WINS

WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service) is a name server and service for NetBIOS computer names. Effectively, it is to NetBIOS names what DNS is to IP Addresses - a central store for information, so that when a client needs to contact a computer on the network, it can query the central database for the address to contact rather than broadcasting a request for which address to contact. The system therefore reduces broadcast traffic on the network.

As of Windows 2000, WINS has been deprecated in favour of Dynamic DNS and Active Directory.

Samba can also act as a WINS server.