WINS Clients May Send Name Refresh Requests to Multihomed WINS Servers at 2 or 8 Minute Intervals (247194)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This article was previously published under Q247194

SYMPTOMS

When a Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) client registers with a multihomed Windows 2000-based or Windows NT 4.0-based WINS server, the WINS client may not update the Time to Live (TTL) value of the NetBIOS name in its local NetBIOS name cache. Because of this, WINS clients may send NetBIOS name refresh requests to the multihomed WINS server at the following intervals:
  • Every 2 minutes for Windows 2000-based WINS clients.
  • Every 8 minutes for Windows NT 4.0-based WINS clients.
Also, depending on the number of WINS clients, Local Area Network (LAN) traffic and central processing unit (CPU) utilization on your multihomed WINS server may increase significantly.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if the multihomed WINS server has multiple adapters with Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) addresses on different subnets. When a WINS client sends a name refresh request to a multihomed WINS server, the multihomed WINS server includes the TCP/IP address of the first adapter bound to TCP/IP as the source TCP/IP address in the response sent to the WINS client. If this source TCP/IP address does not match either the primary or secondary WINS server addresses configured on the WINS client, the response is discarded.

RESOLUTION

To work around this issue, use any of the following methods:
  • For Windows NT 4.0, adjust the adapter binding order on your multihomed WINS server, so that the adapter that is on the same subnet as the WINS client is bound first to the TCP/IP protocol. Then, restart your multihomed WINS server. For Windows 2000, configure your bindings on your multihomed WINS server so that the adapter that is on the same subnet as the WINS client is bound first to the TCP/IP protocol.
  • Configure your Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to distribute a WINS TCP/IP address that matches the TCP/IP address of the adapter that is bound first to the TCP/IP protocol on your multihomed WINS server.
  • Configure your DHCP server to distribute both WINS TCP/IP addresses used by your multihomed WINS server as primary and secondary WINS server addresses.
  • Reconfigure your WINS servers to have one adapter.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about installing and configuring WINS on multihomed computers, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

121003 WINS Behavior on a Multihomed System

131641 NetBT Supports One IP Address per NIC

152705 Multihomed WINS Servers Send Name Query Responses

181774 Multihomed Issues with Windows NT

185786 Recommended Practices for WINS

240661 Windows Internet Naming Service Server Registration Behavior

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/13/2003
Keywords:kbfix kbnetwork kbprb KB247194
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