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3.3.2 Host Name Resolution
Windows Server 2003 supports the use of user-friendly domain names to represent the IP address of a host
or a client. This requires name resolution so that the computer can identify the IP address that the user-
friendly name refers to. Windows Server 2003 supports two types of name resolution: NetBIOS name
resolution and host name resolution.
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NetBIOS Name Resolution remains in Windows Server 2003 for compatibility purposes. Two of the
mechanisms implemented for NetBIOS name resolution are Windows Internet Naming Service
(WINS), which is a NetBIOS name server that stores NetBIOS names and their IP Addresses; and the
LMHOSTS file, which is a static text file that contains a list of NetBIOS names and their corresponding
IP addresses and is stored on the local computer. Clients using earlier versions of Windows, such as
Windows 98 or Windows NT Workstation 4.0, which use NetBIOS names for network communication,
require Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) to register NetBIOS computer names and resolve them
to IP addresses.
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Host Name Resolution is supported by Domain Name Services (DNS). DNS is a distributed database
that is used in TCP/IP networks to translate computer names to IP addresses. It is most commonly
associated with the Internet but is also used extensively in private networks. DNS provides the following
benefits:
DNS names are user-friendly, which means that they are easier to remember than IP addresses;
DNS names remains constant even when IP addresses change; and
DNS allows users to connect to local servers by using the same naming convention as the Internet.
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