This article will give you basic idea about NetBIOS – Network Basic Input/Output System, like What is NetBIOS, What are the services provided by NetBIOS etc.
What is NetBIOS – Network Basic Input/Output System?
NetBIOS is an API (Application Program Interface) providing various networking services. It enables communication between computers and devices within a Local Area Network (LAN)
Is NetBIOS a Networking Protocol?
No, NetBIOS is not a Networking Protocol. NetBIOS is strictly an API.
At which OSI Layer does NetBIOS operates?
NetBIOS operates at the Session Layer (Layer 5) of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Model.
What are the services provided by NetBIOS – Network Basic Input/Output System?
The NetBIOS API provides the following important services:
- NetBIOS Name Service (NetBIOS-NS): The NetBIOS Name Service is basically responsible for the following 3 tasks related to Computer Names and their IPs:
- Registering of Computer Names and their IP addresses
- Releasing of Computer Names and their IP addresses
- Resolving Computer Names to their IP addresses
Thus, the abovementioned services enable communication of Computer and Devices on the Local Area Network. This communication is established by using the Computer Names instead of relying on IP Addresses.
- NetBIOS Datagram Service (NetBIOS-DGM): The NetBIOS-DGM service provides a connectionless communication method to send messages and data packets between the computers and devices on the Local Area Network, without establishing a dedicated connection.
- NetBIOS Session Service (NetBIOS-SSN): The NetBIOS-SSN service provides a connection-oriented communication between the computers and devices on the Local Area Network.
What Ports does NetBIOS Service use?
- NetBIOS Name Service (NetBIOS-NS): 137/UDP
- NetBIOS Name Service (NetBIOS-NS): 137/TCP
- NetBIOS Datagram Service (NetBIOS-DGM): 138/UDP
- NetBIOS Session Service (NetBIOS-SSN): 139/TCP
What is WINS – Windows Internet Name Service?
WINS (Windows Internet Name Service) is a legacy Computer Name Registration and Resolution service that maps Computer NetBIOS Names to IP Addresses.
WINS is basically an implementation of NetBIOS Name Server (NBNS), a name server for NetBIOS names.
Computers generally use DNS (Domain Name System) now and WINS has been retired a long time ago by most of the organizations.
Follow the link below to read more about WINS - Windows Internet Name Service: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/technologies/wins/wins-top
What is NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT)?
NetBIOS over TCP/IP is also know as NBT, and, it provides NetBIOS API services over TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) Protocol Suite.