Which Windows tool is used to resolve IP addresses to hostnames and vice versa?

The tool used to resolve IP addresses to hostnames and vice versa is nslookup. It operates by querying DNS (Domain Name System) servers to retrieve the hostname associated with a given IP address or to find the IP address associated with a given hostname. This functionality is essential for troubleshooting network issues, verifying DNS records, or understanding how domain names map to specific servers.

In contrast to nslookup, the other options serve different functions. For instance, ping is primarily used to test the reachability of a host on a network and measure the round-trip time for messages sent to the destination. Tracert (or traceroute) is used to determine the path that packets take to reach a specific destination, providing insight into the hops along the route. Netstat is a network utility that displays active connections, routing tables, interface statistics, and more, but it does not perform DNS queries. Each tool fulfills a specific role in network diagnostics, with nslookup specifically designed for name resolution tasks.