Windows XP Networking Protocols | Microsoft Windows XP Professional Administrators Guide

Network protocols support the transmission of data between computers. Local area network protocols support network communications on small networks thatare generally limited geographically to the size of a single building or floor. Wide area network protocols support network communications over great distances and can be used to connect multiple local area networks together or to provide remote access to networks such as the Internet.

Network protocols have established sets of rules that govern the transmission of data. In order to communicate with other computers and devices on a network, a computer running Windows XP Professional must run a network protocol that is also run by these machines. Typically, networks run a number of different protocols for a variety of reasons. However, in most situations desktop and laptop computers only require a single protocol in order to communicate on the network.

Windows XP Professional supports a number of different network protocols. Three of these protocols are designed to support local area network communications, and one of them also supports Internet communications. These protocols are listed below.

IPX/SPX. A protocol created by Novell to support NetWare networks.
NetBEUI. A protocol designed by IBM for small networks with 50 or fewer computers.
TCP/IP. A protocol used to run most corporate networks as well as the Internet. TCP/IP is Windows XP Professional's default protocol.

Each of these three protocols has its own set of rules and standards, making them incompatible with one another. In most networking environments, TCP/ IP is the protocol of choice and the other protocols are not required. As long as TCP/IP is loaded on each computer, every computer on the network should be able to communicate with every other one, whether they are running Windows XP Professional, other operating systems such as Windows 98 or 2000, or even a Unix variant such as Linux.

IPX/SPX

IPX/SPX is a protocol developed by Novell to support its Novell NetWare network operating system. IPX/SPX is a proprietary protocol, which means that Novell owns it and only Novell can make changes to it. NetWare enjoyed considerable popularity in the early 1990s when most corporate networks used NetWare to run their file and print networks. However, the advent of the Internet brought with it TCP/IP, which quickly became the protocol of choice. Since therelease of NetWare 5.X, TCP/IP has replaced NetWare as the default protocol used on NetWare networks.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional refers to its implementation of IPX/SPX as NWLink. Generally speaking, IPX/SPX runs faster than TCP/IP but slower than NetBEUI. IPX/SPX also works on subnetted networks, which are logical networks composed of two of more physical network segments that have been connected together. However, the advent of the Internet and the resulting popularity of TCP/IP have curtailed the use of IPX/SPX to legacy NetWare networks.

The following procedure outlines the steps involved in configuring Windows XP Professional to use IPX/SPX.

Click on Start and select My Network Places.
Click on View Network Connection.
Right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties.
Click on Install.
Select Protocol and click on Add.
Select the NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol and click on OK.
Click on Close.
A pop-up dialog appears, prompting for a restart of the computer. Click on Yes.

Note

If My Network Places is not visible on the Windows XP Professional Start menu, it can be added using the following procedure.

Right-click on Start and select Properties. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog appears.
Click on the Customize button to the right of the Start menu option. The Customize Start Menu dialog appears.
Select the Advanced property sheet.
Scroll down and select My Network Places in the Start menu items section.
Click on OK twice.

NetBEUI

The NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface) protocol was originally developed by IBM in the 1980s and was intended to support small local area file and print networks consisting of 50 or fewer computers. NetBEUI is faster than TCP/IP and IPX/SPX and has very low memory and CPU processing requirements.

Unlike TCP/IP, NetBEUI is self-configuring. However, it is designed to operate on a network that is not subnetted and therefore cannot be routed. Microsoft no longer encourages the use of NetBEUI. In fact, Microsoft has removed it from the list of available protocols that appears when the administrator goes through the process of installing a network protocol on Windows XP Professional. However, NetBEUI will still work on Windows XP and can be found on the Windows XP Professional CD in \VALUEADD\MSFT\NET\NETBEUI.

The following procedure outlines the steps in installing the NetBEUI protocol.

Click on Start and select My Network Places.
Click on View Network Connection.
Right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties.
Click on Install.
Select Protocol and click on Add.
Select the network protocol to be installed. To install NetBEUI, click on Have Disk and type drive_letter:/VALUEADD/MSFT/NET /NETBEUI and click on OK.
Select the NetBEUI Protocol and click on OK.
A popup dialog appears prompting for a restart of the computer. Click on Yes.

TCP/IP

TCP/IP is the protocol used on the Internet and on most corporate network. Since Windows 98, TCP/IP has been the default protocol for Microsoft operation systems. Windows XP Profrssional automatically installs TCP/IP any time that it detects a networking devicwe such as a network adapter or a modem.

TCP/IP is actually the name assigned to a suite of protocols. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is used to establish a logical communication session between two computers in order to ensure the guaranteed delivery of data. It accomplishes this task using a series of acknowledgements that occur as data is transmitted.

IP (Internet Protocol) is a connectionless protocol. It does not provide guaranteed delivery of data. It simply sends packets out over a network connection. These packets may take different routes on their way to the destination computer and may arrive out of order and must therefore be reordered upon receipt. If any packets fail to reach the target computer, data is lost. The TCP protocol uses the IP protocol as its transport mechanism while adding the guaranteed delivery by validating the receipt of all data packets.

Another protocol in the TCP/IP suite of protocols is UDP (User Datagram Protocol). UDP is similar to TCP in that it uses the IP protocol as its delivery mechanism. However, it does not establish a formal session between the sending and receiving computers and does not provide guaranteed delivery of data.

Many applications are designed to use both TCP and UDP. If the network is operating in a reliable fashion, the applications use UDP because it places less overhead on the network. However, if network problems occur and data starts failing to reach its destination, the applications switch over to TCP, where delivery is guaranteed.

In addition to TCP, UDP, and IP, the TCP/IP suite of protocols includes a number of other protocols, including:

ARP. Retrieves a computer's MAC address using its IP address
DHCP. A service that centrally manages the configuration of TCP/IP settings for network computers
FTP. Transports text and binary files over networks to computers running the FTP service
HTTP. Transfers data between browsers and Web servers
ICMP. Manages protocol control and provides error reporting
RARP. Retrieves a computer's IP address using its MAC address
SMTP. Supports the transport of e-mail
SNMP. A network monitoring protocol
Telnet. Establishes text-based sessions with remote network computers that are running the Telnet service