Thanks very much for the response. I'd have responded sooner if the
Microsoft Web-based Newsreader hadn't decided to drop this post...
FYI - I've contacted Microsoft about the dropped post and have
switched to Google Groups in the interim to avoid associated problems,
thus the change in my contact information above. Anyhow...
This is really great information for using static IPs and a fixed name-
to-IP mapping to resolve NetBIOS names from VPN clients. The LMHOSTS
solution notwithstanding, I'd really like to discuss whether a NetBIOS-
based solution is possible since there are certain complications and
difficulties with using static IPs and fixed name/IP mappings which
NetBIOS would really seem to help with.
The first is that it's a rather manual and tedious process to provide
and install an LMHOSTS file to all VPN clients. My non-technical
users would almost certainly have problems if any manual steps are
required to use names after connecting to my VPN. To ease these
problems, I've considered preconfiguring an LMHOSTS file on all VPN
client workstations, but my non-technical VPN users and I plan to use
my VPN to spontaneously create VPN client connections for file
transfers and the machines used are not always going to owned by us or
known ahead of time (e.g. spontaneously using a friend's laptop at a
coffee shop w/free WiFi available to transfer files) so
preconfiguration is not a practical option. I'd like a simpler,
automatic, and user-friendly solution to enable and list computer
names (akin to directly accessing my home network) such as "Go to My
Network Places after connecting to the VPN" rather than "After
connecting to the VPN go to \\192.168.0.17\SharedDocs, download
LMHOSTS, backup your original LMHOSTS (if present) and replace with
new one, now you can use names like \\computer1 instead of \
\192.168.0.17, and don't forget to restore the original LMHOSTS after
disconnecting from VPN, especially if you're using a friend's laptop,
etc.). Using a LMHOSTS solution also requires me to manually update
the LMHOSTS file each time a new host is added/removed from my
network, which, while infrequent, is another step I'd really like to
avoid since I'm very likely to forget to update LMHOSTS if my
roommates or I get a new computer months from now (or if me or one of
my roommates moves out). Not to mention the standard difficulties and
problems of updating any stale LMHOSTS files which may or may not be
present on VPN client machines...
The second problem with LMHOSTS is that it I'd like to be able to view
my VPN clients' shared folders from my home network and list them by
name in My Network Places, as if they were connected to my local
network. I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel if I chose
to use LMHOSTS entries for VPN clients, but there are innumerable
disadvantages and I think I have to rule it out. We'll effectively
have too many problems with a static LMHOSTS file due to our use of
spontaneously created VPN client connections on arbitrarily-chosen,
"random", workstations.
I've read your links below and found that Microsoft implies that some
routers are capable of forwarding NetBIOS broadcasts across a VPN.
For this reason, I have confidence that it is possible to avoid using
LMHOSTS altogether and sidestep the associated difficulties with
NetBIOS over TCP since Windows is essentially acting as a router
between my VPN server adapter and home network adapter. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314884/en-us and the use of the word
'generally' in the Comprehensive Information section (other Microsoft
articles also have this, but I'd have to dig for the links). Also,
I've found that various routers (e.g. Netgear FVS318) allow NetBIOS
forwarding over a VPN connection so <wishfulthinking>it should also be
possible on Windows XP Home Edition too</wishfulthinking>. I'd really
like to find a way to configure my VPN clients to forward NetBIOS
traffic to my VPN server and have my VPN server forward this traffic
to my local network. And vice versa. Are there solutions to this?
To provide additional food for thought while hunting for a NetBIOS
solution... While I was searching for settings which may enable
NetBIOS across a VPN I noticed that "ipconfig.exe /all" showed an
entry called WINS Proxy Enabled and that WINS Proxy Enabled is Yes on
my VPN Server. Does this play a role in NetBIOS forwarding and
possible have a part in the solution (and if not, exactly what does
the WINS Proxy Enabled option do?). I'd imagine that if my VPN server
adapter is able to act as a WINS Proxy then it should be possible to
configure it to forward NetBIOS broadcast traffic between my home and
VPN networks.
Thanks very much for any light anyone can shed on this. I'm really
motivated to find a way to do this and hope that I do not have to
resort to using LMHOSTS due to how myself and others plan to use my
VPN. Thanks and best regards.
.