The Next Generation TCP/IP stack connects to the Network Interface Controllers (NICs) cards through a Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) driver. The network stack implements the transport, network, and data link layers of the TCP/IP model. The transport layer includes the implementations for TCP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and unformatted RAW protocols. The IPv4 and IPv6 protocols are implemented in the dual-stack architecture at the network layer. The data link layer, which is also called framing layer, implements 802.3, 802.1, PPP, Loopback, and IPv4 tunnel protocols. Each layer can accommodate Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) shims, which allows packets at that layer to be introspected and hosts the WFP Callout API. Applications and services can use the following three APIs to access the Next Generation TCP/IP stack: i. WinSock Kernel (WSK) —Refers to an API which is used by WSK clients
ii. Windows Sockets —Refers to an API which is used by Windows Sockets-based applications and services
iii. TDI —Refers to an API which is used by NetBIOS over TCP/IP
The following figure shows the architecture of Next Generation TCP/IP stack:
ii. Windows Sockets —Refers to an API which is used by Windows Sockets-based applications and services
iii. TDI —Refers to an API which is used by NetBIOS over TCP/IP
The following figure shows the architecture of Next Generation TCP/IP stack:
