While Windows 2000 uses Domain Name System (DNS) as its primary method for matching a host name to its IP address, Windows 2000 also supports Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) for the same purpose. WINS is the name resolution system used for Windows NT Server 4.0 and earlier operating systems.
Windows 2000 DNS uses hierarchical fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) rather than the flat NetBIOS naming conventions supported by WINS. However, WINS provides an important service for network administrators with heterogeneous systems supporting clients running older operating systems, such as Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. These older systems do support DNS name resolution but do not support dynamic updates to DNS records.
WINS Overview
Origins of WINS
Microsoft WINS Clients
Microsoft WINS Servers
WINS Database
WINS Replication
Managing WINS Servers
Deploying Microsoft WINS Service
Decommissioning WINS
Interoperability
Troubleshooting WINS
Resources
For more information about DNS, see "Introduction to DNS" in this book.
For information about the Windows 2000 implementation of DNS, see "Windows 2000 DNS" in this book.