[CentOS] How to make nodes in my local LAN see each other's names

[Les Mikesell]

On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 6:10 AM, Timothy Madden <terminatorul at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> After you've set that up, test it with 'dig @192.168.0.1 name.localdomain'.
>
> Well ... yes, you are right, the router has that reservation table in
> its DHCP settings. But if I have to include *all* my machines on the
> DHCP reservations list, with hostname, IP address and MAC address, than
> it is not really dynamic configuration, it is all manual and static again.

As it should be.  Naming things should be done with a hierarchical
delegation, not by chance if you want it to work in a larger context.
And naming  needs to work world-wide.

> I still think CIFS is the way to do the job right. With it you just add
> a new machine into the switch or router, make sure it has CIFS (and has
> the name service switch configured to use it), and everything works.
>
> Sorry if my opinion looks too ignorant, I do appreciate your answers.

I think of netbios naming as something that just happens to work
sometimes in a tiny context.  If that's what you think of as doing the
job right, fine.  It's like a roomfull of people yelling out their own
name all the time as a means of identification with no way to handle
those out of hearing distance or to arbitrate duplicates.   I think
your network deserves better.

> Maybe I got used too much to the way this thing "just works" on a
> Windows network.

But that's a matter of luck, demanding that no one uses duplicates,
and that all machines can broadcast to each other (i.e., no routers
between them...).

> But I really expected a modern Linux OS to have some
> better decentralized name resolving support off-the-box for a small,
> router-based home network.

No, it is designed to work in a larger context, and home routers are
supposed to provide the support to integrate your network with the
world's conventions if you don't want to manage your own server for
that.   Also, consider how you would handle inbound connections
through your router if you ever wanted to do that.  If the machines
are identified by a local broadcast and have a dynamic private IP, how
will you access the correct one?

-- 
   Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell at gmail.com