Can I "Add network Location" using a DNS name?

I'm trying to connect to a share on a (standalone) Windows 2003 SE server
using "Add Network Location" on Vista Ultimate. The server's not on the same
subnet as the client and to make that work I've enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP
and opened up port 445 to the client's IP.

When I use the server's DNS name...

\\www.contoso.com\Share

....it fails with a "The folder you entered does not appear to be valid" error.

However if instead I try to connect using the server's IP number...

\\124.123.1.1\Share

it works. Eh? The DNS name resolves to the same IP number...

C:\Users\Graeme> ping www.contoso.com

Pinging www.contoso.com [124.123.1.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 124.123.1.1: bytes=32 time=100ms TTL=122

Ping statistics for 124.123.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 29ms, Maximum = 123ms, Average = 70ms

C:\Users\Graeme>

Wierder still if I try to "Add network location" on the server itself to
connect to the share. If I try to connect to..

\\localhost\Data

... it works fine.

I however I try to connect as...

\\www.contoso.com\Share

.... it's doesn't fail with the same error message. Instead it prompts me for
authentication credentials (NTLM?). If I enter my local SAM credentials it
fails saying my credentials are not valid.

What?

I hope someone can give us a better answer but I've found that too. I
just don't think that at that level Windows (I use 2003 R2 SE) is
capable of figuring out DNS names. It doesn't make sense that MS would
blow something that badly but I guess there are reasons for it. Maybe
in a future version they will get it working. So I'm ressigned to
having to use the actual netbios name in share connections and if the
server is rebuilt or moved we have to go back and fix them.


On Sun, 7 Dec 2008 08:51:00 -0800, sparky62
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I'm trying to connect to a share on a (standalone) Windows 2003 SE server
>using "Add Network Location" on Vista Ultimate. The server's not on the same
>subnet as the client and to make that work I've enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP
>and opened up port 445 to the client's IP.
>
>When I use the server's DNS name...
>
>\\www.contoso.com\Share
>
>...it fails with a "The folder you entered does not appear to be valid" error.
>
>However if instead I try to connect using the server's IP number...
>
>\\124.123.1.1\Share
>
>it works. Eh? The DNS name resolves to the same IP number...
>
>C:\Users\Graeme> ping www.contoso.com
>
>Pinging www.contoso.com [124.123.1.1] with 32 bytes of data:
>Reply from 124.123.1.1: bytes=32 time=100ms TTL=122
>
>Ping statistics for 124.123.1.1:
> Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
>Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
> Minimum = 29ms, Maximum = 123ms, Average = 70ms
>
>C:\Users\Graeme>
>
>Wierder still if I try to "Add network location" on the server itself to
>connect to the share. If I try to connect to..
>
>\\localhost\Data
>
>.. it works fine.
>
>I however I try to connect as...
>
>\\www.contoso.com\Share
>
>... it's doesn't fail with the same error message. Instead it prompts me for
>authentication credentials (NTLM?). If I enter my local SAM credentials it
>fails saying my credentials are not valid.
>
>What?

sparky62 <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I'm trying to connect to a share on a (standalone) Windows 2003 SE
> server using "Add Network Location" on Vista Ultimate. The server's
> not on the same subnet as the client and to make that work I've
> enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP

That won't work; NetBIOS is not routable. You'd need WINS. So, you could
instead add the server's name & IP to your LMHOSTS file.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314108




> and opened up port 445 to the client's IP.
>
> When I use the server's DNS name...
>
> \\www.contoso.com\Share
>
> ...it fails with a "The folder you entered does not appear to be
> valid" error.
>
> However if instead I try to connect using the server's IP number...
>
> \\124.123.1.1\Share
>
> it works. Eh? The DNS name resolves to the same IP number...
>
> C:\Users\Graeme> ping www.contoso.com
>
> Pinging www.contoso.com [124.123.1.1] with 32 bytes of data:
> Reply from 124.123.1.1: bytes=32 time=100ms TTL=122
>
> Ping statistics for 124.123.1.1:
> Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
> Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
> Minimum = 29ms, Maximum = 123ms, Average = 70ms
>
> C:\Users\Graeme>
>
> Wierder still if I try to "Add network location" on the server itself
> to connect to the share. If I try to connect to..
>
> \\localhost\Data
>
> .. it works fine.
>
> I however I try to connect as...
>
> \\www.contoso.com\Share
>
> ... it's doesn't fail with the same error message. Instead it prompts
> me for authentication credentials (NTLM?). If I enter my local SAM
> credentials it fails saying my credentials are not valid.
>
> What?