Why Use a Hostname Instead of an IP Address?

  • 7020480
  • 17-Nov-2009
  • 07-Aug-2017

Environment


GWAVA 4, 4.5
Running on Netware or Linux

Situation

Why won't a hostname work in some of the fields in the GWAVA Managment page?

Resolution


There are a few fields in the GWAVA Management Page that are recommended to use an IP address rather then a hostname. Those fields are:

1) Server/Scanner Mangement | Server | Server Mangement | Configure Server | Mail relay agent SMTP Server
2) Server/Scanner Mangement | Server | Server Mangement | Configure Server | QMS SMTP Authentication Server
3) Server/Scanner Mangement | Server | Server Mangement | Configure Server | Show Advanced Connectivity Settings | GWAVAMAN Connection/Replication Address

The hostname needs to resolve from the inside of the network to the internal IP address. Externally it needs to resolve as the external IP address.  When you have a problem it means the hostname isn't correctly resolving to the internal IP address.

If you ping the address from outside, you will see an external address which is unreachable from the inside of the network.

This is why a hostname won't work.

Note: A  hostname will work, if it resolves correctly (this is controlled by your network settings). If it doesn't resolve correctly you can either fix the problem on the network or just use an IP address (recommended).

Additional Information

This article was originally published in the GWAVA knowledgebase as article ID 1567.