Chat: Longhorn Networking Revealed

Current chat room activity:

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert): Hi Oliver--was a whoops and checking to see if anyone was paying attention

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert): Hi Patrick

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert): Good move, Patrick

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): Thank you for joining today’s chat with Jawad Khaki, Corporate Vice President of the Networking and Devices Technologies division, to discuss Networking in Longhorn. We will begin this chat in about 15 minutes.

Eddy Malik_MSFT (Moderator): Hello everyone, I'm excited to see the questions coming in already. Please hold you questions until the chat starts. Thank you!

Eddy Malik_MSFT (Moderator): While we are getting ready to start the chat, please feel free to review Jawad Khaki's bio: <http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/jawadk/default.asp>;

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): Welcome to today’s chat with Jawad Khaki, Corporate Vice President of the Networking and Devices Technologies division, to discuss Networking in Longhorn. We are pleased to welcome our experts for today. I will have them introduce themselves now.

Henry_MSFT (Expert): Hello, my name is Henry Sanders, and I'm the GM of core networking in Jawad's organization. My group builds the TCP stack, IPv4 & v6, IPsec, QoS, HTTP, Winsock, NDIS, and all of the other lower layer networking goo.

Christian_MSFT (Expert): Hello, I am Christian Huitema, in charge of wireless networking, and I will be pleased to answer your questions about wireless networking in Longhorn.

Mahmood_MSFT (Expert): I am mahmood Khadeer , Business Manager for Windows Networking and Devices.

gursharan MSFT (Expert): Hello everyone. I am Gursharan Sidhu - I am responsible for Windows Client Networking, in particular Network Experience and Collaboration Technologies. I have been working in the area of networked systems since the early 1970s; including at Apple and then in a startup that I founded. I am interested in making networking effortless and secure especially for home users. Enabling person to person interaction via P2P is another area that I am focused on enabling in Longhorn.

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert): Hi, I'm Wendy and I'm the R2 Beta PM and am just lurking today

Joe_MSFT (Expert): I am Joe Davies, a technical writer for the Windows Networking and Devices group.

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): We will try to answer as many questions as we can today. Participants should type their questions, click “Submit a question,” and click “Send.” Those posts will go into a private queue, from which our experts will draft answers and repost questions in the upper window with their answers. (To confirm: if you clicked “Submit a question” when you posted, you don’t need to resubmit. We’ll get to them as soon as we can before the end of the chat (12:30p Pacific).

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): We will post a transcript of the upper window within a few days at <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx>.>

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Thank you all for taking time to participate in this chat. I am really excited to share some of the work that we are doing in our group to make Longhorn the best platform ever released. To start off I would like to share with you some of the exciting technologies that we are developing.
I would love to hear your thoughts and questions.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Longhorn will offer a new integrated IPv4/IPv6 stack optimized for low-speed wireless and multi-gigabit networks. The new stack will have extensibility to enable easy integration with 3rd party products such as firewalls, parental controls & virus products. We will also have enhancements to provide easy diagnostics to help users and network managers to easily trouble shoot problems.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Home Networking. Our focus here is to enable effortless secure networks that will support state of the art technologies to enable new experiences in the home. Things like streaming of audio/video media streams for entertainment and real-time communications.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Wireless. Wireless will have the latest 802.11i security support. Furthermore we will have extensibility in the stack to support rapid innovation in the industry. Many issues related to Wireless authentication integration with Windows logon will be addressed. For enterprise customers we will provide centralized scripting support for 802.1x enterprise Wireless configuration.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Network infrastructure services (DHCP, RRAS/VPN, RADIUS) will be enhanced to enable IT Pros to enforce system health check. IPSec support will be enhanced to support for server-server communications, domain isolation, and network access protection. All networking infrastructure services DHCP, DNS, RRAS/VPN, RADIUS will be rev’ed to fully supprt IPv6.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Joe, how, and how quickly, will the Longhorn documentation get updated with (or based on) customer feedback?

A: Revisions for product documentation for Longhorn that are being considered allow the documentation to be more dynamic and responsive to customer feedback and support issues, in a similar way that Help for Microsoft Office does today. Details are still being worked out.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Our direction on IPv6 is to enable end-to-end networking that is critical to emerging peer-to-peer applications. In addition to IPv6, we will have also have platform advancements to further simplify development of peer-to-peer applications.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): This gives you a very high level view on our directions. Of course this is all subject to change. I look forward to your questions and the discussion ahead.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Wow! I am glad to see enthusiastic participation on this forum. I already see so many questions and we will try to do the best we can. For those that we can not get to we will follow up later.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Jawad: thus far, it seems longhorn is just comsumer based, or mainly so - what changes are there for businesses?

A: Longhorn will have enhancements for enterprise and consumer networking.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: And what about wireless support?

