MS-Net

MS-Net, sometimes stylized as MS-NET, was a

Overview

MS-Net was not a complete networking system of its own; Microsoft licensed it to vendors who used it as the basis for server programs that ran on

MS-Net's network interface was based on IBM's NetBIOS protocol definition, which allowed it to be ported to different networking systems with relative ease. It did not implement the entire NetBIOS protocol, however, only the small number of features required for the server role. One key feature that was not implemented was NetBIOS's name management routines, a feature third parties often added back in. The system also supplied the program REDIR.EXE, which allowed transparent file access from DOS machines to any MS-Net based server.

Several products from the mid-to-late-1980s were based on the MS-Net system. IBM's PC-Net was a slightly modified version of the MS-Net system typically used with

MS-Net was sold only for a short period of time. MS and 3Com collaborated on a replacement known as LAN Manager running on OS/2, using the new Server Message Block standard for file transfer. 3Com's version of the product retained their XNS-based protocol, but 3Com abandoned the server market not long after. MS's version remained based on NetBIOS and supported a number of underlying protocols and hardware. LAN Manager was itself replaced in 1993 by Windows NT 3.1.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MS-DOS.

• Timeline of DOS operating systems
• net (command)

References

• "IBM PC and PC-Compatible NOSs Compared", U-M Computing News, Volume 2, Number 13 (1987), pp. 4–11.