This specifies the IP address (or DNS name: IP address for preference) of the WINS server that nmbd 8 should register with. If you have a WINS server on your network then you should set this to the WINS server's IP. You should point this at your WINS server if you have a multi-subnetted network. If you want to work in multiple namespaces, you can give every wins server a 'tag'. For each tag, only one (working) server will be queried for a name. The tag should be separated from the ip address by a colon. You need to set up Samba to point to a WINS server if you have multiple subnets and wish cross-subnet browsing to work correctly. See the . mary:192.9.200.1 fred:192.168.3.199 mary:192.168.2.61 For this example when querying a certain name, 192.19.200.1 will be asked first and if that doesn't respond 192.168.2.61. If either of those doesn't know the name 192.168.3.199 will be queried. 192.9.200.1 192.168.2.61