A: The WIFI stack is being rewritten for Longhorn, to allow for extensibility. This includes a new driver model, that exposes 802.11 concepts rather than trying to just "look like Ethernet". The extensibility features allow harware developers to add support for extra features. There will be a public API for configuration of wireless networks, as well as support for group policy, scripting, and diagnostics.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn have a IPv6 GUI as all systems have for IPv4? What kind of support for IPv6 Longhorn will have?

A: Yes, there will be a common UI control for IPv6. In Longhorn, all components will support IPv6, and if they have a choice of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses they will prefer IPv6 addresses.

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: Regarding peer-to-peer applications, there was that Advanced Network Whatsit package that added P2P libraries to the system, which 3Degrees also used. There will be in Longhorn by default? Will there be managed versions of such libraries?

A: P2P platform functionality provides application developers with a suite of powerful capabilities to register named entities, to resolve names into addresses, to determine presence of endpoints, to connect and initiate activities in a peer-to-peer fashion. Multipoint messaging capabilities are also being made available to service the needs of a group of endpoints. In addition Longhorn will include some out of box experiences that exploit the underlying peer-to-peer infrastructure

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: what changes are in store for wireless networking within Longhorn?

A: The WIFI stack is being rewritten for Longhorn, to allow for extensibility. This includes a new driver model, that exposes 802.11 concepts rather than trying to just "look like Ethernet". The extensibility features allow harware developers to add support for extra features. There will be a public API for configuration of wireless networks, as well as support for group policy, scripting, and diagnostics.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: I try to repeat: Wendy: are we going to discuss the new Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) also today?

A: We can...do you have specific questions?

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Q: Jawad: thus far, it seems longhorn is just comsumer based, or mainly so - what changes are there for businesses?
A: Longhorn will have enhancements for enterprise and consumer networking. Wireless enhancements, IPSec,m IPv6 Services, Network Access protection are examples for enterprise networking enhancements.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Christian, will 802.11n be supported in nearly betas of LH?

A: The WIFI stack is being rewritten for Longhorn, to allow for extensibility. As such, it will be ready to support 802.11n. However, you will only get 11n support if it is also supported in the NIC and in the driver.

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: Which improvements are planned for Bluetooth networking in Longhorn? Windows XP does not support a device certification to date.

A: The main investment we are making in LH for BT support is we are opening up the DDI for BT. This will allow 3rd partys to develop profiles on the DDI. We are working to provide support for a critical set of profiles inbox. That is not finalized yet.

Dave_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Regarding peer-to-peer applications, there was that Advanced Network Whatsit package that added P2P libraries to the system, which 3Degrees also used. There will be in Longhorn by default? Will there be managed versions of such libraries?

A: Yes the P2P capabilities that appeared in the Advanced Networking Pack for XP will be in Longhorn by default.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Jawad--will all of these Longhorn networking changes be manageable via Group Policy out of the gate? That would be a good thing

A: That is a our goal.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Hey MSFT's... Question concerning IPV6. What are we looking at in terms of support and visual interface for configuration?

A: We will have complete support for IPv6 in Longhorn. All (network aware) components in Longhorn will support IPv6 addresses. We will have common UI controls for IPv6, and support comparable to IPv4 for configuration.

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: oh yes = tell us more about NAP - this going to hit longhorn client???

A: The idea behind NAP is that we create a framework that allows IT admins to ensure policy compliance of their systems. In essense, a computer has to prove that it is healthy (compilant with policy) before it is allowed to connect to the network. Of course, the IT admin has the option of using strong enforcemnet or not.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: what about wireless mesh support?

A: We do not plan explicit support for wireless mesh in Longhorn, but the extensibility features will allow addition of wireless mesh in the future, either by Microsoft or by 3rd parties.

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: oh yes = tell us more about NAP - this going to hit longhorn client???

A: By the way, more info is available at http://www.windows.com/nap

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn have a IPv6 GUI as all systems have for IPv4? What kind of support for IPv6 Longhorn will have?

A: Yes, we plan to include a UI for IPv6 configuration similar to the current IPv4 UI.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What is the status of IPv6?

A: IPv6 is a key piece of our networking support in LH. Everything in LH will be fully IPv6 enabled - browsing, name, CIFS, P2P, etc. IPv6 will be on by default and will be the preferred transport if multiple options are available.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn have a IPv6 GUI as all systems have for IPv4? What kind of support for IPv6 Longhorn will have?

A: Hit send too soon... Longhorn will support all infrastructure requirements for IPv6 (DHCP, DNS).

Harish_msft (Expert): we are also working to focus our efforts on certifying the quality of driver code. Even if we do not have a certification program for a specific device category all drivers will be able to participate in the code quality program. More details at WinHec.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will be possible to run LH with IPv6 only? without IPv4?

