Why only one WINS server?

[Robert Dahlem]

David,

On Mon, 11 May 1998 23:58:53 +1000, David Collier-Brown wrote:

>> > While NT's TCP/IP setup has two entrys, one for a primary and one for a
>> > secondary WINS server I wonder why there should be only one Samba WINS
>> > server.

>> A samba wins server can't replicate its base with another wins server.
>> The microsoft WINS replication protocol is undocumented

>.. and wins servers cache information discovered from listening
>to MS announcements, so simply replicating DNS/hosts/yp/whatever
>information to two or more Samba wins servers won't keep them
>from getting out of synch.

What I understand is that the problem lies in Samba not knowing how to replicate
(sync?) itself with a MS WINS server, so a Samba WINS server and a MS WINS server
would probably get out of sync soon.

In my environment there is no MS WINS server, only Samba WINS servers. From trying
I know that MS clients can resolve NETBIOS names by broadcasting a WINS request and
Samba will answer to these requests as long as it is configured with "wins proxy = yes".

The lookup in my environment depends on /etc/hosts only and this one should be in sync
nearly all the time because it is fed by NIS. This is really convenient because now all 
clients can use anything in /etc/hosts without having to configure something special on them.

Is this situation a legal exception from the rule not to setup two Samba WINS servers?
Its just for the case that one machine in a net with two or more Samba servers goes down.
If this were the machine with the only WINS server on it no more name resolving would be
possible ...

>  As Microsoft plan to retire wins in favour of DNS in the very
>near future, I'd recommend using it cautiously, and making sure
>you don't depend on anything peculiar to WINS.
>
> If you do You Will Hate Yourself Later (:-))

:-)

I already learned that its wise to configure "wins support = no" and to point to a "wins
server" when there is one and you have to insert a Samba machine in this net. But in this
situation all the clients already know about some MS WINS server and I only have to care
that Samba registers with it.

Regards,
        Robert

-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Robert.Dahlem at frankfurt.netsurf.de
Radio Bornheim - 2:2461/332 at fidonet +49-69-4930830  (ZyX, V34)
                 2:2461/326 at fidonet +49-69-94414444 (ISDN X.75)
---------------------------------------------------------------