NDIS 6.0 Technical Update

Alireza DabaghDevelopment LeadNetwork Devices Platformalid @ microsoft.comMicrosoft Corporation

Session OutlineSession Outline

Overview and status update on major Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) 6.0 features

Performance and Scalability

Management and diagnostics

Plug and Play

Lightweight Filter (LWF) drivers

Connection Oriented NDIS (CoNDIS) 6.0

Windows Driver Kit (WDK) for network driversWDK header versioning

NDIS sample drivers

NDIS 6.0: Send and Receive APIsNDIS 6.0: Send and Receive APIs

Support for multi-packet I/O on all data pathsReduces call overhead

New Flags parameter in send and receive APIs to indicate:Call is made at DISPATCH IRQL

STATUS_RESOURCE on receive indication

NIC has done perfect multicast filtering on receive

All NET_BUFFER_LISTs in the receive indication call belong to a single Ethernet Type

All NET_BUFFER_LISTs in the receive indication call belong to a single VLAN ID

Number of NET_BUFFER_LISTs on receive indications

Port number on most send and receive APIsOrdinary Miniport drivers will always use NDIS_DEFAULT_PORT (Port 0)

New Data Structure for Network Packets: New Data Structure for Network Packets: NET_BUFFERsNET_BUFFERs

NET_BUFFER data structure used throughout OSNDIS_PACKET -> NET_BUFFER Packet array -> NET_BUFFER_LISTAvoids the need for translation in the stackAllows for specifying out of band (OOB) data for multiple NET_BUFFERs in one NET_BUFFER_LISTAvoids dynamic memory allocation for protocol headers

Update since WinHEC 2004New NET_BUFFER pool type allows allocating:

a NET_BUFFER, an MDL and data in one calla NET_BUFFER_LIST, a NET_BUFFER, an MDL and data in one call

Allocation APIs are optimized for performance

NDIS 5.1 drivers using NDIS_PACKETs are supported in Windows codenamed “Longhorn”– but not as high a performance as NDIS 6.0 drivers due to translation overhead

NDIS 6.0 Task OffloadNDIS 6.0 Task Offload

Existing Windows 2003 task offloads continue to workNDIS will do the necessary translation for legacy (5.1) driversTCP and IP checksum offloadLarge Send Offload (LSO) – supports <= 64 KB TCP segmentationIPSec Offload

New offloads for LonghornGiant Send Offload (GSO)

Supports > 64K TCP segmentationSupports both IPv4 and IPv6

Checksum offload supports IPv6Receive Side Scaling (RSS)

Support for multiple processors and multiple CPU coresSupports both IPv4 and IPv6

NDIS 6.0 drivers turn offload on by defaultUse standard keywords to see if offload capabilities should be advertised during initialization

Scheduled for Longhorn Beta 2

Receive Side Scaling (RSS)Receive Side Scaling (RSS)

Distributes receive packet indications among multiple CPUs

Improves scalability by avoiding one DPC per NIC

Ensures in-order packet delivery

Improves performance by avoiding cache missesWindows networking stack is optimized to process all packets for the same connection on the same CPU

Multiple ways to implement hardware supportPreferred: Multiple hardware queues, multiple interrupt sources (MSI-X)

Multiple hardware queues, single interrupt

Calculating hash in hardware

NDIS 6.0 Interrupt HandlingNDIS 6.0 Interrupt Handling

Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI)Avoids interrupt sharing

MSI interrupts by default are not shared

IHV availability scheduled for Longhorn Beta 1

MSI-X supportAllows setting interrupt affinity for each message

Primarily intended for Receive Side Scaling (RSS)

Scheduled for Longhorn Beta 2

Only “shared” line based interrupts are supported for NDIS 6.0 miniport driver

Legacy NDIS 5.x drivers can ask for exclusive interrupts

Overview of NDIS 6.0 Management and DiagnosticsOverview of NDIS 6.0 Management and Diagnostics

Standardize management of advanced NIC propertiesStandardized keywords

Speed and duplex settingsTask offloadVLAN and Priority

Standardized OIDsNew: Duplex and Interrupt moderation

Standardized link state change through status indicationsPolled status indications are no longer used

NDIS Interface (NDISIF)Supports interface enumeration and status queryEnable enumeration of all NICs – even failed interfacesInterface stack table allows specifying interface relationship

NDIS Diagnostic Helper ClassProvides quick diagnosis and debugging of the problemFuture plans: Miniport Driver Diagnostic Helper Class to identify device specific problems

OID RequestsOID Requests

MiniportRequest is called at passive levelAvoids long DPC time

“Method” OID request typeAllows for set and query in the same OID request

Canceling requestsNew APIs for protocols, filters and miniports to cancel a request based on a request ID

Standard OIDs for querying media connect state, duplex, and speedNDIS 6.0 protocols should not issue OIDs to query the link state

Should rely on status indication

Standard OID for enabling interrupt moderationNeeded for bandwidth measurement used in QoS