A: Yes, it will be possible to run LH with IPv6 only, i.e. with IPv4 disabled.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: How far will reach Longhorns IPv6 support? Will it be supported throughout the system and all it's services, or again some halfbaked attempt like in Windows 2003?

A: Think I've answered this a couple of times....  The IPv6 support in LH will be complete, and all components and services will support it.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Can you talk about the new peer to peer functions in longhorn

A: P2P platform functionality provides application developers with a suite of powerful capabilities to register named entities, to resolve names into addresses, to determine presence of endpoints, to connect and initiate activities in a peer-to-peer fashion. It will also support multi-group communication.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Tell us more about Longhorns' netowrking vision - and how it's gonna be secure

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Can you elaborate on "Centralized scripting support for 802.1x enterprise wireless configuration"?

A: We will support a scripting interface based on netsh, so that every wireless configuration that can be set by the GUI can also be set with scripts. Scripting by itself is not centralized, but if the entreprise has a way to push scripts to every station, then it can use the scripting service for configuration. Note that we will also support group policy.

Dave_MSFT (Expert): Q: Regarding peer-to-peer applications, there was that Advanced Network Whatsit package that added P2P libraries to the system, which 3Degrees also used. There will be in Longhorn by default? Will there be managed versions of such libraries?
A: Yes the P2P capabilities that appeared in the Advanced Networking Pack for XP will be in Longhorn by default, along with additional P2P capabilities. We plan to provide managed versions in the future.

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: oh yes = tell us more about NAP - this going to hit longhorn client???

A: NAP is indeed giong to be in Longhorn client. It will ship with some out of box capabilities to enforce policy compliance. Additionally we are working with 40+ partners who are industry leades in Anti-virus, intrusion detection / prevention, network access devices and much more to support the NAP architecture.

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: By opening up the DDI for BT doesnt make it more open to security problems?

A: We are working to ensure that we have a set of guidelines and validation tools that will ensure that security is not compromised as we allow greater extensibility of the stack. We would love for you to get a copy of the specs and the code at WinHEC/DDC and give us your feedback.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Tell us more about Longhorns' netowrking vision - and how it's gonna be secure

A: Our longterm vision is towards a seamless network that provides authenticated, authorized, private communications required for pervasive collaborative computing. IPSec and host-firewall are important aspects from a security standpoint.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: When you say 'new integrated stack' what do you mean. Is this really a brand new stack??

A: Yes, it's a brand new stack, written from the group up. It supports both Ipv4 and Ipv6 in one binary (as opposed to the current implementation which has two). It will be possible to listen on both IPv4 and IPv6 simulataneously with a single listening socket.

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: Q: for Christian - can you describe how setting up secure and safe wireless networks for residential users will work in LH? Will it be easy and transparent and build on Windows Connect Now type technologies?

A: I will answer this instead of Christian since this is in my area of responsibility. One of the directions that we are taking with effortless, secure setup in Longhorn is to extend the flash memory based out-of-band transport of settings to include other mechanisms such as over Ethernet, USB, etc. The solution will be easy and transparent (effortless) and convenient for residential users.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will IPHelper APis contiue to grow wth respect to in exposing more network information to developers?

A: IPHelper APIs will continue to be supported (and potentially be extended) as a way to extract network information from the stack. I'd like to hear any specific opinions or concerns or other feedback in this regard. Thanks!

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn feature iptables like firewall with support for 3rd party plugins?

A: Support for 3rd party firewalls/filtering plugins will be available for the new Windows Filtering Platform.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What is new and exciting for networking in Longhorn, and how will it change the way I design applications?

A: p2p, wireless, ipv6, web serviices for network devices are some of the areas that will open up new opportuities for applications.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will I be able to run an IPv6 only system? I mean absolutely without the IPv4, unlike now?

A: You can actually run IPv6-only with current versions of Windows by disabling the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" component in Network Connections. However, lots of applications and services don't use IPv6 in current versions of Windows so you have limited functionality. To answer your question, yes, the current plan (subject to change) is to allow you to disable all use of IPv4 and run IPv6 only, with wide support for IPv6 in Windows applications and services.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: How easy will it be to take advantage of network awareness in Longhorn, and to allow my applications to seamlessly transition between online and offline states?

A: Network Location Awareness API enhancements (NLA2) will help here.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: will it be possible to configure IPv6 in LH, all windows system with IPv6 up to now don't have this possibility ?

A: Yes, it will have configuration support.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Wireless personally the future for a lot of network, can you explain how Wireless will be improve with Longhorn?

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Wireless personally the future for a lot of network, can you explain how Wireless will be improve with Longhorn?

