This article describes how to configure a server to accept multiple NetBIOS names
A Windows server or workstation can be configured to accept incoming connections to different, or alternate, names.
This is especially beneficial if you've renamed a common, highly accessed, file server, or if you need to access your workstation but find the serial number for a name a little difficult to remember.
To enable your machine to respond to multiple names, you have to configure the following registry values. You'll also need to make the new names resolvable; which, for most people, will mean DNS aliases. If you're not running a DNS environment yet, this will mean static WINS entries.
The registry value that needs to be created is:
OptionalNames [REG_MULTI_SZ]
This should be added to the following key:
\HKLM\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ lanmanserver\ parameters\
Now the machine is able to accept connections based on the name(s) added to the above key. However, to connect to the alternate names, these names need to be resolvable. Therefore, either create an alias in DNS or a static entry in WINS depending on the environment.
Document information
Author: Paul WilliamsWritten: 13-06-2004
Version: 2.0
Last updated: 07-08-2007
Last updated by: Paul Williams
