WINS (Windows Internet Name Service) servers are used to dynamically map a unique NetBIOS name to the appropriate IP address, maintaining a flat database of these entries. If a WINS server is not available, a static file (LMHOSTS) can be created to manually create the resolution database. If neither of the previous options provide proper mapping, then Windows-based machines are capable of resolving NetBIOS through broadcasts across their local network segment. Once a system resolves a NetBIOS name, it stores this information in its NetBIOS name cache, for faster resolution for future requests. 

Microsoft's more recent offerings, those of the Windows 2000 and Windows XP families, utilize host names as part of a FQDN (Fully-Qualified Domain Name) to resolve IP addresses. The FQDN consists of a host name, followed by domain identification. You’ve most likely observed these names using Internet URLs (i.e. <www.microsoft.com>), where www identifies a computer on the microsoft.com domain. In Windows 2000/XP, the host name is the same as the computer name. On older operating systems, the host name can be entered during TCP/IP configuration — but it is recommended that the host name match the computer name, to reduce confusion.

DNS (Domain Name System) servers are used to store the host name to IP mappings. These mappings are distributed, meaning several servers can maintain portions of the entire database. Servers that maintain the database for a particular domain are known as authoritative for that domain. Authoritative servers handle requests for all mappings in their domain. Requests for resolution outside that domain are passed to DNS servers that are authoritative at higher levels (i.e. microsoft.com would pass requests for apple.com to a server that is authoritative at the .com domain level). Since these mappings exist in a hierarchical structure, computer names only have to be unique at their own network level. As with WINS, a static file can be created on the local machine that maintains the database of host name to IP mappings. This is the HOSTS file.

Name Resolution Order
When attempting to locate computer resources, Microsoft's server operating systems will use both name resolution methods. Descriptive names are treated as host names (DNS) first, especially if they are longer than 15 characters, or contain a period (which NetBIOS does not allow).

The following order is the default:

1. Check to see if the name is the system’s own host name
2. Check entries in the local HOSTS file
3. Query a DNS server
4. Switch to NetBIOS and check the NetBIOS cache
5. Query the WINS server
6. Broadcast for NetBIOS name resolution
7. Check the local LMHOSTS file

1. Check the NetBIOS name cache
2. Query the WINS server
3. Broadcast for NetBIOS name resolution
4. Check the local LMHOSTS file
5. Attempt host name resolution methods

As long as user names and passwords are consistent across the network, all the shares and resources should be readily available.