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I just got an iMac and have connected it to my existing network (a Workgroup not a Domain) of computers that are all running Windows (XP, Server 08 R2, Win7).
From the iMac, I can successfully PING all Windows machines by their IP Address. However, I am unable to PING the Windows computers (from the iMac) by their computer name.
What do I need to install/configure/etc in order to be able to PING by computer names instead of IP Addresses?
By the way, I have successfully setup my iMac's hosts file so that the computer names are known to the iMac. However, I don't prefer this solution since it requires that the Windows computers have a static IP Address.
UPDATE
In response to @Milliways -
I'm not just wanting to PING the Windows machines from the iMac. What I'm really trying to solve here is, this...
Some of the Windows machines are running a Web Server. Currently, I am able to browse those web sites from the iMac by opening up Safari/Chrome/etc and connecting to the URL of the local IP of the server - in other words, from the iMac, I can successfully connect to "http://192.168.1.10/foo/bar/etc".
I am trying to figure out how to configure my iMac so the iMac can use the machine name in the URL instead of the IP - eg: "http://SERVER-1/foo/bar/etc".
One thing I should note here is that on my iMac I have a Windows virtual machine (via Parallels). This virt can successfully connect to the Windows Web Servers that are on the network via the machine name. In other words, if I open a browser in the virtual machine, I can successfully connect to "http://SERVER-1/foo/bar/etc".
I mention this virtual machine scenario because it reveals to me that there must be a missing/unconfigured mechanism on the iMac machine that is making NetBios to not work (as opposed to something that is missing/unconfigured on the Windows machines and/or my router).
Does this allow Windows machines to connect to the OS X machines the same way? – Lèse majesté – 2012-04-24T21:46:33.947
1Provided the Mac has a NETBIOS name and at least one sharable folder. You can find in My Network places, but I find the command line easier e.g. NET USE X: "\Computer Name\Shared Folder Name" NOTE it can take a few minutes and a few tries before SMB finds the Mac – Milliways – 2012-04-25T01:46:02.593