JSI Tip 2721. NetBIOS names are exactly 16 characters in length?

Microsoft limits a NetBIOS name to be 15 characters in lenght and uses the 16th character as the NetBIOS suffix.

All NetBIOS names are 16 characters in length. The 16th character identifies functionality installed on the registered device.

The following table lists the NetBIOS suffix in hexadecimal, otherwise it would be unprintable:

Name                Number(h)  Type  Usage--------------------------------------------------------------------------         00       U    Workstation Service         01       U    Messenger Service<\--__MSBROWSE__>     01       G    Master Browser         03       U    Messenger Service         06       U    RAS Server Service         1F       U    NetDDE Service         20       U    File Server Service         21       U    RAS Client Service         22       U    Microsoft Exchange Interchange(MSMail                                     Connector)         23       U    Microsoft Exchange Store         24       U    Microsoft Exchange Directory         30       U    Modem Sharing Server Service         31       U    Modem Sharing Client Service         43       U    SMS Clients Remote Control         44       U    SMS Administrators Remote Control                                     Tool         45       U    SMS Clients Remote Chat         46       U    SMS Clients Remote Transfer         4C       U    DEC Pathworks TCPIP service on                                     Windows NT         42       U    mccaffee anti-virus         52       U    DEC Pathworks TCPIP service on                                     Windows NT         87       U    Microsoft Exchange MTA         6A       U    Microsoft Exchange IMC         BE       U    Network Monitor Agent         BF       U    Network Monitor Application             03       U    Messenger Service               00       G    Domain Name               1B       U    Domain Master Browser               1C       G    Domain Controllers               1D       U    Master Browser               1E       G    Browser Service Elections        1C       G    IIS     00       U    IIS         [2B]     U    Lotus Notes Server ServiceIRISMULTICAST          [2F]     G    Lotus NotesIRISNAMESERVER         [33]     G    Lotus NotesForte_$ND800ZA         [20]     U    DCA IrmaLan Gateway Server Service 

The NetBIOS name types describe the functionality of the registration:

Unique (U): The name may have only one IP address assigned to it. On a network device multiple occurrences of a single name may appear to be registered. The suffix may be the only unique character in the name.

Group (G): A normal group; the single name may exist with many IP addresses. WINS responds to a name query on a group name with the limited broadcast address (255.255.255.255). Because routers block the transmission of these addresses, the Internet Group was designed to service communications between subnets.

Multihomed (M): The name is unique, but due to multiple network interfaces on the same computer this configuration is necessary to permit the registration. The maximum number of addresses is 25.

Internet Group (I): This is a special configuration of the group name used to manage Windows NT Domain names.

Domain Name (D): New since Windows NT 4.0.

To use the NetBIOS suffix in an LMHOSTS entry, consider the following example:

#PRE #DOM:
" x1b" #PRE

where the text within the quotes (") is exactly 20 characters. You can use the following template:

"123456789012345xss"

NOTE: see the following Knowledge Base articles:

Q119495 - List of Names Registered with WINS Service.

Q154608 - NETBIOS Node Status Query Returns First Instance of Uniqe Name.

Q129603 - Using Systems Management Server Remote Control over a RAS Server.