NetBIOS Suffixes (16th Character of the NetBIOS Name)

ID: Q163409

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

SUMMARY

The NetBIOS naming convention allows for 16 characters in a NetBIOS name. Microsoft, however, limits NetBIOS names to 15 characters and uses the 16th character as a NetBIOS suffix.

MORE INFORMATION

All NetBIOS names are 16 characters in length. A NetBIOS suffix is the 16th character of the 16-character NetBIOS name. The NetBIOS suffix is used by Microsoft Networking software to identify functionality installed on the registered device.

The following table lists the NetBIOS suffixes that are used by Microsoft Windows NT. The suffixes are listed in hexadecimal format because many of them are unprintable otherwise.


Name                Number(h)  Type  Usage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
<computername>         00       U    Workstation Service
<computername>         01       U    Messenger Service
<\\--__MSBROWSE__>     01       G    Master Browser
<computername>         03       U    Messenger Service
<computername>         06       U    RAS Server Service
<computername>         1F       U    NetDDE Service
<computername>         20       U    File Server Service
<computername>         21       U    RAS Client Service
<computername>         22       U    Microsoft Exchange Interchange(MSMail
                                     Connector)
<computername>         23       U    Microsoft Exchange Store
<computername>         24       U    Microsoft Exchange Directory
<computername>         30       U    Modem Sharing Server Service
<computername>         31       U    Modem Sharing Client Service
<computername>         43       U    SMS Clients Remote Control
<computername>         44       U    SMS Administrators Remote Control
                                     Tool
<computername>         45       U    SMS Clients Remote Chat
<computername>         46       U    SMS Clients Remote Transfer
<computername>         4C       U    DEC Pathworks TCPIP service on
                                     Windows NT
<computername>         52       U    DEC Pathworks TCPIP service on
                                     Windows NT
<computername>         87       U    Microsoft Exchange MTA
<computername>         6A       U    Microsoft Exchange IMC
<computername>         BE       U    Network Monitor Agent
<computername>         BF       U    Network Monitor Application
<username>             03       U    Messenger Service
<domain>               00       G    Domain Name
<domain>               1B       U    Domain Master Browser
<domain>               1C       G    Domain Controllers
<domain>               1D       U    Master Browser
<domain>               1E       G    Browser Service Elections
<INet~Services>        1C       G    IIS
<IS~computer name>     00       U    IIS
<computername>         [2B]     U    Lotus Notes Server Service
IRISMULTICAST          [2F]     G    Lotus Notes
IRISNAMESERVER         [33]     G    Lotus Notes
Forte_$ND800ZA         [20]     U    DCA IrmaLan Gateway Server Service

NetBIOS name types describe the functionality of the registration.

Unique (U): The name may have only one IP address assigned to it. On a network device multiple occurrences of a single name may appear to be registered. The suffix may be the only unique character in the name.

Group (G): A normal group; the single name may exist with many IP addresses. WINS responds to a name query on a group name with the limited broadcast address (255.255.255.255). Because routers block the transmission of these addresses, the Internet Group was designed to service communications between subnets.

Multihomed (M): The name is unique, but due to multiple network interfaces on the same computer this configuration is necessary to permit the registration. The maximum number of addresses is 25.

Internet Group (I): This is a special configuration of the group name used to manage Windows NT Domain names.

Domain Name (D): New in Windows NT 4.0.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q119495
TITLE : List of Names Registered with WINS Service

ARTICLE-ID: Q154608
TITLE : NETBIOS Node Status Query Returns First Instance of Unique Name

ARTICLE-ID: Q129603
TITLE : Using Systems Management Server Remote Control over a RAS Server

Additional query words: nbtstat netbeui browse browsing limitation length

Keywords : kbnetwork msnets
Version : WINDOWS:2000; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type :