A: Our principal focus in Longhorn is to "make WIFI a great experience", both for users and for managers. We are investing a lot on a great diagnostic service, so that users can quickly understand and correct issues with wireless services. EWe are also investing a lot on a configuration and management. Finally, the extensibility of the stack paves the way for future innovation.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: For those of us who use Ipconfig in dos on xp32 will it become part of the GUI in Longhorn for 32 and for 64 bit since there is no 16 bit support?

A: Do you mean the winipcfg.exe (sp?) command on DOS/Win9x? If so, this will not be supported on LH.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: NDIS 6 beta program has no update for a long time. Do you have update for preview?

A: We will provide updates at WinHEC scheduled for April 2005

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: In LH, will Layered Service Providers (LSP) be done away with?

A: No, they will still be supported. However, we are making efforts to clean up the architecture, make it more stable & secure, and make it easier to write solid LSPs.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Jawad - what is low speed wireless (as opposed to high speed wireless) by definition?

A: GPRS is a type of high latency low-speed wireless network. These networks have bandwith in the order of 10's of kbits per second and several multi-hundred milisecond latencies.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Jawad: for easy integration are you referring to the new Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) ?

A: Yes

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will there be a GUI made for ipconfig, like winipcfg had in Win9x?

A: There is no current plan for LH to support a GUI version of ipconfig.exe similar to winipcfg.

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: gursharan - whats expected to be new in the networkign experience for LH

A: We are focusing on several major aspects: simplifying the interaction with the various configuration and setup UI aspects to make them much simpler to navigate; providing a more unified way of looking at different types of networks and managing them, making discovery and use of networked resources quick and simple, allow users as they move from work to home and public spots to easily roam without onerous intervention on changing settings, and making sure that end users can quickly discover problems, fix them and keep on using their network connections

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert):
Q: This is for those on the R2 Beta (AIMED AT WENDY!!!!!!!!!!), i can't find any bugs in it. is that bad? im also on the msnmsgr7 beta and that is really buggy. looks like R2 is pretty stable for what i use it for?

A: Unfortunatately, this is outside the scope of today's chat, but feel free to post in the"R2" NG.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Jawad: WFP will be useful for performance monitor also?

A: No. Arvind is on the chat and he can elaborate.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What about QOS in the home or even DRM based access control for consumer scenarios?

A: We will have support for QoS in the home - some of this has already shipped in Media Center versions of the OS. This includes bandwidth measuring & monitoring, admission control, & QoS diagnostics.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: How will Longhorn deal with lossy or intermitent wireless (CDMA/GSM) connections?

A: We are addressing that in multiple ways. We are updating the TCP stack to incorporate better support for lossy networks. We are also making sure that the system has good support for "multi-homing", so that if there are multiple networks available, a connection is directed to the right one. And we are indeed working on the wireless connections support, to enhance quality...

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: what does "state of the art technologies to enable new experiences in the home" mean in technical terms?

A: Please see the answer to the previous question that I just posted.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Can you describe more in depth of the Castle thingy?

A: Castle is a way for multi PCs in a small networks (e.g. home) to replicate accounts.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Wil this new stack require me to learn the Networking Core for the MCSE all over again? Or are we talking about minor modifications?

A: The new TCP/IP stack is planned to have integrated IPv4 and IPv6 support. While I do not know what the current plans for the MCSE courseware are, you will need to know much more about IPv6 to understand basic network connectivity.

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: "web serviices for network devices " <--- whats this?

A: in LH we are making a significant enhance to discovery and configuration of network devices. This work will allow a network device to connect to the PC much like a USB device. They will be enumerated, discovered installed via extensions to PnP. This support is protocol agnostic. Web Services for devices is a rich protocol framework that allows for network devices to better describe themselves. It affords greater security and reliability than upnp 1.0. Additionally it enables scenaiors that are beyond a single subnet.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn implement any measures to remedy the performance implications of asymmetric bandwidth connections (e.g. ADSL broadband), e.g. as described in RFC 3449?

A: We are looking at this....We are focusing a lot of perf in lossy, low b/w wireless environments and many of the improvements will help with asymmetric links.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the IPv6 stack optimized for each bitwidth on x86 and x86-64 on the respective Windows build, or will it just plain make use of 64bit integer ops where the 32bit CPUs have to rely on compiler optimizations?

A: In general, the IPv6 stack uses compiler optimizations where available. We do attempt to make use of 64-bit operations where possible.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the new TCP/IP stack run in kernel mode, or is it implemented as a 'user mode' process?

A: It's in kernel mode.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: The new networking stack will integrate with various vendors endpoint security technologies (like CISCO NAC or Check Point Integrity)? Will it be integrated with Microsoft NAP?

A: NAP support planned for Longhorn will take advantage of the new stack in LH. Can't comment of 3rd party plans.

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: In addition to enhanced NAP support and an IPv6 GUI, will Longhorn have another other security features from a netowrking perspective built in (i.e., improved ICF, antivirus, etc)?

