[NTLUG:Discuss] hostnames on dhcp network

[Brian Kontrath]

fredjame wrote:

> My home network has an "box" in it that:
> (1) belongs to my employer and I'm not allowed to touch it.
> (2) acts as router/switch/firewall and divides traffic between the
> (2-a) Internet and the
> (2-b) Intranet (VPN) and
> (3) acts as a
> (3-a) DHCP server for local devices, as well as
> (3-b) a DHCP client as regards my ISP
> The hosts on my LAN are mostly Linux, and one MS 98.
>
> Is there a way for each Linux host to known by name over this LAN so 
> that I could connect to it by name, or am I going to have to use IPs.  
> If I have to use IPs I'll have to check from time to time to be sure 
> of what they are, so it might be nice if they could use names.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.
> Regards
> Fred James
>
If the IP leases are not too short  you could use the hosts file on all 
your client boxes for name resolution.  Or you could just set up a Bind 
server on one of your Linux boxes for local name resolution and DNS caching.

Brian