NetBIOS Frames

NetBIOS Frames (NBF) is a non-routable network- and transport-level data protocol most commonly used as one of the layers of Microsoft Windows networking in the 1990s.

[1] Microsoft caused this confusion by labelling its NBF protocol implementation NetBEUI.

NBF is a protocol and the original NetBEUI was a NetBIOS application programming interface extension.

NBF protocol makes wide use of broadcast messages, which accounts for its reputation as a chatty interface.

Sytek developed NetBIOS for IBM for the PC-Network program and was used by Microsoft for MS-NET in 1985.

In 1987, Microsoft and Novell utilized it for their network operating systems LAN Manager and NetWare.

Session mode lets two computers establish a connection for a "conversation," allows larger messages to be handled, and provides error detection and recovery.