Chapter 19. Maintaining WINS

Microsoft Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is a name resolution service that resolves computer names to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Using WINS, the computer name OMEGA, for example, could be resolved to an IP address that enables computers on a Microsoft network to find one another and transfer information.

WINS is needed to support pre “Windows 2000 systems and older applications that use Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBIOS) over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), such as the NET command-line utilities. If you don't have pre “Windows 2000 systems or applications on the network, you don't need to use WINS.

The underlying application programming interface (API) that enables WINS name resolution and information transfers between computers is NetBIOS. The NetBIOS API contains a set of commands that applications can use to access session-layer services. Commonly used extensions for NetBIOS are NetBIOS Enhanced User Interface (NetBEUI) and NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT). This chapter focuses on WINS and NBT.

In Windows Server 2003, WINS isn't automatically installed. To install WINS, you'll need to perform the following tasks :

1. Click Start, choose Programs or All Programs, Administrative Tools, and then select Configure Your Server Wizard.

2. Click Next, then click Next again. The current server roles are shown.

3. Select WINS Server from the Server Role list box, and then click Next.

4. Click Next. The wizard installs WINS and begins configuring the server. As necessary, insert the Windows Server 2003 CD when prompted.

5. Click Finish, then close the Manage Your Server console.

From now on, the WINS service should start automatically each time you reboot the server. If it doesn't start, you'll need to start it manually. See the section of this chapter entitled "Starting and Stopping a WINS Server."

Note

WINS servers should have static IP addresses. This ensures that WINS clients can consistently connect to the server.