A: There are certainly improvements in usability and manageablity of the components you name. Network security is handled at multiple levels so I will answer from the perspective of NAP. Properly used, NAP will be the framework that protects you network. This is the 'wholistic' solution to protect both your network as well as the devices / end points connnected to the network. When I say NAP I am not talking about just the NAP agent and serer that comes in LH client and Server. I am also including the server side and client site elements that come from MS and other third parties. The client side agents are called SHAs, system health agents and each SHA will have a corresponding SHV (System Health Validator) on the infrastructure side. These pairs can address various aspects of network securiyt, policy compliance, and other network / ssytem health parameter. As an example one pair may address the anti-virus health aspect, another may address the configuration management; yet another may address patch lvl.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will LongHorn has any new telco (TAPI) application in addion to current Fax one ? For example VoIP, Voice Message Box (using Phone) etc.. ?

A: We will have p2p api enhancements for real-time communiation. No plans for enhancing TAPI.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the network stack be able to work at Layer2 and by the way provide and infrastructure for a future version of ISA working as a transparent Firewall ?

A: The LH network stack will operate over NDIS (IM) drivers at layer 2.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn have a shared folder for photos, music and files by default like Windows XP?

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans to include/extend UPnP capabilities in LH?

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn require a TPM Security Chip be integrated in the Desktop and Laptop hardware? If so, what version will Longhorn Require (1.1, 1.2, etc.)?

A: A TPM is NOT required for LH desktop and laptop.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn support TCP-IP only, no ore IPX etc ?

A: IPX is currently planned to NOT be supported on Longhorn.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Since Longhorn'll be doing a lot with managed code, will there be managed interfaces to hook into the network stack, to e.g. create a managed firewall and similar?

A: We are doing a bunch of managed code work in LH - the .NET Frameworks Net Classes (System.Net) are in my group. Our current hooks for getting into the stack to do a firewall though are all in kernel mode, and managed code isn't supported in the kernel. Going forward we will extend these to user mode and at that point there will be managed code interfaces.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Its nice to see a corparete taking time to answer questions from customers.

A: Veyr kind of you. We love to connect with you! Very educational for us and it helps us build better products.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Christian - scripting api available? or only selling out to netsh executions? for the scripting support you have outlined?

A: The netsh scripts calls the wireless autoconfiguration API, which will be publicly available.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will NAC/NAP be standard in LH for network access and WS health prior to allowing network access.

A: The current plan is to include client and server support for Network Access Protection (NAP) in Longhorn, which performs system health checks prior to allowing various levels of access to a managed network. Cisco NAC integration in Longhorn is under development. See http://www.microsoft.com/nap for more information.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will NAC/NAP be standard in LH for network access and WS health prior to allowing network access.

A: NAP enhancements will enable IT network managers to enforce health check prior to networkn access. It will depend on the IT policies.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Are you guys rethinking of re-coding this chat yet?

A: please elabortae.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Windows XP reduces simultanious connections to a HTTP (Web) server by default to 2-4. Will this be changed in Longhorn? (e.g. 5 simultanious connections allowed)

A: You are referring to the client connection limit, correct? We are conformant to the HTTP standard RFC which specifies the 2 connections/client/server limit. It is possible to change the limit programatically but the default will be standards conformant.

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans to include/extend UPnP capabilities in LH?

A: LH will have support for Upnp 1.0. Additionally we are extending existing PnP to include network devices including upnp 1.0 devices. Customers will be able to "connect" a upnp 1.0 device to their PC and have a similar experience they have connecting a USB device in terms of the device being easily and securely available to the user. We are supporting the needs of our upnp 1.0 customers.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will PolicyNAT and PolicyRouting could be supported in LH timeframe ?

A: there will be some level of policy based configuration and we are eager to feedback from you in this space.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Is WinInet going to be depricated at somepoint for something more reliable?

A: We currently have WinHTTP, which is our preferred unmanaged client API. We are also investing in improving the stability of WinInet for browsing experiences.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will Longhorn support ActiveSync over Bluetooth syncronization and browsing from mobile devices?

A: Can be done today with sp2. User experience can and will be improved.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What will be the new default exemptions for IPSec? Will the interface be changed?

A: There will be an improved policy/configuration UI for IPsec on Longhorn. Exemptions can be set through Group Policy or local configuration.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What can you share of ad hoc networks, which is exciting area, but likely will also excite the cracker crowd - seems like MS will need to innovate to make this simple yet safe.

A: We are doing several things. We will make it easy to safely create a secure ad hoc network. We will also make sure that ad hoc networks will not be confused with infrastructure networks, and that administrators can easily control the list of networks to which stations should or should not connect.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will WINS still exist in Longhorn ?

A: Yes. For compatibility reasons. DNS is already an option today.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will NetBIOS finally be put to rest in LH?

