WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WINS AND DNS?

Question

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WINS AND DNS?

Answer 1

WINS and DNS are basically two sides of the same coin. They are both used for name resolution of  network computer addresses. What is name resolution? It is a way of matching hard to remember IP addresses such 308.131.399.67 to an easy to remember domain name such a www.abcede.com. This enables network computers to find and talk to each other.

The main difference between WINS, short for Windows Internet Naming Service and DNS, short for Domain Name System is that WINS as the name suggest, on the one hand is Windows based and dynamic. The WINS name resolution process can assign a different IP address each time a request for matching is made. On the other hand, DNS IP addresses are fixed and not Windows based.

Answer 2

WINS stands for "Windows Internet Name Service", a service that dynamically maps IP addresses to NetBIOS computer names. Probably it is Microsoft specific (although NetBIOS Extended Interface protocol has been introduced by IBM) and is used for older operating systems such as Windows NT 4, Windows 98, etc. The name seems to be a misnomer as NetBIOS protocol cannot be routed and therefore, cannot be used in internet, which uses TCP/IP. It is used only for NetBIOS name resolution (probably "Windows INTRANET Name Service" is the correct name).

DNS stands for "Domain Name System", a service that dynamically maps IP addresses to fully qualified domain names (FQDN - for eg. 192.168.1.22 -> service.bmm.com, where 'service' is the netbios name/computer name and 'bmm.com' is the domain name). TCP/IP is an open standard (not microsoft specific), used by Linux, Unix and Novell as well. So is the DNS standard (although Microsoft has added a few extensions to it's implementation in Windows).

In a LAN environment with domains you must have one or more DNS servers, WINS is optional, used only if there are computers running older operating systems.



I have noted that user "akanett" has said that "The WINS name resolution process can assign a different IP address each time a request for matching is made. On the other hand, DNS IP addresses are fixed and not Windows based" - he misunderstood the info in "http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/WINS.ht... where in it is stated that "DNS is an alternative system for name resolution suitable for network computers with fixed IP addresses." This is wrong - Microsoft implementation as well as recent version of Linux/Unix supports dynamic DNS. DNS is not an alternate system of WINS - it is a requirement in a network having a domain, WINS server may or may not be present.

IP address is assigned either statically or dynamically (using DHCP). Name resolver does not assign IP addresses.

Answer 3

i don't fully know what WINS is, but DNS is the domain name provider for your internet (it hooks up the urls you type to the actual website), im presuming the WINS is old technology that is no longer used/

Answer 4

DNS resolves domain names like www.yahoo.com into an IP address.

WINS resolves a NetBIOS name like the name you gave your computer into an IP address.

Answer 5

DNS maps host names to IP addresses.  WINS maps NetBIOS names to IP addresses.  The HOSTS file on a computer is the local equivalent to DNS.  The LMHOSTS file on a computer is the local equivalent to NetBIOS.

Answer 6

are we all having an ALL CAPS DAY TODAY???

it's kinda funny, just because you put it in all caps doesn't mean people are gonna answer it

WINS=never heard of it

DNS=domain name server, like www.example.com that's the IP address's DNS