NETBIOS / Resolution Protocols

[sysengrnz]

I've got a question relating to resolution protocols:

1. When dealing with command prompt commands such as NSLOOKUP, PING etc, do these commands when utilized in this context operate at an adapter level but call functions up the OSI model to give the responses you receive?

or

2. When utilizing these commands in command prompt (at the application layer), does prompt work down the stack to call the functions which in turn give the responses you see? I.e..Destination Host Unreachable etc?

Will the "Netbios over TCP/IP" function, if I enable it on my network adapters, conflict with other methods of resolution such as LMHOST, WINS or DNS? Is there a priority in which these functions will operate if they're all enabled at the same time?

 

[Vampiric Rouge]

Not sure if I completely understand your questions, however I'll attempt to take a stab at it with the best of my knowledge.

1. When dealing with command prompt commands such as NSLOOKUP, PING etc, do these commands when utilized in this context operate at an adapter level but call functions up the OSI model to give the responses you receive?

The commands themselves are programs that utilize networking and the OSI stack. As the code on the back end must go down the stack the the correct layers to send out pings or do an NSLookup and thus the responses must go back up the stack with the output. Just like when you ping the sysem has to make an ICMP packet with the correct settings and sizes is it has to send it over layer 1.

2. When utilizing these commands in command prompt (at the application layer), does prompt work down the stack to call the functions which in turn give the responses you see? I.e..Destination Host Unreachable etc?

Will the "Netbios over TCP/IP" function, if I enable it on my network adapters, conflict with other methods of resolution such as LMHOST, WINS or DNS? Is there a priority in which these functions will operate if they're all enabled at the same time?

Netbios over TCP/IP uses WINS severs and hit the LM host. Where you use NSLookup use utilize NSLOOKUP and DNS query. As for priority I think it is up to what protocol the application is coded to utilize.

How WINS Works
By default, when a system is configured to use WINS for its name resolution, it adheres to h-node for name registration. For name resolution, it will also adhere to h-node but with a few differences. It will:

* Check to see if it is the local machine name.
* Check its cache of remote names. Any name that is resolved is placed in a cache where it will remain for 10 minutes.
* Try the WINS Server.
* Try broadcasting.
* Check the LMHOSTS file, if the system is configured to use the LMHOSTS file.
* Try the HOSTS file and then a DNS, if so configured.

 

[sysengrnz]

Re:

Fantastic, thank you for your response. Everything now makes sense.