Ref: 09020009
Title: NetBIOS Sessions, Server Sessions, and MS REDIR Sessions
date: 8/2/89

Copyright 3Com Corporation, 1991.  All rights reserved.

This article discusses the difference between server sessions and
NetBIOS and MSRedir sessions.


3+Share Server Sessions

Page 5-5 Part II of the Network Tuning Guide says that a 3+Share
session is "...the maximum number of simultaneous sessions the
File and Print services can support on a server."

For example, suppose you have four servers on the network and
Server1 has 20 sessions defined in the File parameter screen.
This translates to the actual number of workstations connected to
the server (that is, logged in) at one time.  It has nothing to
do with the NetBIOS sessions.  Each server has its own number of
sessions defined for the actual number of workstations that can
use that server at a time.  Because NetBIOS does not run on the
3+ server, these sessions are user links.


NetBIOS Sessions

Page 4-3, part III of the Network Tuning Guide says that "the
[NetBIOS] sessions parameter specifies the number of 'servers' a
netstation can be linked with at one time."  The Guide refers to
the NetBIOS /S (sessions) option, which specifies how many
different sessions may be available to applications at one time.
The number of sessions is usually determined by the NetBIOS
applications running on the workstations and how many servers the
user is linking to.

For example, if the user is running Maxess, a NetBIOS
application, and wants to have four screens (that is, sessions)
available, the user would make sure the /S parameter has at least
four sessions (five to be safe).  If the user is linking to
sharenames on two different servers, the workstation NetBIOS /S
parameter must also include each server.

Note:  Multiple links to the same server are multiplexed on the
same NetBIOS session so only one session is used per server even
with several links to the server.


MSREDIR Sessions

Page 5.2, part III of the Network Tuning Guide says that "the
sessions parameter specifies the number of sessions that the
netstation can support at one time."  This refers to the MSREDIR
/S option, which sets the number of sessions that the Redirector
can keep track of at one time.  A workstation's MSREDIR /S
parameter must include each 3+ link command.  Thus, to perform
four 3F commands and one 3P command, five links are needed for
the /S parameter.  Every link counts as one session.
