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Networking Collection

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

Networking Collection

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 offers a wide variety of technologies to meet the complex needs of today’s connected environments. The networking technologies in Windows Server 2003 are designed to support all types of businesses, from small-inter-office network configurations to the largest enterprise solutions. The Windows Server 2003 networking technologies that are described in the Networking Collection are grouped into the following sub-collections:

  • Core Networking Technologies

  • Routing Technologies

  • Network Monitoring Technologies

  • Name Resolution Technologies

  • Network Configuration Technologies

  • Network Access Technologies

  • Network Interoperability Technologies

  • Remote Access Technologies

  • Data Streaming and E-mail Technologies

  • Network Security Technologies

Core Networking Technologies

The sub-collection “Core Networking Technologies” contains information about the TCP/IP protocol suite that is installed by default with Windows Server 2003. TCP/IP is an industry-standard suite of protocols designed to enable enterprise-wide network communications. There are two versions of TCP/IP that are supported by Windows Server 2003:

  • TCP/IP with Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)

  • TCP/IP with Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

IPv4

IPv4 is a suite of protocols and standards based on the original IP specification described in RTF 791 in the IETF RFC Database and is in widespread use today on the Internet and on private networks. IPv4 has a relatively small address space that is quickly being depleted as Internet use expands. The need for more IP addresses and support for newer networking technologies are motivating factors in the adoption of IPv6.

IPv6

IPv6 is a suite of protocols and standards that supports a much larger address space than IPv4. IPv6 has 128-bit (16-byte) source and destination IP addresses. In contrast, IPv4 has 32-bit (4 bytes) source and destination IP addresses. IPv6 has many other security and efficiency improvements.

Routing Technologies

The sub-collection “Routing Technologies” contains information about the routing technologies that are supported by Windows Server 2003. Routing technologies manage the flow of data between network segments, also known as subnets. These routing technologies include:

  • Unicast routing

  • Multicast routing

  • Network address translation (NAT)

Unicast Routing

Unicast routing forwards packets from one host to another host using the unicast destination IP address. This topic describes the IPv4 unicast routing technologies included in the Routing and Remote Access service

Multicast Routing

Multicast IP routing forwards packets from one host to multiple hosts using the multicast destination IP address. This topic describes the IPv4 multicast forwarding technologies included in the TCP/IP (IPv4) protocol and the Routing and Remote Access service.

NAT

Network address translation (NAT) functionality is part of the Routing and Remote Access service. A server that has been configured as a NAT-enabled router, with a private IP address and at least one public IP address, translates the private addresses (and TCP or UDP port numbers) in outgoing packets. The outgoing packets can then be forwarded to a resource on a public network, such as the Internet. The NAT-enabled router also translates incoming traffic and forwards the incoming packets to the appropriate address on the private network.

Network Monitoring Technologies

The sub-collection “Network Monitoring Technologies” contains information about network data-gathering services that are supported by Windows Server 2003. These services include:

  • Computer Browser service

  • Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Computer Browser Service

Computer Browser service is used by Windows-based computers to collect, distribute, and obtain the browser list, a collection of information about workgroups, domains, and the computers within them. The browser list is available to programs that request it, such as My Network Places.

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a network management protocol and infrastructure widely used in TCP/IP networks to remotely monitor, configure, and troubleshoot network resources from a centrally located SNMP management system.

Name Resolution Technologies

The sub-collection “Name Resolution Technologies” contains information about Windows Server 2003 support for name resolution services that include:

  • Domain Name System (DNS)

  • Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

DNS

Domain Name System (DNS) is a domain name resolution service that allows client computers to register their domain names and IP addresses in a dynamic, distributed database and to resolve the domain names of network resources to their IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.

WINS

WINS is a NetBIOS name resolution service that allows client computers to register their NetBIOS names and IP addresses in a dynamic, distributed database and to resolve the NetBIOS names of network resources to their IPv4 addresses.

Network Configuration Technologies

The sub-collection “Network Configuration Technologies” contains information about Windows Server 2003 support for network configuration services that include:

  • Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

  • Windows Time Service

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is used to automate the configuration of hosts on a network. DHCP clients request and DHCP servers allocate IP addresses and network configuration settings. DHCP servers maintain a database of IP address ranges, configuration settings, and the current set of allocated IP addresses.

Windows Time Service

Windows Time service uses the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to enable date and time synchronization among network resources on a Windows-based network. The Windows Time service can be used to automatically synchronize the time of a local computer with other computers on a network.

