On networks that do not use WINS, the broadcast name resolution method used by Windows NT computers provides a simple, dynamic mechanism for locating resources by name on a TCP/IP network.
Because broadcast name resolution relies on IP-level broadcasts to locate resources, unwanted effects can occur in routed IP topologies. In particular, resources located on remote subnets do not receive name query requests, because routers do not pass IP-level broadcasts. For this reason, Windows NT allows you to manually provide computer name and IP address mappings for remote resources via LMHOSTS.
This section describes how the LMHOSTS file can be used to enhance Windows NT in routed environments. This section includes the following topics: