Integrating WINS with DNS

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

If most of your clients use NetBIOS and your servers are running Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 DNS, enable WINS lookup on your DNS servers. When WINS lookup is enabled on DNS servers, WINS resolves any names that DNS resolution does not find. DNS does not support the WINS forward lookup and WINS-R reverse lookup records in versions of Windows earlier than Windows 2000. For information about enabling WINS lookup, see "Deploying Domain Name System (DNS)" in this book.

Note

  • For a smooth integration with DNS, do not use extended characters in NetBIOS names, especially the underscore (_) and the period (.). Consult with your DNS administrator when determining NetBIOS naming standards.

If all of your network computers are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 and you are not supporting any applications that require NetBIOS names, you might consider establishing DNS as your only method of name resolution. However, before you consider decommissioning your WINS servers, identify any computers or applications that rely on NetBIOS, and determine the impact of removing NetBIOS. You might find that a critical application relies on NetBIOS (with no alternative currently available) in which case, you must continue to use WINS. For example, certain applications, such as Microsoft® Systems Management Server (SMS) and Microsoft® BackOffice® client/server mail configurations using Exchange Server, might require NetBIOS naming.

For more information about DNS, see "Deploying Domain Name System (DNS)" in this book or see the Networking Collection of the Windows Server 2003 Technical Reference (or see the Networking Collection on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit).