DNS/mDNS setup- for accessing remote device

Hi folks,
I'm a relatively new Linux C++ developer.

My problem though lies in trying to figure out a networking aspect of Linux.
The background
============
My Distro is an embedded platform called MOntaVista Linux.

Basically, I have a remote device on an IP address xxx. let's say. it's fully HTTP, FTP, DNS, mDNS etc compatible and confugured to be connected to- from an external WAN based PC. It is running MontaVista Linux.
Now the manufacturers have provided the embedded developer a fully built and "ready-to-use" VMware build of MontaVista Linux, with all the development tools needed, already installed.

I'm also able to TELNET to the remote device, from within this Linux VM. Until now, all is well

The problem
=========
Well, when I try to run one of their(manufacturer of the device and creator of the Linux VM) scripts, it's referring to an EXPORT variable called READERNAME.

My question is.. slightly more technical.
I'm told by the system, that my DNS or mDNS may not be configured correctlly - enough for the perl script(and eventually C++ code) to be able to "see" this device which sits in another country.(and yet I'm able to telnet to it and access it's RShell as well)

So my questions is(finally..) HOW do I configure DNS/mDNS(hosts files etc etc?) so that a remote device/host machine with an IP address can be made visible to my local machine running the same OS and is meant to be able to "see" it, effortlessly and seemlessly(which mDNS is meant to do right?) - as if it were running on my local LAN.
I have Avahi installed(for mDNS) too.

Thanks in advance for your patience in reading this :)
ANY help to help me solve this networking problem would be deeply appreciated as I've lost a lot of hair in the past 6 horus alone- trying to understand Linux's mDNS/DNS/Networking intricacies! :\


D

Look at your hosts file in /etc. It is a simple setup

<IP Address> <FQDN> <Shortname>

Thanks, I tried it yesterday but to no avail. I have a PERL script supplied by the manufacturer, which expects an EXPORT variable called READERNAME=SpeedwayR.10-4F-AC[

So would "SpeedwayR.10-4F-AC" would be the SHORT name, to place in the Host-file entry??

Thanks and apologies for Linux-ignorant. :)

Peace

Yes, that is what you need to place in the hosts file.

I'm curious. How do I determine the FQDN of this remote device based on it's IP address alone? Is it possible under Linux?
I only have access to the device's menu-driven control system, not the Linux OS Shell. (If I had, I could've done a "hostname" cmd, presumably?)

Sorry, I'm from a Windows background.

Do a reverse lookup of the ip address.