WINS interoperability issues

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 8 Beta

Interoperability issues

Using DHCP with WINS

When using DHCP and WINS together on your network, consider the following options for interoperation:

  • Use additional DHCP scope options.

    Specifically, use DHCP options to assign WINS node types (option type 46) and to identify WINS servers for use by DHCP clients (option type 44). In some cases, this can involve adjusting these option types for each physical subnet in which DHCP and WINS are implemented.

  • Assign a length of time for DHCP lease durations comparable to the time WINS uses for renew intervals, when both services are deployed.

    By default, DHCP leases are eight days in length and the WINS renew interval is six days. If lease lengths for DHCP widely differ from WINS renew intervals, the effect on your network can be an increase in lease-management traffic and might cause a WINS registration for both services. If you shorten or lengthen the DHCP lease time for clients, then modify the WINS renew interval accordingly.

Using DNS with WINS

If a large percentage of clients use NetBIOS and you are using DNS, consider using WINS lookup on your DNS servers. If WINS lookup is enabled on Microsoft DNS Service, WINS is used for final resolution of any names that are not found using DNS resolution. The WINS forward lookup and WINS-R reverse lookup records are supported only by DNS. If you use servers on your network that do not support DNS, use the DNS console to ensure that these WINS records are not propagated to DNS servers that do not support WINS lookup.

Multihomed WINS servers

For multihomed WINS servers, where more than one local network connection is present and active, WINS does not guarantee the binding order for NetBIOS. Therefore, for a multihomed WINS server to function properly, all installed connections should be configured as routable interfaces.

All multihomed WINS servers should have their primary IP addresses assigned to each network connection, configured as push and pull replication partners at other servers that can be reached through each of the respective connections. When configuring replication partners, you can ensure that a specific network connection is used by specifying an IP address for the remote multihomed server you are adding at a WINS server.

Otherwise, when replication partners are specified and resolved by a name entered in the WINS console, it is possible that a packet generated by WINS could use any of the installed interfaces and their respective IP addresses. This seemingly random behavior results from WINS referring to its local IP routing table, which contains all of the installed IP interfaces, before it sends packets to the remote server.