How do I access my FactoryPMI project by name instead of IP address? I’d rather use 192.168.1.50
I know this is possible. Any ideas on how to do it?
Clark,
This is really a general networking question, because how one computer locates another computer is a purely networking issue.
For instance, I know that on most internal networks, you can also locate other computers on your network via their computer name, in which case a URL like mycomputer would work, if “mycomputer” was the FactoryPMI Gateway’s computer’s name.
On large networks, with the public internet being a very large network, name-to-IP resolution is done by DNS (Domain Name System) servers. You can purchase a public domain name such as MyFactoryPMIServer.com for a yearly fee from a variety of domain name registration companies. I assume that your question was regarding smaller local networks, however, so I won’t go into details about that.
Hope this answers your question,
Clark,
Carl is correct that this is purely a networking issue. You can research this subject under “TCP/IP hostname to IP address resolution” or “TCP/IP name resolution”. Definately go to your IT department for help on this topic first.
Often times you will run your own DNS server, even on a local intranet. In this case you will add an A (Address) record. If you have a local Windows Domain controller you could also use WINS. If I understand correctly Microsoft was trying to replace DNS with WINS, but probably doesn’t promote it much anymore. The advantage of any of these central sources is that you can change the IP address of the FactoryPMI server without anyone noticing.
You might try just using the computer name, especially if you’re running FactoryPMI over port 80. Often times this works seemingly magically - either: DNS, WINS or Netbios name resolution over TCP/IP, local cache, or even a broadcast request.
The static way of doing it is with a HOSTS or LMHOSTS text file which creates static mappings of hostnames to IP addresses. This is a pain because it must be done or copied to every client computer. The location of the file varies by operating system, but can be easily searched for. It’s usually something like: \winnt\system32\drivers\etc\