Information About Primary and Secondary Windows Internet Naming Service Server Switch (247559)

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If the primary WINS server is not available during a WINS client name registration request, the WINS client may register with the secondary WINS server. When this occurs, the output of the ipconfig /all command on the WINS client lists the original primary WINS server as the secondary WINS server, and the original secondary WINS server as the primary WINS server. Also, further name queries are sent to the secondary WINS server.

The WINS client continues trying to contact its original primary WINS server for another 60 minutes, at 10 minute intervals. Then, the WINS client stops trying to register with the primary WINS server until the name registration reaches one half of the Time to Live (TTL) value. Note that if the secondary WINS server stops responding to name queries, the WINS client immediately tries to switch back to the primary WINS server. If you then run the nbtstat -RR command on the WINS client, a name release is sent to both WINS servers, and the TTL value is set to zero.

At this point, the WINS client follows the same registration procedure used when a computer is started. It attempts to contact its original primary WINS server, and follows the process described earlier in this article.