Software developed by IBM that provides the interface between the PC operating system, the i/o bus, and the network. Since its design, NetBIOS has become a de facto standard.

An application programming interface (API) that can be used by applications on a local area network or computers running MS-DOS, OS/2, or some version of UNIX. NetBIOS provides a uniform set of commands for requesting lower level network services.

NetBIOS is a simple application programming interface (API) invented in the 1980s that allows programs to send data to certain network names. NetBIOS is always run over another network protocol such as IPX/SPX, TCP/IP, or Logical Link Control (LLC). NetBIOS run over LLC is best known as NetBEUI (the NetBIOS Extended User Interface a complete misnomer!).

(NetBIOS) The API employed by applications residing on an IBM LAN to ask for services, such as session termination or information transfer, from lower-level network processes.

An application programming interface (API) that can be used by programs on a local area network (LAN). NetBIOS provides programs with a uniform set of commands for requesting the lower-level services required to manage names, conduct sessions, and send datagrams between nodes on a network. See also: application programming interface (API); basic input/output system (BIOS); local area network (LAN); service

See NetBIOS.