NetBIOS Names

The NetBIOS namespace is flat, meaning that all names within the name space must be unique. NetBIOS names are 16 characters in length. Resources are identified by NetBIOS names, which are registered dynamically when computers boot, services or applications start, or users log on. Names can be registered as unique (one owner) or as group (multiple owner) names. A NetBIOS Name Query is used to locate a resource by resolving the name to an IP address. Microsoft networking components, such as Workstation and Server services, allow the first 15 characters of a NetBIOS name to be specified by the user or administrator, but reserve the sixteenth character of the NetBIOS name to indicate a resource type (00-FF hex). Many popular third-party software packages also use this character to identify and register their specific services. Table 3 lists some example NetBIOS names used by Microsoft components.