I mean specifically, the WinSock equivalent to gethostbyname() when provided with a "short name" (i.e., a name with no dots).
If you have the proper entries in either the hosts or lmhosts files and/or the proper suffixes in your DNS search list (which will allow a resolver query to find the proper FQDN), then you need neither NetBIOS nor WINS. Now, defining "proper" can open a whole can of worms, which is why it is easier to say "install WINS". However, if you keep your server names unique in the forest and your DNS fairly flat, it's easy to get along without WINS. ________________________________________ From: Ben Scott [mailvor...@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 11:54 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Disabling NETBIOS On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 11:35 AM, Michael B. Smith <mich...@owa.smithcons.com> wrote: > That article should be taken out and SHOT. Microsoft doesn't change it > because it's easier for PSS to say "install WINS" than it is to explain how > to properly configure short name resolution. What do mean by "short name resolution" here? There's no protocol or API called "short name resolution", to the best of my knowledge. There's Internet domain name resolution (DNS and the ...\etc\hosts file). There's NetBIOS name resolution (...\etc\lmhosts file, local broadcast, WINS). Either one is capable of taking a name without dots and turning it into an IP address, assuming proper configuration. On Windows, the standard gethostbyname() call will try both Internet domain name resolution and/or NetBIOS name resolution. By "short name resolution", do you just mean a properly configured DNS search list, such that any unqualified name (without dots) can be turned into a FQDN and resolved? In the paragraph you highlight, the sentence that troubles me is: >> Exchange 2003 uses Windows name resolution APIs to look >> up "short names," also known as NetBIOS names. To me, that suggests Exchange 2003 depends on NetBIOS name resolution. Of course, from what you're saying, the article is just altogether inaccurate. -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
