14 DAY TRIAL // Compared to their predecessors, Windows XP (on the client side) and Windows Server 2003 (on the server side), Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 bring to the table evolved networking technologies. Illustrative of the network enhancements of the latest client and server operating systems from Microsoft are the high-performance, auto-tuning TCP/IP stack and the integrated support for both IPv4 and IPv6. According to the Redmond company, Vista and Windows Server 2008 both include a redesigned TCP/IP stack offering functionality not only for Internet Protocol version 4, but also for Internet Protocol version 6, as well as ensuring a smooth transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
With the evolution of the networking protocol stack, Microsoft also altered the way that the two platforms deal with the TCP/IP registry values. In this context, if you want to have complete control over the TCP/IP stack settings, then you have to understand the exact modifications implemented by Microsoft. "Many of the TCP/IP registry values supported in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported by TCP/IP in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008," noted the Redmond company in the "TCP/IP Registry Values for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 'Longhorn'" whitepaper.
In both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the protocol driver, Tcpip.sys, is configured by default via registry values. In this manner, Microsoft ensured the implementation of standard TCP/IP network protocols (IPv4 IPv6). The whitepaper describes the TCP/IP Configuration Settings in Vista and Windows Server 2008, as well as the enhancements of the TCP/IP registry values, and the way to make the settings via either the registry editor or through the user interface.
"The TCP/IP protocol suite implementation in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 obtains some of its configuration data from the registry. This information is written to the registry by the Setup program. Some of this information is also supplied by the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Client service, if it is enabled. The implementation of the protocol suite should perform properly and efficiently in most environments using only the configuration information gathered by Setup and DHCP. Optimal default values for all other configurable aspects of the protocols for most cases have been encoded into Tcpip.sys," Microsoft added.