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Exchange 2003 and WINS

I was chatting to my colleague the other day about how Exchange uses WINS, and whether it was still really necessary to implement WINS in the organisation.  From searching the knowledge base, it became apparent that the Recipient Update Service, and Exchange clusters resolve names by using NetBIOS for full functionality, and will not process users in remote Exchange 2000 domainsWINS name resolution is necessary for functionality of Exchange such as:

The Exchange Server 2003 Setup program and the Exchange 2000 Server Setup program, especially on clustered servers.

Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard (ExMerge) on an Exchange 2003 computer and on an Exchange 2000 computer.

Changing a password for an Exchange 2003 mailbox or an Exchange 2000 mailbox through Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA).

Exchange System Manager on an Exchange 2003 computer and on an Exchange 2000 computer.

Clients older than Outlook 2003 also depend on NetBIOS name resolution.

You may have a setup that proves that WINS isn't neccesary, but check that the configuration will be supported if you have any issues with the environment.

 

 

 

Published Thursday, November 11, 2004 2:42 PM by Eileen_Brown
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Comments

Thursday, November 11, 2004 3:57 PM by Tom Connors

# re: Exchange 2003 and WINS

I've also seen that the auto redirect when a mailbox changes servers also relys on WINS.
Monday, November 15, 2004 12:49 PM by Ted Strand

# re: Exchange 2003 and WINS

Also the ADC requires WINS. You can add all of the required fields using fully qualified, but when ADC pulls up the folder information (AD) it requires WINS resolution.

-Ted-
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 1:47 PM by Windows Server Clustering

# Exchange, Windows Server 2003, XP, LCS, SPS, SMS, Office, Misc.

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