Chapter 4

Networking and Communications Requirements

This chapter defines basic feature requirements for network adapters and other communications hardware. See also the related requirements for remote new system setup and service boot support using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) as defined in “Manageability Requirements” of Chapter 7, “Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability Requirements.”

In this guide, all network communications devices are based on the same Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) 5.0 requirements, which includes requirements for power management and Plug and Play capabilities. NDIS 5.0 represents a number of extensions to the interface described in NDIS 3.0 and 4.0. The basic requirements, services, terminology, and architecture of these earlier versions also apply to NDIS 5.0. The new NDIS architecture is included in Windows NT 5.0 and is documented in the Windows NT 5.0 DDK. For additional background information about NDIS 5.0, see the web site at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/network/.

Note: References to adapters, network interfaces, and so on in this chapter should be taken to apply to add-on network adapter cards, network implementations on the system board, and external network interfaces equally and without preference for any of these types of implementation, unless otherwise noted.