A: We're investigating retiring NetBIOS, but it isn't clear whether this will happen in Longhorn.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Willl Longhorn's networking documentation have a way for members of the community to provide publicly-viewable feedback/additions?

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the networking setup wizard actually work more reliably in LH ?

A: We are as always working on improvements to the setup wizard including usability and reliability aspects

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans for better MOM packs for networking components?

A: Yes.

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: Will the LH home networking utilize both UPnP and WS* or just UPnP ?

A: LH will support both. Upnp 1.0 for extisting and backward compatbilty and WS for future network devices.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Oooh, both protocols on single socket. Will older applications be able to accept inbound IPv6 connections if they're listening on 0.0.0.0? Or do they additionally listed on :: too?

A: No to the first question, and yes to the second. "Older" applications need to be using the correct sockaddr structures as well in order to work over IPv6.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What level of effort are you extending to test for security bugs in the new IP stack and 802.11 stack? Threat modeling, manual testing, fuzzing - there's tons to do with networking stacks.

A: All Longhorn components are required to undergo threat modelling, code inspections, and extensive testing to ensure the best possible quality and security. Critical components like TCP-IP and 802.11 get special attention, and we will definitely study and test them as much as we can!

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What is MSFT doing to help assist the transition in the IT industry to IPV6 ? And... when do you expect to see corporate take up of IPV6?

A: We are pushing transition technologies (6to4, ISATAP, Teredo) heavily. Our message to the industry is "move the applications, get them IPv6 ready, rely on transition techologies until the infrastructure is in place". We are working with IGD vendors to get them to support 6to4 in their consumer products, for example. We believe there is a lot of value in IPv6 in a transition environment and that application demand will drive infrastructure upgrade.

As for corporate uptake of IPv6 - this will be driving by compelling applications and user demand. Longhorn will be a big piece of this as it supports IPv6 completely and the peer-to-peer framework that is part of Longhorn will require IPv6 to run.

Dave_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will there be more command line tools available for the networking component of Longhorn or are you making more GUI based?

A: Yes there is additional command-line functionality available, but there is also more GUI functionality. The goal is that the same configuration/statistics can be done via either method.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Willl Longhorn's networking documentation have a way for members of the community to provide publicly-viewable feedback/additions?

A: The current plan being considered for Longhorn product documentation is to allow all customers to provide feedback for help topics that are online. I am not sure of the plans for allowing community members to review prior to the help being finalized.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Arvid I mean using Dos to execute ipconfig.exe, and since 64bit doesn't support 16 bit apps will it appear as a 64 bit app or even 32 bit app?

A: There will be a 64-bit version of ipconfig.exe on 64-bit versions of Longhorn. Does this clarify? Thanks.

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the SHA component of NAP work withour the SHV piece such as in the Windows Security Center in XP SP2?

A: Depending on the particular aspect of system health a SHA deals with, there may be no requirement for a correspoding SHV. So this has more to do with the nature of the SHA than the architecture of NAP. As an example, if the SHA reports on the Anti-virus configuration you pretty much need a server side way (an SHV) that can affirm / validate that the virus signature file being used is really the latest, the configuration is as required by policy etc. Some other SHA may simply be a binary state check about whether or not a particualr parameter that is required by policy has the right value.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: will there be any IPv6 -> IPv4 'Gateway' maybe in LH Server RRAS?

A: Not clear what kind of gateway you are asking. gateways take many forms.We will support several transitional technologies that will enable migrating to IPv6 applications on existing IPv4 networks. Things like 6to4, Teredo, ISATAP

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: will there be measures to make UPnP more safe?

A: we are actively looking into inproving the security issues in upnp 1.0. We hope to finalize by WinHEC.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: How easy will it be to take advantage of network awareness in Longhorn, and to allow my applications to seamlessly transition between online and offline states?

A: Longhorn will include the version 2 of NLA, which will provide applications with detailed view of the network. Applications will be notified of the network location. They will be able to get properties of the current networks, e.g. whether it connects to the Internet, or to a corporate network.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: As I understand it, Windows Filtering Platform will expose a common filtering methods to 3rd party firewalls. Does this extend to improved logging functionality, either built in, or with a 3rd party tool?

A: There will be improved built-in logging functionality in Longhorn, and WFP will support logging by 3rd party products as well.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Any improvements to come from networked printers ?

A: Longhorn will support printers that use the web services framework. Harish can fill in more.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the IP stack auto configure to IPV4 or V6 if the network supports it ?

A: The current behavior being considered for Longhorn is to enable both the IPv4 and IPv6 stacks by default and to attempt to configure both stacks based on the presence of DHCP servers, local advertising routers, and the autoconfiguring behavior for both IPv4 and IPv6.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Thansk Henry .. can you expand on QOS diagnostics ? is that more just self healing/event response kind of scenarios? (e.g. network slows down .. do action x ) or ..

