NetBIOS
NetBIOS (Network Basic Input/Output System) is a legacy networking protocol and API that provides services for name resolution, session establishment, and datagram distribution in local area networks (LANs). It was originally developed by IBM in the 1980s and became widely used in early Windows networks for file and printer sharing, but it lacks built-in routing capabilities and is considered insecure by modern standards. NetBIOS operates over various transport protocols, such as NetBEUI, TCP/IP (NBT), and IPX/SPX, enabling communication between devices on a network.
Developers should learn NetBIOS primarily for maintaining or troubleshooting legacy systems, especially in environments running older Windows versions (e.g., Windows NT, 95, 98) or applications that rely on it for network services. It is useful in scenarios involving network diagnostics, such as analyzing Wireshark captures or configuring backward-compatible network settings, but modern alternatives like DNS and SMB over TCP/IP are preferred for new projects due to better security and scalability.