The Overview Documents are a new set of protocol documents that are organized by Windows technical areas. They are designed to illustrate how Windows protocols that are functionally related work together, with practical examples that demonstrate common usage scenarios. These new Overview Documents are not specific to any protocol licensing program.
Licensing Information
Microsoft makes these Overview Documents and technical specifications available to view and download at no charge and without restriction. Many of the specifications, however, include patented inventions. Some of those patents are available at no charge under the Open Specifications Promise or the Community Promise. The remaining patents are available through various licensing programs. For information about those programs, please visit the Microsoft Open Specifications website or email the Open Specifications Team.
Support and Resources
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Open Specifications Forums: These MSDN forums are available to answer technical questions regarding the technical specifications and support developers implementing the technical specifications.
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Open Specifications Developer Center: This Developer Center provides access to resources designed to assist developers implementing the technical specifications, including white papers, tools, and training videos.
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Microsoft Open Specifications: This website provides information on licensing programs for patents covering the technical specifications as well as access to a variety of support and other resources such as test tools, training videos, interoperability events (including plugfests and interoperability labs), and case studies.
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols that make up the client-server and server-to-server behavior of Active Directory. The Active Directory protocols provide directory services for the centralized storage of identity and account information, as well as storage for other forms of data such as group policies and printer location information, a foundation for authentication services in a domain environment, domain services, and directory replication services in Windows. The Active Directory protocols are specified in [LDAP], [MS-ADTS], [MS-SRPL], [MS-DRSR], [MS-SNTP], [MS-LSAD], [MS-LSAT], [MS-DSSP], [MS-SAMR], [MS-SAMS], [MS-WSDS], [WSXFR], [WSENUM], [MS-WSTIM], [MS-ADDM], [MS-WSPELD], and [MS-ADCAP]. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols in the Authentication Services protocols. The Authentication Services protocols verify the identity of users, computers, and services through the interactive logon and network logon authentication processes. Once authenticated, these entities can be authorized to access network resources securely. The Microsoft Windows client and server operating systems implement a set of authentication protocol standards, such as Kerberos [RFC4120], and their extensions, such as [MS-KILE], as part of an extensible architecture consisting of Security Service Provider (SSP) security packages. |
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[MS-CCROD]: Content Caching and Retrieval Protocols Overview |
Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols implemented in the Windows Peer Content Caching and Retrieval framework, which includes the protocols specified in [MS-FSCC], [MS-PCCRC], [MS-PCCRD], [MS-PCCRR], [MS-PCHC], [MS-PCCRTP], and [MS-SMB2]. This framework is based on a peer-to-peer discovery and distribution model designed to reduce wide-area-network (WAN) link bandwidth utilization and provide faster content downloads from a local area network (LAN) in a branch office. The Content Caching and Retrieval protocols support scenarios such as accessing content from a file server or a Web server where storing content locally from all locations in a distributed environment is not practical. If the Content Caching and Retrieval of data is unavailable or fails, normal file access would continue without caching using the SMB 2.1/2, HTTP, or HTTPS protocols. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols implementing Certificate Services, which includes the certificate enrollment protocols specified in [MS-WCCE], [MS-ICPR], and [MS-WSTEP], the certificate enrollment policy protocols specified in [MS-XCEP] and [MS-CRTD], and the certificate remote administration protocol specified in [MS-CSRA]. Certificate Services protocols are used for certificate enrollment, certificate policy, and remote administration of certificate services. The Certificate Services protocols (except the server role of [MS-XCEP]) operate in two modes: Standalone and Enterprise. |
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Provides an overview of the Windows protocols documentation set. It provides a high-level roadmap for finding and navigating the documentation set and describes the content for each type of document. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols used for configuring, managing, and monitoring file services in Windows over the network. The File Services Management protocols include the protocols specified in [MS-FSRM], [MS-WKST], [MS-SRVS], [MS-RAP], [MS-DFSNM], [MS-DFSRH], [MS-FRS2], and [MS-FRS1]. These protocols support scenarios such as share management, DFS namespace management, SMB Server management, SMB network redirector management , file server resource management, and file replication. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols that implement Group Policy. The Group Policy System enables administrators to define and manage desired computer configurations or policy settings for a large number of users and computers within an Active Directory environment. Administrators can define policy settings once and rely on the Windows operating system to enforce policy. The Group Policy System enables a Group Policy Client to retrieve policy settings from a Group Policy Server and enables Administrative tools to retrieve, create, update, and delete policy settings. The Group Policy protocols are specified in [MS-GPOL], [MS-GPAC], [MS-GPCAP], [MS-GPDPC], [MS-GPEF], [MS-GPFAS], [MS-GPFR], [MS-GPIE], [MS-GPIPSEC], [MS-GPNAP], [MS-GPNRPT], [MS-GPPREF], [MS-GPREG], [MS-GPSB], [MS-GPSCR], [MS-GPSI], and [MS-GPWL]. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols used for Message Queuing. Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) is a communications service that enables reliable and secure asynchronous messaging between applications over a variety of deployment topologies. The Message Queuing protocols are specified in [MS-MQMQ], [MS-MQDMPR], [MC-MQAC], [MS-MQMP], [MS-MQQB], [MS-MQBR], [MC-MQSRM], [MS-MQCN], [MS-MQMR], [MS-MQSD], [MS-MQDS], [MS-MQDSSM], [MS-MQQP], and [MS-MQRR]. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols implemented in Media Streaming Windows technologies, which include the protocols specified in [MS-MSB], [MS-MSBD], [MS-MMSP], [MS-WMSP], [MS-RTSP], [MS-WMHTTP], and [MS-WMLOG]. Media Streaming technologies are used to convert both live and prerecorded audio format and to distribute the content over a network or the Internet. The Media Streaming Server technologies support scenarios such as publishing secure content to Media Server, streaming content from Media Server, requesting a license from License Server, and discovering Media Server URLs and log statistics to Media Server. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols required for Network Access Protection (NAP). NAP provides mechanisms for verifying user identities, ensuring proper software configuration of client computers and system states through network access processes, and resolving client remediation problems. |