A: More about telling you why your application doesn't work. For example, if you're trying to stream video off a server but the network bandwidth is chewed up for some other reason (a game, another video stream, etc) we'd like to be able to inform the user/application that they can't get the bandwidth they need, but if they shut down the activity on machine X they should be able to.

Of course, we're also investing in cooperative admission control protocols, so participating devices & machines will be able to avoid this problem.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Regarding adhoc networks, will they be local network only, or can I set up an arbitrary host list that'll make up the adhoc network? E.g. multiple hosts across the internet?

A: Wireless ad hoc networks will by definition be local -- all stations must be in radio range.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: what about the limits imposed on TCP/IP on XP SP2 that broke up some p2p apps?

A: I assume the reference is to connection-rate limiting aimed at throttling spread of viruses - if so, we're investigating improving the stack behavior.

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: Do you have plans to include some peer-to-peer enabled apps in LH, eg. P2P update management, file sharing?

A: Yes we plan to provide some out of the box user experience that is based on use of P2P platform capabilities.

Christian_MSFT (Expert):
Q: do you plan to make public the current wireless zero configuration API to manage WIFI networks ? or something at the same abstraction level ?

A: The wireless autoconfiguration client is being rewritten. It will have an open configuration API.

Anne_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: There was great input, how can I get a copy before the reset?

A: We will post a transcript at <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx>; in a few days. We will also add more answers later.

Azfar Moazzam - MSFT (Moderator):
Q: Castle Service: Will I be able to set up a list of FQDNs the service should try to contact, to set up the adhoc domain? This would allow to set up a Castle domain over the Internet, instead just the local network, using dynamic DNS services.

A: Castle is going to be focused on Home Networks that are primarily single subnet. The castle discovery mechanism will work over single subnet. Castle is not designed to bring in hosts that are connected over the network.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Any Support for Network Scripting

A: netsh does provide some level of support today. wmi providers also provide vb scriptability

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: How much easier will LH make firewall development? Will we get an up-to-date C++ interface to work with?

A: It will make it significantly easier. That's the whole goal of the WFP (Windows Filtering Platform) effort. There will be up to date, clearly documented interfaces. We're also investing in improving LSP and NDIS filter driver support, which are also often used by host firewalls.

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will networking be easier for home users, eg auto discover each computer on the network then create secure connections for sharing data ? I know many that have so many problems sharing files on a home network

A: Making home networking easier is a key focus in Longhorn; among the aspects made simpler are setup, discovery of network resources, access and use of networked resources, diagnostics, roaming, etc. Considerable effort is going into making file sharing simple.

Anne_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: can i get chatlogs of this chat?

A: We will post a transcript at <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx>; in a few days. We will also add more answers later.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Are we seeing more adoption of QOS tagging in consumer devices ?

A: This will be more important as consumer networking devices become more important. We think this is key thing going forward and we are working with the industry to try and accelerate this.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will be there a possibility to easely configure bandwith limitations for applications, or if the pc is an ics host for computers?

A: Yes, programatically, or via group policies. Are you interested in a specific UI configuration for this?

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will there be a "real" IPSec client in Longhorn, or just the PPTP / L2TP vpn clients?

A: Windows supports IPSec for host-to-host as well as remote access scenarios since windows 2000. Support is pretty standard. What do you consider "real" ipsec? We will add support for IPv6 IPSec support.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What with the LH firewall, are you planning to make something like iptables?

A: Can you please elaborate on the functionality you are looking for?

Dave_MSFT (Expert):
Q: When using multiple IP on the same interface, could it possible to isolate application context between IP traffic parent trough that phys. interface (like when running those applications each on in a separe Virtual PC sharing the same physical internface)?

A: We have heard requests for this over time. As you mentioned, this is already possible through Virtual PC, and we are investigating ways to provide this capability in the stack in the future.

Azfar Moazzam - MSFT (Moderator):
Q: what is happening with network places in LH?

A: There is going to be a Network Explorer in Longhorn that will show the PCs and devices on your network. Users will be able to organize the PCs and users in different sorting order and will show PCs in the differnet workgroups and domains.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Please kill NetBIOS!

A: Can you elaborate - are you asking to drop the API NetBIOS or something more?

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert):
A: There are lot of questions that we can possibly answer in the next few minutes. Before we wrap-up I would like to get feedback from you. We will asnswer more questions after the session is over as a follow-up.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Is there anyone out there rolling out IPv6?

Khaja_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What improvements in security point of view will Longhorn's networking component present?

A: A significant improvement in LH from a network health as well as a end-point (Desktop and serever) health perspective is NAP. It is a suite of components in the client and the server that works in a coordinated fashion with other MS and third party applications to ensure policy compliance of systems that connect to the network. This should do a great deal to improve security and mangeability of security for your desktops and the network.

