LAN Man NetBEUI Cannot Accommodate More than 256 Sessions (97873)

MORE INFORMATION

LAN Manager NetBEUI cannot accommodate more than 256 sessions. That is an absolute limit. NetBEUI can distribute up to 256 sessions across multiple network adapters, but the total on the network still cannot exceed 256.

LAN Manager can deal with more than 256 sessions if you install multiple protocol drivers, each of which can accommodate up to 256 sessions. This requires different protocols, however, because NetBEUI will not tolerate multiple instances of itself loaded on the same station. If a station is configured with two (or more) net cards, each card must be attached to a physically separate network. If there is a path for NetBEUI packets between Adapter A and Adapter B, you will receive "Error 52: Duplicate Name on Network."

So that means you can do this:

                  __________
                 |  Server  |
                 |__|____|__|

--------------------|    |----------------------
				

But not this:

                  __________
                 |  Server  |
                 |__|____|__|

--------------------|----|
				

Nor this:

                  ___________
                 |  Server  |
                 |__|____|__|

------|-------------|    |----------------|-----
  /---|--\                            /---|--\ 
  |Bridge|                            |Bridge|
  \---|--/                            \---|--/ 
------|-----------------------------------|-----