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The correct answer is B.
This question is typical of the type of questions that you’ll see on your
Microsoft exams. It tests your understanding of multiple concepts, and you
ability to integrate your understanding of these concepts to come up with the
correct answer.
The Browser service is a distributed database that contains a list of all the
servers on a Microsoft network. In the context of the Browser service, a
“server” is a machine that is running the server service. It is not a
Windows NT or Windows 2000 Server computer. This means that any Windows based
computer can be a server – all it needs to be a server that will show up on
the Browse List is to be running the server service.
On a TCP/IP based network, each network segment will have a single Master
Browser, which is selected via a process known as a Browser Election. In
general, the machine with the newest and most powerful Windows based operating
system will take the role of the Master Browser for its segment. There are ways
of insuring that a particular server is the Master Browser by editing the
registry and adding the IsMasterBrowser entry into the registry.
When network clients running the server service start up on an IP segment,
they issue a server announcement, which is via a UDP broadcast packet. Since
routers typically are not configured to pass these broadcast packets, these
connectionless UDP broadcasts are limited to the segment on which they are
issued. The Master Browser on the segment listens for these server
announcements, and places the names of the computers that issue these broadcasts
onto the Browse List. The Master Browser collects this information over time and
is able to collect a complete list of servers on its segment.
In order to get a complete list of servers on all IP network segments, there
must be a mechanism in place that will allow all the Master Browsers from all
the segments to share what they know about their own segments with the other
Master Browsers. In order to accomplish this, you need a Domain Master Browser.
Each segment’s Master Browser reports to the Domain Master Browser and sends to it
the list of servers from its own segment. The Domain Master Browser is able to
collect the information about the servers located on each IP segment on the
network, and then returns this information to each of the segment Master
Browsers located on the network.
On a Windows NT network, the Domain Master Browser is the Primary Domain
Controller. On a Windows 2000 network, the Domain Master Browser will be the PDC
Emulator.
There must also be a method in place that allows the segment Master Browsers
to find the Domain Master Browser in order for them to report to it. The most
common and efficient mechanism is to use a WINS Server. When the Domain Master
Browser registers its NetBIOS Names with its WINS Server, one of the names it
registers is its domain name with the [1Bh] service identifier. When segment
Master Browsers are configured to query a WINS Server for NetBIOS names, it will
query the WINS Server for the [1Bh] record for its domain and then contact that IP
address. This is how the segment master browser is able to find and communicate
with the Domain Master Browser.
The Browser Service is a NetBIOS dependent service, and is an unfortunate
legacy left over from the history of Microsoft networking. All network operating
systems that Microsoft has put out, prior to Windows 2000, were dependent on
NetBIOS, and the NetBIOS interface on TCP/IP based networks. However, Windows
2000 is not NetBIOS dependent, and because network resources can be published in
the Active Directory, there is no longer any compelling reason to have the
broadcast based Browser Service enabled on your network.
For an explanation of each of the answers, check out the next page.