Network Access Technologies

The sub-collection “Network Access Technologies” contains information about Windows Server 2003 support for secure network access solutions including:

  • 802.11 Wireless

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN)

  • Internet Authentication Service (IAS)

  • Connection Manager

802.11 Wireless

The IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for wireless LAN connectivity that allows the extension of a wired LAN to include wireless, mobile clients. For secure wireless connections, 802.11-based wireless networks use authentication (the IEEE 802.1X standard) and encryption (either Wired Equivalent Privacy or Wi-Fi Protected Access).

VPN

Virtual Private Network (VPN) technologies allow the creation of secure point-to-point logical links across shared or public networks such as the Internet. Remote access VPN connections allow VPN clients to securely connect to a private network over the Internet. Site-to-site VPN connections allow routers to connect the sites of an organization together across the Internet.

IAS

Internet Authentication Service (IAS) is the Microsoft implementation of a Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service (RADIUS) server and proxy. IAS RADIUS servers perform centralized connection authentication and authorization. IAS RADIUS servers also provide network access accounting services. IAS RADIUS proxies forward authentication and accounting messages from RADIUS clients to RADIUS servers, and from RADIUS servers to RADIUS clients.

Connection Manager

Connection Manager is a set of components that is used to create and maintain customized remote access client service profiles that enable users to connect to a network using administrator-defined connection parameters.

Network Interoperability Technologies

The sub-collection “Network Interoperability Technologies” contains information about technologies that support the core functionality that enables remote administration and directory service synchronization including:

  • Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

  • Services for NetWare (SFN)

RPC

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is an interprocess communication (IPC) mechanism that enables data exchange and invocation of functionality residing in a different process. That process can be on the same computer, on the local area network (LAN), or across the Internet.

Services for NetWare

Services for Netware (SFN) provides directory object migration and synchronization between computers that are running Windows Server 2003 with Active Directory and computers that are running Novell’s NetWare operating system with NDS, eDirectory, and Bindery directory services.

Remote Access Technologies

The sub-collection “Remote Access Technologies” contains information about Windows Server 2003 support for remote access solutions including:

  • Dial-up Remote Access

  • Telnet

  • Terminal Services

Dial-up Remote Access

Dial-up Remote Access enables remote access clients to connect to a network. Remote access clients use the available telecommunications infrastructure to create a temporary physical or virtual circuit to a port on a remote access server that is connected to a network. After the connection between the remote access client and the remote access server is established, the remote access server forwards packets between the remote access client and the network.

Telnet

Telnet is a protocol that enables remote connections from a remote access client to a host. A local command prompt on a remote access client can be used to run command-line programs, shell commands, and scripts in a remote command console session.

Terminal Services

Terminal Services delivers the Windows Server 2003 desktop and the latest Windows-based applications to a wide variety of desktops, including those that cannot normally run Windows. Terminal Services uses terminal emulation to host multiple, simultaneous client sessions. Terminal Services enables process scheduling, application-sharing, and multi-user functionality.

Data Streaming and E-mail Technologies

The sub-collection “Data Streaming and E-mail Technologies” contains information about Windows Server 2003 support for technologies that provide a baseline network infrastructure for streaming multimedia data. This sub-collection also contains information about Windows Server 2003 support for the transfer and retrieval of e-mail. The technologies in this sub-collection include:

  • Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

  • Quality of Service (QoS)

  • POP3 Mail Server

ATM

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is connection-oriented networking technology that establishes a defined network path, called a virtual channel, between two endpoints for the purpose of sending isochronous (time-dependent) network traffic. When the virtual channel is established, ATM also negotiates a QoS contract for the virtual channel. The QoS contract between the endpoints defines the bandwidth, the maximum transit delay, and an acceptable variance in the transit delay.

QoS

Quality of Service (QoS) is a set of service requirements that a network must meet to ensure an adequate service level for data transmission. QoS allows real-time programs to make the most efficient use of network bandwidth.

POP3 Mail Server

The POP3 service is a standard messaging protocol that is supported in Windows Server 2003. POP3 provides e-mail transfer and retrieval services.

Network Security Technologies

The sub-collection "Network Security Technologies" contains information about Windows Server 2003 network security technologies, which can help protect your network from intrusions, malicious software (malware), viruses, worms, and attacks that rely on unsolicited incoming traffic.

Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall is a stateful host-firewall technology that inspects and filters all IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6) network traffic. As a stateful firewall, Windows Firewall tracks the state of each network connection and determines whether unsolicited incoming traffic is allowed or dropped. Windows Firewall blocks unsolicited incoming traffic unless the traffic is a response to a request by the host (solicited traffic) or it is specifically allowed (in which case, it has been added to the Windows Firewall exceptions list). Exceptions can be specified by program name, UDP or TCP port number, or system service name. Aside from a few Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) messages, Windows Firewall allows all outgoing traffic.