Summary - Microsoft Windows Server 2003 TCP/IP Implementation Details

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

The TCP/IP stack in Windows Server 2003 has extensive support for standard features, performance enhancements, and services. Windows Server 2003 TCP/IP consists of the following core protocols: Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Internet Protocol (IP), Internet Protocol security (IPsec), Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT). Windows TCP/IP applications typically use the Windows Sockets or NetBIOS APIs. Windows Server 2003 TCP/IP includes support for automatic client configuration, media sense, and DNS dynamic update and client-side caching.

For More Information

For the latest information about Windows Server 2003, see the Windows Server 2003 Web site at (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=17075).

For more information about IPv6, see the Microsoft Windows IPv6 Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=68045).

  1. Specifications and programming information are included in the Microsoft Windows Driver Development Kits (DDKs) (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=38448).

  2. Most network interface cards have the ability to be placed into a mode in which the network interface card does not perform any address filtering on frames that appear on the media. Instead, it passes every frame upwards that passes the cyclic redundancy check (CRC). This feature is used by some protocol analysis software, such as Microsoft Network Monitor.

  3. Adding [1] to the registry parameter TcpMaxDataRetransmissions or TcpMaxConnectRetransmissions approximately doubles the total retransmission time-out period. If it is necessary to configure longer time-outs, these parameters should be increased very gradually.

  4. Instead of sending one TCP segment when starting out, Windows NT/Windows Server 2003 TCP starts with two. This avoids the need to wait for the delayed ACK timer to expire on the first send to the target computer, which improves performance for some applications.

  5. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base for redirector registry parameters.

  6. Stevens, Richard. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1993.

  7. IP autoconfiguration can be disabled using the IPAutoconfigurationEnabled registry key. The subnet and subnet mask used can be controlled using the IPAutoconfigurationSubnet and IPAutoconfigurationMask registry keys. These keys are described in Appendix A.