Best Practices for WINS Clients

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To configure and manage clients properly requires some attention. The best options for WINS clients are outlined here.

Configure Clients with a Full List of WINS Servers

In previous versions of Windows NT, clients were only able to use a primary and secondary WINS server. For Windows 2000, WINS clients can be configured with up to 12 WINS servers. These servers can be configured either statically at the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) properties dialog box or dynamically through DHCP (using option 44). By configuring additional WINS servers, clients gain additional fault tolerance.

Use Nbtstat –RR to Manage Client Connectivity

The Nbtstat command-line tool—new in Windows 2000—allows you to purge the local NetBIOS names cache of remote names and force immediate renewal and re-registration of the local names of the client. This is useful as a first recourse for troubleshooting WINS client connectivity problems; in particular, you can use this tool to repopulate the client entries and replicate them to the partner WINS server without rebooting the clients.

Client Configuration Practices

WINS is a client/server system requiring software on both the client and the server in order for the NetBIOS computer name–to–IP address resolution to occur. Getting the client configuration right can head off many problems.

Windows NT clients that participate in the WINS process register NetBIOS names. These names are configured through the System utility in Control Panel and can be altered at any time. Problems might arise if a user changes his or her computer's NetBIOS name to the same name as that of a Windows 2000 computer, or to the name of an existing Windows NT domain. This client impersonates the server and essentially is registered with the WINS service as a Windows 2000 computer. This problem only happens when the server or domain controller is not available to defend the name in a WINS challenge. To avoid this problem:

  • The first, but least desirable, method of dealing with impersonation in Windows 2000 is to place static entries in the WINS database, ensuring that no user can configure his or her computer to dynamically impersonate a server. This method, as with any static process, is more administratively intensive than the use of dynamic registration of the computer NetBIOS name.

  • The second method is to set the client computers' configurations so that users cannot alter the NetBIOS names of their computers. This method allows for minimal administrative overhead for WINS NetBIOS name registrations and provides a controlled client environment. You can control Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation clients through system policies that determine what access a user can or cannot have to altering features on their own computers.

All clients should be upgraded to the newest client platform to control access to desktop configuration parameters. Use system policies in the Computer Management console to prevent users from changing their computers' NetBIOS names. To access the Computer Management console, right-click My Computer and choose Manage on the drop-down menu.