In a distributed environment, communication between computers on the Process Control Network (PCN) and computers on the Business Network (BN) can require IP addresses rather than relying on DNS. On each computer where you will install the DOC4000 Server or Data Collector, you can update the hosts file to include the host name and IP address for the SQL Server computer it will communicate with, if needed. This process enables communication between the DOC4000 Server or Data Collector and the database using the computer name without relying on DNS.
To edit the hosts file on a computer:
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Run Notepad as an administrator.
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Click File > Open.
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Change the file types selection to All Files (*.*).
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Navigate to %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc\, such as C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc.
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Select hosts, and then click Open.
The information presented in the hosts file after the copyright and introductory comments provides mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each entry is on a separate line, with the IP address first, one or more spaces, and then the host name.
The section of the comments right above where you should create your entries looks like the following example by default:
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost -
Add a line to the hosts file with the IP address and the name of the SQL Server computer. Type at least one leading space, the IP address, one or more spaces, and the host name. For example, using SQL Server on PASEXAMPLE at 192.168.23.30, add the following to the file:
192.168.23.30 PASEXAMPLE
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Click File > Save, and then close Notepad.