title: SQL Server FQDN : Use of IP/Instance unrecognized
body: <p>Can someone point me to the relevant BOL info for this (odd to me) behavior?</p>
  
  <p>I had to join the prod &amp; staging copies of the same table (same db name, diff servers), for a quick query.  So I simply needed a fully-qualified join.</p>
  
  <p>This one errors:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT top 10 *
  FROM [172.26.196.105\Staging].[DbName].[dbo].[TableName] 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This one works:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT top 10 *
  FROM [USCASQL01\STAGING].[DbName].[dbo].[TableName]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Edit:  clarification ... obviously not a join, these selects were simply me assembling the fully qualified name of my staging db/table.  This is not a linked server, but the one I'm connected to.</p>
  
  <p>These, of course, refer to the same instance.  I used the IP address\InstanceName since that is what displays in my Object Explorer, it returned an error - "Could not find server 'IP address\InstanceName' in sys.servers."  True enough, sys.servers stores the computerName\InstanceName, which works.</p>
  
  <p>Why would one work and not the other?  IOW, Why can't it resolve the IP/Instance name in TSQL when it resolves it just fine in the Object Explorer?  BTW, we frequently are storing IP's in sys.servers, this one just happened not to be.</p>
  
  <p>Also, I recall from SQL Server7 (way back in the day), a utility that would allow you to create friendly-name aliases for ip's.  Can't find it now, does it still exist?</p>
  
  <p>TIA</p>