WINS Proxy Agent Functionality

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0

SUMMARY

Windows NT Server and Workstation, Windows 95 and the protected mode TCP/IP- 32 for Windows for Workgroup 3.11 allow a Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)-enabled computer to act as a WINS proxy agent for the b-node clients. The purpose of the WINS proxy agent is to resolve name queries from the b-node clients through the WINS server.

MORE INFORMATION

When a b-node client tries to access a resource, it sends a broadcast for that name on the local subnet. If a WINS proxy agent is enabled on that subnet, the agent picks up the name query and tries to resolve it through the internal cache of remote names. If the name is not registered in the cache, the agent contacts the WINS server to resolve the names. If the name query for the remote name is successful, the proxy agent receives the IP address of the remote name from the WINS server. When the IP address is received, the proxy agent caches the name, waits for the next query for that name, and then responds from the cache indicating that the name query is successfully resolved. If the proxy agent cannot resolve a name through the internal cache or by the WINS server, the proxy agent will not return any response to the b-node client causing the b-node client to time-out. A proxy agent does not participate in the name registration process, nor does it check for duplicate names in the WINS server database for the b-node client.

NOTE: There should only be one or two proxy agents enabled per subnet. Enabling more than two proxy agents causes multiple requests to be sent to the WINS server, and multiple responses to be generated for each name query on the local subnet.

NOTE: In Windows NT 4.0, the WINS Proxy Agent cannot be enabled in the Network Control Panel, but can be enabled by changing a registry setting.

For more information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q164765
   TITLE     : How to enable WINS Proxy Agent in Windows NT 4.0