Microsoft KB Archive/229663

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INFO: Using TCP/IP Without NetBIOS on Windows 2000

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Q229663

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API), included with:
 * the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000

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SUMMARY
On a Windows 2000 system you can run TCP/IP without NetBIOS or Windows Internet Names Service (WINS) servers. All name resolution can be done through Domain Name Service (DNS). To use this configuration, your applications should interpret and use DNS names correctly, and use directory services through Active Directory for browsing. Also, API functions that rely on NetBIOS name resolution will no longer work in this environment.

MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft Active Directory replaces NetBIOS as the primary name resolution and directory service in Windows 2000. Active Directory uses DNS as the location service for finding computers that share resources throughout a client's distributed environment. To use these integrated services, you should use DNS names when developing distributed applications. The DNS domain name is usually an organization name followed by a period and an extension that indicates the type of organization, such as microsoft.com. The organization name can be any combination of the letters A through Z, the numerals 0 through 9, and the hyphen (-). A fully qualified DNS name consists of its DNS host name followed by a period and the name of the DNS domain to which it is assigned, for example sample.microsoft.com. Like the organization name, the host name can be any combination of the letters A through Z, the numerals 0 through 9, and the hyphen (-). By default, the host name is the computer name, but computer names are limited to 15 characters, whereas DNS allows any name component to be longer than 15 characters. The host name does not have to match the computer name.

You can use the new API functions GetComputerNameEx and SetComputerNameEx in Windows 2000 to determine or change the DNS name of a computer.

NOTE: Functions that relied on NetBIOS names for resolution in previous versions of Windows will not work in an environment that is purely using DNS for name resolution. For example, NetServerEnum is not supported in an environment that does not use NetBIOS.

In addition to using DNS names, you should implement browsing using directory services through Active Directory. Active Directory provides a single set of directory services for managing network resources from a variety of network providers. If you use Active Directory, the browsing functionality in your application will work on a user's computer regardless of the directory service that they have installed.

NOTE: Many existing systems rely on NETBIOS for down-level client support and functionality such as printing and file sharing. NETBIOS should not be turned off until these issues are addressed.