About WINS and Its Function

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is a database of available network resources and the computers that own them. This database is kept on a WINS server. A computer seeking such a resource ÒasksÓ the WINS server to look up the address of the machine that owns the resource. This speeds up network performance and reduces traffic when compared with the alternative "broadcast" scheme of identifying network resources.

WINS for SunLink Server systems is fully compatible with Microsoft WINS client implementations, including Microsoft TCP/IP-32 for Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT Workstation, Windows NT Server, and the Microsoft Network Client, Version 3.0.

SunLink Server WINS can replicate name databases with other SunLink Server WINS computers, and with WINS for Windows NT systems.

Note - You manage the NT functions of SunLink Server WINS by using the same Windows NT-based tool that you use to manage WINS for Windows NT. This allows both SunLink Server-based and Windows NT-based WINS servers to be managed from a single administrative tool on a single computer in the network. However, you use either the SunLink Server Manager tool or the SunLink Server command line to maintain the SunLink Server WINS database itself, as described in later sections of this chapter.