Setting Up and Verifying the Hosts File
If you use the Domain Naming Service (DNS) or the Microsoft Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS), you do not need to set up and verify the hosts file.
To set up and verify the Hosts file:
Using Microsoft Windows Explorer, access this directory:
\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\Hosts
For each Enterprise Server on your network, you will need a machine IP address, and a machine name.
Verify that the address and name are each on a separate line, and that there is a return character at the end of each line.
A pound sign (#) marks the start of a comment, and the end-of-line (return) character marks the end of a comment.
If clustering is being used, verify that the cluster name is used as the machine name, not one of the server names.