Chapter 1 General Network Architecture of Windows NT

This chapter provides a general description of the network architecture of Microsoft® Windows NT® and other Microsoft operating systems that support the Win32 interface as well as kernel-mode network drivers and their operating environment. The following are described:

• Windows NT Network Architecture and the OSI Model in Section 1.1 

• NT Network Driver Types in Section 1.2 

• Network Interface Card (NIC) Drivers in Section 1.2.1 

• Transport Drivers in Section 1.2.2 

• Windows NT Network Driver Operating Environment in Section 1.3 

The Windows NT network components described in this manual include miniport and full NIC drivers that are written to the Network Driver Interface Specification(NDIS), NIC drivers using WAN extensions, protocol drivers and the TDI, Streams under Windows NT, Windows Sockets transport independence, and network component binding.