Configuring WINS Servers and Replication Partners

You will want to configure multiple WINS servers to increase the availability and balance the load among servers. Each WINS server must be configured with at least one other WINS server as its replication partner.

Configuring a WINS server includes specifying information about when database entries are replicated between partners. A pull partner is a WINS server that pulls in replicas of database entries from its partner by requesting and then accepting replicas. A push partner is a WINS server that sends update notification messages to its partner when its WINS database has changed. When its partner responds to the notification with a replication request, the push partner sends a copy of its current WINS database to the partner. For the databases on the primary and backup WINS servers to remain consistent, they must be both push and pull partners with each other. It is always a good idea for replication partners to be both push and pull partners of each other.

For information about configuring preferences, see "Setting Preferences for WINS Manager" later in this chapter.