NetBIOS is an interface used by network applications to communicate with other NetBIOS-compliant applications. The NetBIOS interface is responsible for the following:
Windows 95 provides a 32-bit, protected-mode driver to support NetBIOS services over IPX (VNETBIOS.386). This implementation is compatible with the Novell NetBIOS support driver. Performance enhancements include acknowledgment of previous frames in response frames (called PiggyBackAck), plus a "sliding window" acknowledgment mechanism.
These NetBIOS enhancements are used only when the computer is communicating with other computers using IPX over NetBIOS, such as other computers running Windows 95, Windows NT, or NetWare when running Lotus Notes or other NetBIOS applications. NetBIOS over IPX is not necessary for computers running Windows 95 to be able to communicate with each other. The redirector and server networking components in Windows 95 communicate with the IPX protocol directly without NetBIOS.
Novell provides a TSR NetBIOS driver named NETBIOS.EXE, which is a Level 1 NetBIOS provider that consumes about 40K of conventional memory. This driver acknowledges each frame received, thus increasing the amount of traffic generated when NetBIOS is used. With the Microsoft implementation of NetBIOS over IPX, you can remove the real-mode NETBIOS.EXE TSR.
Note A computer running Windows 95 that uses IPX without NetBIOS can connect to a Windows NT 3.5 server that uses IPX without NetBIOS. However, the Windows NT 3.5 workstation service (not Windows NT Workstation) can only connect to a computer running File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks when the computer running Windows 95 is using NetBIOS over IPX.