<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
(	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
acronym	O
for	O
Network	B-Protocol
Basic	I-Protocol
Input/Output	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
services	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
session	B-Application
layer	I-Application
of	O
the	O
OSI	O
model	O
allowing	O
applications	B-Application
on	O
separate	O
computers	O
to	O
communicate	O
over	O
a	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
strictly	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
,	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
is	O
not	O
a	O
networking	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Older	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
ran	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
over	O
IEEE	O
802.2	O
and	O
IPX/SPX	B-Protocol
using	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Frames	I-Protocol
(	O
NBF	B-Protocol
)	O
and	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
over	O
IPX/SPX	B-Protocol
(	O
NBX	O
)	O
protocols	O
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
modern	O
networks	O
,	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
normally	O
runs	O
over	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
via	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
over	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
(	O
NBT	O
)	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
results	O
in	O
each	O
computer	O
in	O
the	O
network	O
having	O
both	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
and	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
corresponding	O
to	O
a	O
(	O
possibly	O
different	O
)	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
is	O
also	O
used	O
for	O
identifying	O
system	O
names	O
in	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
(	O
Windows	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simply	O
saying	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
protocol	O
that	O
allows	O
communication	O
of	O
files	O
and	O
printers	O
through	O
the	O
Session	B-Application
Layer	I-Application
of	O
the	O
OSI	O
Model	O
in	O
a	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
non-routable	O
OSI	O
Session	B-Application
Layer	I-Application
5	O
Protocol	O
and	O
a	O
service	O
that	O
allows	O
applications	B-Application
on	O
computers	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
one	O
another	O
over	O
a	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
(	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
was	O
developed	O
in	O
1983	O
by	O
Sytek	O
Inc	O
.	O
as	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
for	O
software	O
communication	O
over	O
IBM	B-General_Concept
PC	I-General_Concept
Network	I-General_Concept
LAN	B-General_Concept
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
IBM	B-General_Concept
PC	I-General_Concept
Network	I-General_Concept
,	O
as	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
alone	O
,	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
relied	O
on	O
proprietary	O
Sytek	O
networking	O
protocols	O
for	O
communication	O
over	O
the	O
wire	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
supporting	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
80	O
PCs	O
in	O
a	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
,	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
became	O
an	O
industry	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1985	O
,	O
IBM	O
went	O
forward	O
with	O
the	O
Token	B-Device
Ring	I-Device
network	I-Device
scheme	O
and	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
emulator	B-Application
was	O
produced	O
to	O
allow	O
NetBIOS-aware	O
applications	B-Application
from	O
the	O
PC-Network	B-General_Concept
era	O
to	O
work	O
over	O
this	O
new	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
emulator	B-Application
,	O
named	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Extended	I-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
Interface	I-Protocol
(	O
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
expanded	O
the	O
base	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
API	B-General_Concept
with	O
,	O
among	O
other	O
things	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
deal	O
with	O
the	O
greater	O
node	O
capacity	O
of	O
Token	B-Device
Ring	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
networking	O
protocol	O
,	O
NBF	B-Protocol
,	O
was	O
simultaneously	O
produced	O
to	O
allow	O
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
(	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
)	O
to	O
provide	O
its	O
services	O
over	O
Token	B-Device
Ring	I-Device
–	O
specifically	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
IEEE	O
802.2	O
Logical	O
Link	O
Control	O
layer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1985	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
created	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
implementation	O
for	O
its	O
MS-Net	B-Application
networking	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
IBM	O
's	O
Token	B-Device
Ring	I-Device
,	O
the	O
services	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
implementation	O
were	O
provided	O
over	O
the	O
IEEE	O
802.2	O
Logical	O
Link	O
Control	O
layer	O
by	O
the	O
NBF	B-Protocol
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
Microsoft	O
adopted	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
DNS	B-Protocol
)	O
resolution	B-Library
of	O
hostnames	B-Protocol
,	O
Microsoft	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
used	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
to	O
resolve	O
names	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
client-server	B-Operating_System
networks	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1986	O
,	O
Novell	O
released	O
Advanced	O
Novell	B-Operating_System
NetWare	I-Operating_System
2.0	O
featuring	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
own	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
emulator	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
services	O
were	O
encapsulated	O
within	O
NetWare	B-Operating_System
