This is the default behavior of NetBIOS and can be changed, which we will get into later when we discuss nodes. If the name is not found the system will then check an LMHosts file (similar to a hosts file on a Mac but using the single-line domain naming scheme common in LanMan environments – located at %SYSTEMROOT%SYSTEM32Driversetc) and if a name is not found it then sends a broadcast that looks for the name. NetBIOS attempts to resolve names by first checking the local cache. You can use NBTStat to troubleshoot these issues further. Fixing your DNS naming issues might not fix a NetBIOS naming issue.
As with the Mac there are two names for Windows hosts: an SMB name (NetBIOS name) and a DNS name. If you use DNS then that’s easy enough to fix, create or edit the record for the server and verify that your client is using the right server for DNS. If you cannot then you could be having DNS issues or NetBIOS issues. If you can ping the host by IP address then you know the host can communicate with the client. The first thing I always ask is can you ping it by IP address AND by name. I get a lot of questions about why a Windows computer cannot see a Mac OS X Server on the network when Macs can – or put differently why a Windows computer cannot browse the network for a Mac OS X Server.
