When migrating applications from one server to another, one of the headache is to search through all possible depending processes and update them to reference the new server name. One of the solution is to keep using the same server name, and only keep one server online. However, in many cases, you need to keep both servers online in parallel. You will have to use a new name for the new server. To make our life easier, ultimately using DNS Alias to hide the server name looks to be the best choice. We only need to update DNS record whenever we need to switch the server.

This DNS alias worked for most use cases, however, there is one tiny problem, if for whatever reason, your application(s) or program(s) ever need to access SMB UNC Shares using the DNS alias. You will like run into infinite login prompts like this:

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-1.png

To solve this issue, you can follow the Microsoft official suggestion below. It works, but it's quite complex, and you will also need to rely on your Domain Administrator's mercy to setup each time. Also, server reboot is required.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/dns-cname-alias-cannot-access-smb-file-server-share

This is what I would recommend:

Assuming you have Admin rights on the server, open regedit.exe

1. Go to  \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

2. Create a new REG_DWORD entry: "DisableLoopbackCheck",  set value to 1

With the registry entry in place, you should be able to Access the SMB UNC shares from the server locally.

I only have tested this registry solution on Windows 2012, 2016 and 2019. If you are on a different OS version, you may need to test and find out.

Good Luck!