's	O
IPX/SPX	B-Protocol
protocol	O
using	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
over	O
IPX/SPX	B-Protocol
(	O
NBX	O
)	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1987	O
,	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
encapsulating	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
in	O
TCP	B-Protocol
and	O
UDP	B-Protocol
packets	I-Protocol
,	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
over	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
(	O
NBT	O
)	O
,	O
was	O
published	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
described	O
in	O
RFC	O
1001	O
(	O
"	O
Protocol	O
Standard	O
for	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Service	O
on	O
a	O
TCP/UDP	O
Transport	O
:	O
Concepts	O
and	O
Methods	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
RFC	O
1002	O
(	O
"	O
Protocol	O
Standard	O
for	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Service	O
on	O
a	O
TCP/UDP	O
Transport	O
:	O
Detailed	O
Specifications	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NBT	O
protocol	O
was	O
developed	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
"	O
allow	O
an	O
implementation	O
[	O
of	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
applications ]	O
to	O
be	O
built	O
on	O
virtually	O
any	O
type	O
of	O
system	O
where	O
the	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
suite	I-Protocol
is	O
available	O
,	O
"	O
and	O
to	O
"	O
allow	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
interoperation	O
in	O
the	O
Internet.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
PS/2	B-Device
computer	O
hit	O
the	O
market	O
in	O
1987	O
,	O
IBM	O
released	O
the	O
PC	B-General_Concept
LAN	I-General_Concept
Support	O
Program	O
,	O
which	O
included	O
a	O
driver	O
for	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
some	O
confusion	O
between	O
the	O
names	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
and	O
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
originated	O
strictly	O
as	O
the	O
moniker	O
for	O
IBM	O
's	O
enhanced	O
1985	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
emulator	B-Application
for	O
Token	B-Device
Ring	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
should	O
have	O
died	O
there	O
,	O
considering	O
that	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
implementations	O
by	O
other	O
companies	O
were	O
known	O
simply	O
as	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
regardless	O
of	O
whether	O
they	O
incorporated	O
the	O
API	B-General_Concept
extensions	O
found	O
in	O
that	O
emulator	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
MS-Net	B-Application
,	O
however	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
elected	O
to	O
name	O
its	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
NBF	B-Protocol
protocol	O
"	O
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
"	O
–	O
naming	O
its	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
transport	O
protocol	O
after	O
IBM	O
's	O
second	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consequently	O
Microsoft	O
file	O
and	O
printer	O
sharing	O
over	O
Ethernet	O
continues	O
to	O
be	O
called	O
NetBEUI	B-Protocol
,	O
with	O
the	O
name	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
commonly	O
used	O
only	O
in	O
for	O
file	O
and	O
printer	O
sharing	O
over	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
accurately	O
,	O
the	O
former	O
is	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Frames	I-Protocol
(	O
NBF	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
latter	O
is	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
over	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
(	O
NBT	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
its	O
original	O
publishing	O
in	O
a	O
technical	O
reference	O
book	O
from	O
IBM	O
,	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
API	B-General_Concept
specification	O
has	O
become	O
a	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
provides	O
three	O
distinct	O
services	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Name	O
service	O
(	O
NetBIOS-NS	O
)	O
for	O
name	O
registration	O
and	O
resolution	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
Datagram	B-Protocol
distribution	O
service	O
(	O
NetBIOS-DGM	O
)	O
for	O
connectionless	B-Protocol
communication	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Session	B-Protocol
service	O
(	O
NetBIOS-SSN	O
)	O
for	O
connection-oriented	B-Protocol
communication	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Note	O
:	O
SMB	B-Operating_System
,	O
an	O
upper	O
layer	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
service	O
that	O
runs	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
Session	B-Protocol
Service	O
and	O
the	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
service	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
is	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
as	O
a	O
necessary	O
and	O
integral	O
part	O
of	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
now	O
run	O
atop	O
TCP	B-Protocol
with	O
a	O
small	O
adaptation	O
layer	O
that	O
adds	O
a	O
length	O
field	O
to	O
each	O
SMB	B-Operating_System
message	O
;	O
this	O
is	O
necessary	O
because	O
TCP	B-Protocol
only	O
provides	O
a	O
byte-stream	O
service	O
with	O
no	O
notion	O
of	O
message	O
boundaries	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
start	O
sessions	O
or	O
distribute	O
datagrams	B-Protocol
,	O
an	O
application	O
must	O
register	O
its	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
using	O
the	O
name	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
names	O
are	O
16	O
octets	O
in	O
length	O
and	O
vary	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
particular	O
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frequently	O
,	O
the	O
16th	O
octet	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Suffix	O
,	O
designates	O
the	O
type	O
of	O
resource	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
tell	O
other	O
applications	B-Application
what	O
type	O
of	O
services	O
the	O
system	O
offers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
NBT	O
,	O
the	O
name	O
service	O
operates	O
on	O
