[Linux] netbios-ns foolishness

[Tom Schaefer]

>From: Flavored UNIX <bogosort@flashmail.com>
>To: linux@flux.org
>Subject: [Linux] netbios-ns foolishness
>Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:32:24 -0500 (EST)
>
>Anyone sufficiently versed in those M$ OSes to explain to me why the >Win98 
>boxen in my office insist on using netbios name service?

Years ago MS actually got the smb family suite NetBIOS (NetBEUI et al)
to be a part of the Internet protocol standards. Now they want it to be part 
of the new CIFs initiative to make smb shares available on the net. some guy 
was selling smb share space on the net a while back as I recall...

MS also created a version of Lan Manager (Pre-NT days) to run on top of Unix 
- I saw it run on a 486 at Mercantile Bank in St.Louis in 1992. Incredibly, 
NCR was trying to sell them Lan Manager on ATT Unix on a 486 to be a file 
server for 30 some PCs in their "Systems Technology" dept (mainframers). I 
converted the sale to Novell, as I was a CNE back then ... So Lan Manager 
Unix was one of the first "Samba-like" products, and it was alive and 
kicking when Linux was in its infancy. This is also discussed at length in 
that Cochan and Wood book "Unix Networking" in the last chapter in the book.

Anyhoo, they bundle NetBIOS and all that crap right into the TCP/IP stack on 
a Win box. You can remove all other protocols because they are unnecessary 
unless specifically needed, such as IPX in a Novell environment. You may 
need DLC for printing on some network printers though. I have seen people 
"try to make sure they can browse" or see other machines by adding NetBIOS 
and NeTBEUI - when it's unnecessary.
90% of the time, TCP/IP is sufficient - it has NetBIOS bundled in.

As far as them losing dns, well, this is what you get with the Win9x family. 
  Now, perhaps what you are seeing is just Netscape losing dns, not the 
machine - I have seen this also, or both like you say. Netscape caches dns 
and if you change things in your network, Win9x boxes (not 'boxen' - that's 
not a word) will lose their ability to see dns unless you clear the cache 
and restart it, and when that doesn't work I reboot the box.  I have seen 
the Linux version of Netscape hang on a dns failure as well.

I have always seen MS's implementation of anything to be just enough to get 
by, because it was designed by some guy in a cubicle who really doesn't have 
an engineering mindset, and makes it just functional to make it to 
production.

It's the academic approach in Unixland that makes the *nix implementation of 
the protocols live up to what they were intended. It took the marketing 
success of Windows to give Unixland a kick in the ass and learn how to 
market. I have never seen such gawd-awful marketing as I have in *nixland 
... but I digress ...

I have Win and Linux machines at home, and the Linux machines
seem to be faster when accessing the web. when those same machines run 
Win9x, they seem to get pages slower.

>The problem --
>besides generating tons of useless traffic --

Similarly, Novell lost the protocol wars of IP vs. IPX because IPX is also 
very chatty, with broadcasts and automatic route building traffic every 30 
seconds or so. Now that LANs can run at 100mb switched - modern 
infrastrcutures should be able to handle IPX now ... but who cares ... IP is 
in ...

>is that after several
>hours (I haven't been able to pin down a timeframe) the machines
>stop using DNS and rely on netbios name service, which we aren't
>running.  Thus the machines effectively lose internet service (even
>though of course they still have connectivity, just not DNS).

That is unusual though. Might have something to do with the lease time? 
anyone? You might observe your system logs to see how often the kids are 
asking for addresses. Might need some tweaking in your DHCP server.

-t-




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