Status IndicationStatus Indication

NDIS 6.0 drivers must use status indications to report new link state

Cannot rely on OID query to report a change

Link State status indicationIncludes media connect state, duplex, speed

No need to support the corresponding OID query requests

Operational statusOperational status is “down” if an interface is not available for sending or receiving “all” packets

Media disconnect, power state, pause, or authentication state affect operational status

NDIS 6.0 Plug and PlayNDIS 6.0 Plug and Play

New pause and restart operation enables:Lock free Data I/O

Filters to be installed without loss of connectivity

Miniports to change their advanced properties

Miniports report all their attributes during initialization

Faster Initialization

No need to support OIDs for static attributes

Halt and Shutdown reason is passed to the Miniport driver

Allows for sending management packets by miniport driver

NIDS 6.0 Lightweight Filters (LWF)NIDS 6.0 Lightweight Filters (LWF)

LWF replaces IM filter driver modelNo need to write a complete protocol and miniport

Can be added to or removed from the stack without breaking connections

Improved performance

Bypass mode allows LWF to only examine selected control and data paths

Update since WinHEC 2004Filter drivers can change miniport attributes during restart

Scheduled for Beta 2Improved co-existence with legacy IM filter drivers

CoNDIS CoNDIS

CoNDIS APIs are ported to NDIS 6.0Added support for NET_BUFFERs

Added support for new OID requests and status indications

All CoNDIS handlers are registered using optional handler registration mechanism

Minor changes to APIs for registering and opening and closing Address Family

No plans to support CoNDIS in Lightweight filter drivers

WDK Header VersioningWDK Header Versioning

Use WDK build environment to compile drivers that can run on all supported platforms starting with W2K

Single set of NDIS header files

Drivers have to specify the target platform

Supported NDIS drivers in WDK build environmentProtocol drivers with NDIS version >= 4.0

Miniport drivers with NDIS version >= 5.0

Both serialized and de-serialized drivers

Building the following is not supportedArcnet and FDDI drivers

Full MAC and NDIS 3.0 miniport drivers

Windows 9x binary compatible drivers

Incorrect API usage will be detected at compile time

WDK header versioning is scheduled for Longhorn Beta 1

Status of NDIS 6.0 Sample DriversStatus of NDIS 6.0 Sample Drivers

Sample NDIS 6.0 miniport driverUpdated E100B in the WDK in the WinHEC Longhorn Build

Working on a new driver with more advanced features for Longhorn

Sample Lightweight Filter driverIncluded in the WDK in the WinHEC Longhorn Build

Basic sample to demonstrate API usage

Will be improved to demonstrate more complicated features

NDIS 6.0 IM MUX driverNot included in the WDK in the WinHEC Longhorn Build, but is expected to be in Longhorn Beta 1

Will demonstrate how to efficiently add VLAN tags

Working on combo IM MUX/Miniport sample driver for Longhorn Beta 2

Sample NDIS 6.0 protocol driverUpdated in the WDK in the WinHEC Longhorn Build

Call To ActionCall To Action

Subscribe to NDIS 6.0 Beta programSend mail to ndis6fb @ micrsoft.com

Port your drivers to NDIS 6.0

Implement NDIS 6.0 Task Offload in hardware:New offloads: GSO, RSS

Existing Offloads: IPSec, Checksum, LSO

Ensure that your device and driver work on all 64-bit Windows Operating Systems

Send feedback to ndis6fb @ microsoft.com

Attend the following related BOFs at WinHEC:I/OAT BOF Tuesday night at 6:30pm, Room 400

IPSec Offload BOF Tuesday night at 7:30pm Room 400

ResourcesResources

NDIS 6.0 Driver ResourcesInbox driver submissionemail: netdd @ microsoft.com

NDIS 6.0 Beta Placeemail: ndis6fb @ microsoft.com

NDISTest Beta Placeemail: netdd @ microsoft.com

Native 802.11 Beta Placeemail: 80211_fb @ microsoft.com

Resources (con’t)Resources (con’t)

Windows Driver Kit (WDK)Documentation

Sample NDIS 6.0 drivers

WinHEC 2005 White papersPorting NDIS 5.1 to NDIS 6.0

Writing a Light Weight Filter Driver

Porting NDIS 5.1 IM MUX to NDIS 6.0

Scalable Networking: Eliminating the Receive Processing Bottleneck—Introducing RSS

Community ResourcesCommunity Resources

Windows Hardware & Driver Central (WHDC)www.microsoft.com/whdc/default.mspx

Technical Communitieswww.microsoft.com/communities/products/default.mspx

Non-Microsoft Community Siteswww.microsoft.com/communities/related/default.mspx

Microsoft Public Newsgroupswww.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups

Technical Chats and Webcastswww.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

www.microsoft.com/webcasts

Microsoft Blogswww.microsoft.com/communities/blogs

Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources

Community Siteshttp://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx

List of Newsgroupshttp://communities2.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx

Attend a free chat or webcasthttp://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/events/webcasts/default.mspx

Locate a local user group(s)http://www.microsoft.com/communities/usergroups/default.mspx

Non-Microsoft Community Siteshttp://www.microsoft.com/communities/related/default.mspx

© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.