UDP	B-Protocol
port	O
137	O
(	O
TCP	B-Protocol
port	O
137	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
but	O
rarely	O
is	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
service	O
primitives	O
offered	O
by	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Add	O
name	O
–	O
registers	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Add	O
group	O
name	O
–	O
registers	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
"	O
group	O
"	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Delete	O
name	O
–	O
un-registers	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
or	O
group	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Find	O
name	O
–	O
looks	O
up	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
on	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	B-Library
resolution	I-Library
is	O
not	O
supported	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
for	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
Version	I-Protocol
6	I-Protocol
(	O
IPv6	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Datagram	B-Protocol
mode	O
is	O
connectionless	B-Protocol
;	O
the	O
application	O
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
error	O
detection	O
and	O
recovery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
NBT	O
,	O
the	O
datagram	B-Protocol
service	I-Protocol
runs	O
on	O
UDP	B-Protocol
port	O
138	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
datagram	B-Protocol
service	I-Protocol
primitives	O
offered	O
by	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Send	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
–	O
send	O
a	O
datagram	B-Protocol
to	O
a	O
remote	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Send	O
Broadcast	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
–	O
send	O
a	O
datagram	B-Protocol
to	O
all	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
names	O
on	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Receive	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
–	O
wait	O
for	O
a	O
packet	O
to	O
arrive	O
from	O
a	O
Send	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Receive	O
Broadcast	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
–	O
wait	O
for	O
a	O
packet	O
to	O
arrive	O
from	O
a	O
Send	O
Broadcast	O
Datagram	B-Protocol
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Session	B-Protocol
mode	O
lets	O
two	O
computers	O
establish	O
a	O
connection	O
,	O
allows	O
messages	O
to	O
span	O
multiple	O
packets	O
,	O
and	O
provides	O
error	O
detection	O
and	O
recovery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
NBT	O
,	O
the	O
session	B-Protocol
service	O
runs	O
on	O
TCP	B-Protocol
port	B-Protocol
139	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
session	B-Protocol
service	O
primitives	O
offered	O
by	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Call	O
–	O
opens	O
a	O
session	B-Protocol
to	O
a	O
remote	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Listen	O
–	O
listen	O
for	O
attempts	O
to	O
open	O
a	O
session	B-Protocol
to	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hang	O
Up	O
–	O
close	O
a	O
session	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Send	O
–	O
sends	O
a	O
packet	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
end	O
of	O
a	O
session	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Receive	O
–	O
wait	O
for	O
a	O
packet	O
to	O
arrive	O
from	O
a	O
Send	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
end	O
of	O
a	O
session	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
original	O
protocol	O
used	O
to	O
implement	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
services	O
on	O
PC-Network	B-General_Concept
,	O
to	O
establish	O
a	O
session	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
initiating	O
computer	O
sends	O
an	O
Open	O
request	O
which	O
is	O
answered	O
by	O
an	O
Open	O
acknowledgment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
computer	O
that	O
started	O
the	O
session	B-Protocol
will	O
then	O
send	O
a	O
Session	B-Protocol
Request	O
packet	O
which	O
will	O
prompt	O
either	O
a	O
Session	B-Protocol
Accept	O
or	O
Session	B-Protocol
Reject	O
packet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
an	O
established	O
session	B-Protocol
,	O
each	O
transmitted	O
packet	O
is	O
answered	O
by	O
either	O
a	O
positive-acknowledgment	O
(	O
ACK	O
)	O
or	O
negative-acknowledgment	O
(	O
NAK	O
)	O
response	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
computer	O
that	O
started	O
the	O
session	B-Protocol
will	O
reply	O
with	O
a	O
close	O
response	O
which	O
prompts	O
the	O
final	O
session	B-Protocol
closed	O
packet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
is	O
run	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
Internet	B-Protocol
protocols	I-Protocol
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
NBT	O
)	O
,	O
each	O
computer	O
may	O
have	O
multiple	O
names	O
:	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
service	O
names	O
and	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
Internet	O
host	B-Protocol
names	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
is	O
16	O
ASCII	O
characters	O
,	O
however	O
Microsoft	O
limits	O
the	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
to	O
15	O
characters	O
and	O
reserves	O
the	O
16th	O
character	O
as	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Suffix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
suffix	O
describes	O
the	O
service	O
or	O
name	O
record	O
type	O
such	O
as	O
host	O
record	O
,	O
master	O
browser	B-General_Concept
record	O
,	O
or	O
domain	B-Protocol
controller	I-Protocol
record	O
or	O
other	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
(	O
or	O
short	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
)	O
is	O
specified	O
when	O
Windows	B-Application
networking	O
is	O
installed/configured	O
,	O
the	O
suffixes	O
registered	O
are	O
determined	O
by	O
the	O
individual	O
services	O
supplied	O
by	O
the	O
host	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
running	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
via	O
its	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
,	O
the	O
name	O
must	O
be	O
resolved	O
to	O
