What does Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) map?

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is specifically designed to resolve NetBIOS names into IP addresses within a network. NetBIOS names are used in Windows networking for identifying devices and services, allowing users and applications to communicate without needing to remember numerical IP addresses. WINS facilitates the automatic conversion of these human-friendly names into the numeric format required for network communication. This functionality is essential for compatibility in environments that utilize legacy applications relying on NetBIOS names, enabling smoother networking experiences for users within a local area network (LAN) environment.

Other options involve different types of name resolution services; for instance, mapping domain names to IP addresses relates to the Domain Name System (DNS), whereas mapping IP addresses to MAC addresses is handled by the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).