Henry_MSFT (Expert):
Q: If I am streaming audio or video over the net and downloading will the download interupt the streaming or will it be clever enough to reduce the speed of the download ?

A: We are looking at this...some of this is dependent on the applications. We certainly support the APIs and framework needed to do this in LH if applications use them. This is part of our QoS support.

Harish_msft (Expert):
Q: will LH support audio profiles for bluetooth?

A: This is a high priority profile for us. We will support it, but we are still determing whether it will be inbox or not. We will make a decision soon by beta 1.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will longhorn be able to use multiple default gateways for computers with mutlipe nics?

A: Yes. Did you have a particular case/scenario in mind?

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert):
Q: Will R2 Beta Participants get an early look on Longhorn/Longhorn Networking?

A: While there are many criteria that MS Beta programs use when selecting beta applicants, one of the best ways to make yourself more visible to Beta PMs is to actively participate in current betas of similar products.

If you would like to be considered as a candidate for Beta 2 of Windows Server “R2”, please complete the following steps:

1. Go to http://beta.microsoft.com
2. Enter a valid .Net Passport
3. Click on GuestID
4. Enter 'R2B2Beta' (case-sensitive)
5. Complete the survey in the left-hand pane

Successful participants will be notified within ~2 weeks.

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): At this time, we would like to take this opportunity to get some feedback from you.

gursharan MSFT (Expert):
Q: In order to make in home wireless networks more secure how will LH address wide open wireless networks

A: We have been addressing this quite aggressively since the release of Windows Connect Now effortless and secure WiFi network setup shipped with XP SP2. Longhorn will provide several other mechanisms for effortless, setup of secure wireless networks as I have already indicated in prior answers. The goal is that all wireless networks become secured since it is easy to do so.

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Is there anyone out there rolling out IPv6?

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): How exiciting is voice over Wireless 9WiFi) for enterprise scenarios?

Dave_MSFT (Expert):
Q: In IPv6, will be available to select source address when making a connection? Currently not available in Windows 2003.

A: At the sockets layer, it is possible to select the source address when making a connection, including in XP and 2003, by binding to the source address prior to the connect call.

Arvind_MSFT (Expert):
Q: When will we first get to play with WFP? WinHEC? PDC?

A: We plan to make WFP documentation and samples available with WinHEC.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): We are seeing increasing interest in IPSec for network security. What are the top enhancements you will like in this space?

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): How many of you out there are runnng protected wireless networks in the home? I mean using things like WPA.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): One of the new emerging requirements w are beginning to see is host base marking of packets for network traffic engineering. Any thoughts here on that you would like to see more in WIndows?

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Is there any introductory documentation available for longhorn on Microsoft website ?

A: See http://www.microsoft.com/windows/longhorn/default.mspx.

Jawad_Khaki_MSFT (Expert): Thank you all for your valuable time.

My experts and I found this very useful.

We are up for seeing you again in a quarter!

Cheers!

Wendy [R2 Tech Beta] (Expert): Thanks everyone!!!

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): Thank you for joining us today to chat with Jawad Khaki, Corporate Vice President of the Networking and Devices Technologies division, to discuss the future of Networking in Windows, including Longhorn. We will post the transcript of the upper window for this chat in a few days at <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx>;, but check back in a couple of weeks when the transcript will contain answers to some of the questions we couldn’t get to today.

Henry_MSFT (Expert): Thanks everyone, this was great! See you next chat....

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): Please join us again on April 19 at 10a (Pacific) to chat with Bob Muglia, Senior Vice President of Microsoft’s Windows Server Division and Abhi Talwalkar, Vice President & General Manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group to discuss Microsoft and Intel’s industry standard platforms for 64-bit enterprise computing: Itanium® 2 Processor-based servers running Windows Server 2003 to provide cost-efficient RISC replacement, and 64-bit Intel® Xeon™ Processor-based servers with the new Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions that support the broadest range of applications. about Networking in the Longhorn release of Windows.

Khaja_MSFT (Expert): Thanks everyone. This was a useful session for us also. Look forward to seeing you again the next time.

Joe_MSFT (Expert):
Q: I use WPA, but I begin reading articles about weakness of WPA. Can you confirm?

A: The weaknesses of WPA are related to choosing a weak WPA preshared key, which, like a password, can be broken if it is easily guessed. Make yours a random sequence of at least 40 upper and lowercase characters, numbers, and punctuation.

Christian_MSFT (Expert): Thanks everybody for an extensive list of questions!

gursharan MSFT (Expert): Nice talking to you all - look forward to interacting with you soon at another chat session.

Anne_MSFT (Moderator): Thanks, all!

Mahmood_MSFT (Expert): Thanks every one. It was very enlightening