Planning Replication Partners and Proxies

Choosing whether to configure another WINS server as a push partner or pull partner depends on several facts, including the specific configuration of servers at your site, whether the partner is across a wide area network (WAN), and how important it is to distribute changes throughout the network.

You should install only one computer configured as a WINS proxy on each subnet. Configuring more than one WINS proxy per subnet can overload the WINS servers on the same subnet.

In one possible configuration, you can designate one WINS server as the central server, and all other WINS servers as both push partner and pull partner of this central server. Such a configuration ensures that the WINS database on each server contains addresses for every node on the WAN.

Another option is to set up a chain of WINS servers, where each server is both the push partner and pull partner with a nearby WINS server. In such a configuration, the two servers at the ends of the chain would be push and pull partners with each other. Other replication partners can be established for your site's needs.