? This is a legacy server, and I don't know how it was setup. If anyone can explain where this name is configured, and how I can connect (or ping) "SQL01" instead of using the IP address, I'd like to be enlightened.

share|improve this question
Because you have nothing in your DNS for SQL01 for the VPN connection? What would you expect to convert SQL01 to without a hosts file or DNS? (Also, this is off-topic here, as it's a networking question as opposed to a programming question. Network configuration belongs on serverfault –  Ken White Jun 7 '11 at 20:01
I am new to Stack Overflow within the last few months. I will have to use Server Fault in the future for these types of questions. Good to know. –  MacGyver Jun 7 '11 at 21:06

1 Answer 1

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Try looking in your hosts file.

share|improve this answer
This is a good thought, but I thought the hosts file was for tricking the browser into thinking a domain is pointing to some other IP address? I would rather not edit the hosts file on every machine on a network. I suppose this would be a quick workaround. But another workaround would be to change the connection string to have the IP address instead of "SQL01". I'm looking to learn how the network sees that machine as "SQL01". I'm not sure how it knows. –  MacGyver Jun 7 '11 at 19:56
Well, the other way for a computer to map a string to an IP address is to use DNS. –  Nick ODell Jun 7 '11 at 20:02
Gotcha. Is a DNS configured on the windows server box, or elsewhere? This isn't a public IP address. –  MacGyver Jun 7 '11 at 20:08
I don't know. Go to your network configuration. Are you using static IP or DHCP? –  Nick ODell Jun 7 '11 at 22:37

Your Answer


