Recommended Practices for WINS (185786)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q185786

SUMMARY

This article discusses the recommended practices for implementing the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS). Following these practices should decrease the occurrence of WINS problems.

MORE INFORMATION

  • It is highly recommended that a WINS server point to itself as primary and secondary WINS in the TCP/IP configuration.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    150737 Setting Primary and Secondary WINS Server Options

  • It is highly recommended to use the correct ratio of WINS servers to WINS clients. A general rule is to have one WINS server for each 10,000 users plus one additional WINS server for redundancy. The redundant server does not have to be located at the same site.

    For additional information on WINS Ratios, please see the following White Paper available on the Microsoft anonymous ftp server:

    File Name: Winswp.doc
    Location : ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-docs/papers/
    Title : "Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS)" (Page 44)

  • It is highly recommended to use a hub and spoke replication model.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    168076 WINS Fails to Converge

    -and-

    Page 24 of the WINS White Paper mentioned earlier.
  • It is highly recommended to periodically run Jetpack (for example, once a month or once a quarter).For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    167812 WINS and DHCP Dynamic Database Compaction in Windows NT 4.0

    145881 How to use Jetpack.exe To Compact a WINS or DHCP Database

  • Multihomed WINS servers require additional configuration in order for replication to occur.For additional information about how to configure multihomed WINS servers, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    139380 Multihomed WINS Server Replication Partner Failures

  • It is highly recommended to not use static entries for WINS clients.
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

177140 How to Remove Static WINS Entries from All WINS Servers

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

135844 WINS Manager Shows WINS Servers That are Not Present

137423 How to Reregister Services in WINS

139608 SMB Traffic During Windows NT Domain Logon

168712 How to Manually Recreate a WINS Database

127897 WINSADMN Database Active Column Symbol Descriptions

139410 Error Message: There are Currently No Logon Servers Available...

135405 Repairing a Corrupted WINS Database with Starting Version Count.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/25/2002
Keywords:kbinfo KB185786
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.