WINS Configuration
In order for computers to operate properly
in the SoM and WSU environment, they need to be configured to point to the
central WINS servers. If the computer is using DHCP then this has
already be taken care of automatically for you.
What is WINS?
- WINS
(Windows Internet Name Service) at it's most basic description is DNS for
Windows Clients.
- WINS resolves NetBIOS
computer names to IP addresses for WINS clients on a routed network.
- WINS consists of two
components: the WINS server, which handles name queries and registrations,
and the client software (NetBIOS over TCP/IP), which queries for computer
name resolution.
What are the Benefits of using WINS?
- WINS provides a
distributed database for registering and querying dynamic computer
name-to-IP address mappings in a routed network environment. Centralized
management of the computer name database and the database replication
policies, alleviate the need for managing LMHOSTS files.
- WINS reduces the use of
local broadcasts for name resolution and allows users to locate computers
on remote networks automatically. Reducing local broadcasts reduces subnet
congestion.
- When a Windows computer starts, it
registers it's name, it's IP address, and what Windows services it is
offering with the WINS server so that other Windows computers talking to
the same WINS system can more readily find those services.
- When dynamic addressing
through DHCP results in new IP addresses for computers that move between
sub-networks, the changes are updated automatically in the WINS database.
Neither the user nor the network administrator needs to make manual
accommodations for name resolution in such a case.
More WINS History
Since its origins in the mid-1980's with the LAN
Manager product, Microsoft/IBM networking has used a protocol known as
Server Message
Blocks, or SMB, for file and printer sharing. SMB, which is also
sometimes referred to as NetBIOS, is a fairly high-level protocol and, as
such, needs to be carried on top of another transport mechanism. There are
three different ones that are offered in recent Microsoft operating systems,
but the only one that is supported on the SOM intranet work is TCP/IP.
The first protocol that
Microsoft
and IBM
offered was a slightly modified form of 802.2 LLC that they called NetBIOS
Extended User Interface, or NetBEUI. Like other data link layer protocols,
NetBEUI can not be routed (it must be bridged), which makes it extremely
unwieldy for networks the size of the SOM and WSU. At a later date Microsoft
realized that it needed to support SMB on top of a routable protocol instead
of NetBEUI. They chose to model this new protocol after Novell's IPX/SPX
because of its success in many organizations. Microsoft's implementation is
known as the NWLINK IPX/SPX compatible protocol, but NetBIOS's great
reliance on broadcasts limited its usefulness when run in large NWLINK
networks.
Microsoft finally acknowledged that TCP/IP had become
the lingua franca of the networking world and released full support
for its use in NetBIOS networks beginning with Windows for Workgroups v3.11.
This is known as SMB over TCP/IP, NBT (for NetBIOS over TCP/IP), or the
Common Internet File System (CIFS). By combining support for a routable
protocol with the use of a name service for lookups, known as either an NBNS
(NetBIOS Name Server) or WINS (Windows Internet Name Server), Microsoft
managed to solve most of the problems that had plagued previous
implementations.
SMB over TCP/IP offers many advantages over other
implementations of NetBIOS, but the most notable is that it generates
significantly fewer broadcasts during lookup operations. Broadcast packets
are one of the biggest causes of performance problems on large, switched
networks like the one at the SOM. Another benefit is that it is the only
form of NetBIOS networking that is widely supported by non-Microsoft
computers in products like
SAMBA (for Unix) and
DAVE
(for Macintoshes). Finally, Microsoft has stated that TCP/IP will be the
only fully supported protocol in Windows XP.
Although Windows networking will function properly
when other protocols are used simultaneously with TCP/IP, it is very
important that they be disabled to reduce the number of broadcasts that are
generated. Lookup operations, such as browsing the Network Neighborhood or
issuing net use
from the command prompt, will generate broadcast packets for all of the
protocols that are bound to the Client for Microsoft Networks/Workstation
Service. If you are using static IP addresses, instructions for correctly
configuring Windows 9x and Windows NT clients are available above. Please
follow them exactly to ensure that your computer functions properly and does
not adversely effect the performance of other users of the network.
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