Computer names can be resolved outside the local broadcast subnet if the remote computer name and IP address mappings are specified in the LMHOSTS file. For example, suppose your computer, named ClientA, is configured without the WINS client service, but you want to use TCP/IP to connect to a computer, named ServerB, that is located on another TCP/IP subnet. By default, your computer is a b-node computer that uses NetBIOS cache and IP broadcasts, and is enabled for LMHOSTS file lookup, by using an LMHOSTS file provided by your network administrator.
At system startup, the name cache on ClientA is preloaded only with entries from the LMHOSTS file, defined as preloaded by a special keyword, the #PRE keyword. For this example, ServerB is on a remote subnet outside of your local subnet IP broadcast area and is not one of the entries in preloaded cache. A strict b-node IP broadcast (as defined in RFCs 1001 and 1002) fails by timing out when no response is received. In this example, ClientA's IP broadcast to locate ServerB will time out, because ServerB is located on a remote subnet and does not receive ClientA's broadcast requests.
This example is summarized in the following steps:
1. ClientA enters a Windows NT command, such as a print file command, using the NetBIOS name of ServerB.
2. The NetBIOS name cache on ClientA is checked for the IP address that corresponds to the NetBIOS name of ServerB.
3. Because ServerB was not preloaded, its NetBIOS name is not found in the name cache, and ClientA broadcasts a name request with the NetBIOS name of ServerB.
4. Because ServerB is on a remote network, ClientA does not receive a reply to its name request broadcast because IP broadcasts are not routed to remote subnets. (If ServerB were on the local network, ClientA would receive a response to its broadcast and the response would contain the IP address of ServerB.)
5. Because the LMHOSTS method has been enabled on ClientA, Windows NT continues to attempt to resolve the NetBIOS name to an IP address. The LMHOSTS file in the %systemroot%\System32\Drivers\Etc directory is examined to find the NetBIOS name, ServerB, and its corresponding IP address. If the NetBIOS name is not found in the LMHOSTS file, and no other name resolution method is configured on ClientA, an error message appears.