turn off netbios and wins in dns w2k network possible?

[pollux0]

From what I understand DNS can replace wins and netbios completely in an W2K/Active Directory/DNS environment. I am testing the network by turning off netbios and wins completely.

When I do, everything seems to work except I cant see any computers in the My Network Places -> Microsoft Windows Network screen.

Everything else seems to work with Netbios disabled (so far, I havent tested everything!)

Any thoughts?

 

[philote]

As far as WINS goes, you probably don't need it at all.
I think you'll need netbios for file/print sharing though.

 

[technome]

With a properly setup DNS, you don't need Wins but as a general safety measure you should setup Wins along with DNS; uses little resources. I am not a firm believer in removing Netbeui, many programs need or will run faster with it enabled; test all you program before and after you disable it.

 

[GenesisCraigM]

NetBIOS and WINS are not required for file and print sharing, however, there are applications written by vendors who still think it's 1995 that require NetBIOS -- for example, even the latest version of Symantec Antivirus for Exchange will not "discover" AVF/Exchange servers via DNS, but uses NetBIOS instead. Make sure you don't have ANYTHING on your network which requires NetBIOS .. even the smallest thing -- all bets are off



Craig J Matthews
System Administrator, Genesis Group
craigm@genesisgroup.com