A major tuning issue for WINS servers is replication frequency. You want replication to occur frequently enough that any server being down will not interfere with the reliability of name query responses. However, for longer wide area network (WAN) lengths, you do not want replication to interfere with network throughput.
For multiple network hubs interconnected by WAN links, replication frequency can be configured to be low compared to the replication frequency of multiple WINS servers at a single hub. For long WAN links, infrequent replication ensures that the links are available to carry client traffic without WINS affecting throughput.
For example, the WAN servers at a central site might be configured to replicate every 15 minutes. Replication between WAN hubs of a greater distance might be scheduled for every 30 minutes. Replication between servers on different continents might replicate twice a day.
Figure 14.2 Example of an Enterprise-Wide Configuration for WINS Replication