a	O
network	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
this	O
is	O
usually	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
(	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
to	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
resolution	B-Library
is	O
often	O
done	O
by	O
either	O
broadcasts	O
or	O
a	O
WINS	B-Device
Server	I-Device
–	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Name	O
Server	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
computer	O
's	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
is	O
often	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
that	O
computer	O
's	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
(	O
see	O
below	O
)	O
,	O
although	O
truncated	O
to	O
15	O
characters	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
completely	O
different	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
names	O
are	O
a	O
sequence	O
of	O
alphanumeric	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
characters	O
in	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
names	O
,	O
such	O
that	O
applications	B-Application
can	O
use	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
a	O
full-stop	O
to	O
distinguish	O
domain	B-General_Concept
names	O
from	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Windows	B-Application
LMHOSTS	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
provides	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	B-Library
resolution	I-Library
method	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
small	O
networks	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
use	O
a	O
WINS	B-Device
server	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Windows	B-Application
machine	O
's	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
is	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
with	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
Internet	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
(	O
assuming	O
that	O
the	O
computer	O
is	O
also	O
an	O
Internet	O
host	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
being	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
node	O
,	O
which	O
need	O
not	O
necessarily	O
be	O
the	O
case	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
a	O
computer	O
running	O
Internet	B-Protocol
protocols	I-Protocol
(	O
whether	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
machine	O
or	O
not	O
)	O
usually	O
has	O
a	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
(	O
also	O
sometimes	O
called	O
a	O
machine	O
name	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
these	O
names	O
were	O
stored	O
in	O
and	O
provided	O
by	O
a	O
hosts	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
but	O
today	O
most	O
such	O
names	O
are	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
hierarchical	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
DNS	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
the	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
of	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
computer	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
plus	O
the	O
Primary	O
DNS	B-Protocol
Suffix	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
both	O
set	O
in	O
the	O
System	O
Properties	O
dialog	O
box	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
connection-specific	O
suffixes	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
or	O
changed	O
on	O
the	O
DNS	B-Protocol
tab	O
in	O
Control	O
Panel	O
→	O
Network	O
→	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
→	O
Advanced	O
Properties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Host	B-Protocol
names	I-Protocol
are	O
used	O
by	O
applications	B-Application
such	O
as	O
telnet	B-Protocol
,	O
ftp	B-Protocol
,	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
running	O
the	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
using	O
its	O
name	O
,	O
the	O
host	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
must	O
be	O
resolved	O
into	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
,	O
typically	O
by	O
a	O
DNS	B-Protocol
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
operate	O
many	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
-based	O
applications	B-Application
,	O
including	O
the	O
three	O
listed	O
above	O
,	O
using	O
only	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
,	O
but	O
this	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
norm	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
the	O
node	O
type	O
of	O
a	O
networked	O
computer	O
relates	O
to	O
the	O
way	O
it	O
resolves	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
names	O
to	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
assumes	O
that	O
there	O
are	O
any	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
for	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
nodes	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
assured	O
only	O
when	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
operates	O
over	O
NBT	O
;	O
thus	O
,	O
node	O
types	O
are	O
not	O
a	O
property	O
of	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
per	O
se	O
but	O
of	O
interaction	O
between	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
and	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
in	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
OS	I-Application
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
node	O
type	O
in	O
use	O
is	O
displayed	O
by	O
opening	O
a	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
and	O
typing	O
ipconfig	O
/all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Windows	B-Application
computer	O
registry	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
configured	O
in	O
such	O
a	O
way	O
as	O
to	O
display	O
"	O
unknown	O
"	O
for	O
the	O
node	O
type	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
Suffix	O
,	O
alternately	O
called	O
the	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
End	O
Character	O
(	O
endchar	O
)	O
,	O
is	O
the	O
16th	O
character	O
of	O
a	O
NetBIOS	B-Protocol
name	O
and	O
indicates	O
service	O
type	O
for	O
the	O
registered	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
