what is LMHOSTS?

Question

I know subnet mask is used to separate network byte and host byte but what if my subnet mask is not configured properly.

E.g.
In my environment i need to use 255.255.254.0 as a subnet but i mistakenly configured 255.255.252.0 but still I am able to receive and send data from my system, Then what is the use of using correct subnet?

Answer 1

The lmhosts is a local hosts file used by Microsoft Wins Clients such as Microsoft Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows XP, and later versions of Windows to provide mappings of IP addresses to NT computer names (NetBIOS names). This file is also modified when unable to access or encountering difficulties with the DNS server, to help prevent access to a specific domain, or redirect the computer to a different location.