Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is the Microsoft implementation of NetBIOS Name Service (NBNS), a name server and service for NetBIOS computer names. Effectively, WINS is to NetBIOS names what DNS is to domain names — a central mapping of host names to network addresses. Like the DNS, it is implemented in two parts, a server service (that manages the embedded Jet Database, server to server replication, service requests, and conflicts) and a TCP/IP client component which manages the client's registration and renewal of names, and takes care of queries. Basically, Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is a legacy computer name registration and resolution service that maps computer NetBIOS names to IP addresses.

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WINS is Microsoft's predecessor to DNS for name resolution. Though WINS has not been deprecated, Microsoft advise against new deployments.^[1]