A client uses a single server binding handle that refers to the server binding information the client needs for making one or more remote procedure calls to a given server. Server binding information on a client contains binding information for one potential binding.
On a client, server binding information always includes a protocol sequence and the network address of the server's host system. However, sometimes a client obtains binding information that lacks an endpoint, resulting in a partially bound binding handle. A partially bound binding handle corresponds to a system, but not to a particular server instance. When a client makes a remote procedure call using a partially bound binding handle, the client runtime gets an endpoint either from the interface specification (if one a well-known endpoint is specified) or from the endpoint map on the server's system. Bindings almost never use well-known endpoints. Adding the endpoint to the server binding information results in a fully bound binding handle, which contains an endpoint and corresponds to a specific server instance. Note clients can get a partially bound handle even if a server is not running.