Share and User Limits

SUMMARY

Microsoft Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server do not impose any limitations on the number of shares they can have. They also do not have set limits on the number of users who can access the server.

Although there is a limit of 254 NetBIOS sessions for each process within Windows NT, it does not apply to the default workstation or server components. The workstation and server services writes to TDI directly instead of calling for NetBIOS services. The TDI is a 32-bit interface and hence such a limit is no longer applicable.

In addition, NBF (NetBIOS Frame) has a unique way of creating virtually an unlimited number of connections. A TDI handle is associated with each Local Session Number (LSN) and the corresponding Network Address. The TDI handle is then related to the process that established the connection. The translation of a process ID and LSN into a TDI handle is done by NETBIOS.SYS.

For each binding path (LANA number) there can be 254 sessions per process. Windows NT provides separate address space for each process. The number of processes is thus limited by the available memory. In other words, the limitation on the number of shares or users depends on the available resources. By themselves, Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server do not impose any of these limitations. The total amount of memory available for all processes in a 32-bit scheme is 2 gigabytes (GB) ( 2 GB for system and 2 GB for programs) which can provide the address space for a very large number of processes.

For more information please refer to pages 13 and 632-637 of the Microsoft Windows NT Resource Guide, Volume 1.