If your network is configured with "ZeroConf" or "Zero Configuration" -- also known as mdns or Multicast DNS -- then you should be able to access local workstations and servers by the name myserver.local instead of having to type an IP address or manually edit the hosts.conf file.

The service, or daemon, which makes the ".local" domain work on many of these is called avahi. You can verify whether it is running on RedHat or CentOS with:

service avahi-daemon status avahi-daemon (pid 31394) is

running...

Note, it's avahi-daemon not just avahi (let's hear it for standardization?)

The old-style way to do the above is:

chkconfig --list avahi-daemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on

6:off

If it is not running by default, use your system's standard way to ensure avahi-daemon is installed and started.

However, by default, some Linux distributions ship with a firewall enabled. You will have to pass through UDP port 5353 (mdns) on each server for your local workstations to see it.

Once you have done this, at a workstation, do:

$ avahi-browse

and you should see a list of everything publishing mDNS on the network.