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Provides an overview of the .NET Framework protocols that map to the .NET Framework distributed technologies that enable network communications. This includes the protocols implemented in the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), identity and directory services, data access, ASP.NET, and .NET Remoting technologies of the .NET Framework. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols in the Print Services system. The Print Services system consists of a distributed system of print servers that manage printers and make them available to print clients. One or more servers may be used, each server independently managing one or more printers. Clients use the component protocols to submit print jobs, manage jobs, receive job notifications, obtain printer drivers, and administer print queues. The Print Services system includes the protocols specified in [MS-CIFS], [MS-EMFSPOOL], [MS-FSCC], [MS-GPDPC], [MS-PAN], [MS-PAR], [MS-RAP], [MS-RPRN], [MS-SMB], [MS-SMB2], and [MS-WPRN]. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols implemented in the Remote Desktop services in Windows, which includes the protocols specified in [MS-RDPBCGR], [MS-TSGU], [MS-TSTS], [MS-TSWP], [MS-RDPEDC], [MS-RDPEGDI], [MS-RDPCR2], [MS-RDPNSC], [MS-RDPRFX], [ MS-RDPEPS], [MS-RDPELE], [MS-RDPECLIP], [MS-RDPEDYC], [MS-RDPEFS], [MS-RDPESP], [MS-RDPEPC], [MS-RDPESC], [MS-RDPEA], [MS-RDPEAI], [MS-RDPEMC], [MS-RDPEPNP], [MS-RDPEUSB], [MS-RDPERP], [MS-RDPEV], [MS-RDPEXPS], [MS-RDPERP], [MS-RDPEUDP], [MS-RDPEGFX], [MS-RDPEMT], [MS-RDPEECO], [MS-RDPEVOR], and [MS-RDPEI]. Using the Remote Desktop protocols, a user of a remote client can initiate a user session on a server and then run programs, save files, and use network resources. This supports the hosting of multiple simultaneous user sessions on servers. Remote Desktop protocols support scenarios such as redirecting keyboard, mouse, clipboard, media player content, print jobs, smart card data, and file system data between the RDP client and the server. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the protocols in the Rights Management Services (RMS) system. The RMS system allows individuals and administrators to encrypt and specify access and usage restrictions on various types of data, including documents and e-mail messages. This helps prevent sensitive information from being accessed and used by unauthorized people. The RMS system includes persistent usage policies, and interacts with systems or applications that create or consume rights protected content. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the storage services protocols implemented in Windows, which includes the protocols specified in [MS-DMRP], [MS-VDS], [MS-SCMP], [MS-FSRVP], [MS-RSMP], and [MS-EFSR]. The Storage Services protocols provide disk and volume management services, data backup and restore, removable media management, encrypted file access control, and file encryption. They support scenarios such as creating/modifying volumes, configuring HBA ports and iSCSI initiators, creating shadow copies, restoring the shadow copies, creating/deleting media pool, mounting/dismounting media, file encryption/decryption, and providing cryptographic access permissions to encrypted files. |
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[MS-TPSOD]: Transaction Processing Services Protocols Overview |
Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the Transaction Processing protocols, which are specified in [MS-DTCO], [MS-CMOM], [MS-DTCM], [MS-TIPP], [MS-DTCLU], [WSAT10], [WSAT11], [MS-WSRVCAT], [MC-DTCXA], [MS-CMP], and [MS-CMPO]. Transaction processing is designed to maintain a computation system in a known, consistent state. It allows multiple individual operations to be linked together as a single, indivisible operation called an atomic transaction. Broadly speaking, transaction processing involves updating data, which may be distributed across multiple systems, so that either all of the changes are processed or none of the changes are processed. |
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Provides an overview of the functionality and relationship of the Windows Management protocols, which are specified in [MS-WMI], [MS-WSMAN], [MS-WSMV], [MS-ODASM], and [MS-PSRP]. The Windows Management protocols provide the ability to control settings and to collect data for a set of client and server computers. These protocols enable a computer to query another system or computer and to perform administrative operations to monitor, troubleshoot, and conduct hardware and software inventories in remote computers. The Windows Management Instrumentation Encoding Version 1.0 [MS-WMIO] is an integral part of the capabilities of the Windows Management Instrumentation Protocol; it specifies a binary data encoding format that is used by this protocol for network communication. |
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[MS-WSUSOD]: Windows Server Update Services Protocols Overview |
Provides a system overview of the protocols in the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) system. The WSUS system implements the Windows Server Update Services: Client-Server Protocol specified in [MS-WUSP] and the Windows Server Update Services: Server-Server Protocol specified in [MS-WSUSSS]. These protocols enable communication between the Windows Server Update Services client and server to enable clients to discover software updates available on the server. They also enable communication between servers to propagate software update information, the updates, and administrative intent in a hierarchical deployment of the system. |
Licensing Information
Microsoft makes these technical specifications available to view and download at no charge and without restriction. Many of the specifications, however, include patented inventions. Some of those patents are available at no charge under the Open Specifications Promise or the Community Promise. The remaining patents are available through various licensing programs. For information about those programs, please visit the Microsoft Open Specifications web-site or email the Open Specifications Team.
Support and Resources
-
Open Specifications Forums: These MSDN forums are available to answer technical questions regarding the technical specifications and support developers implementing the technical specifications.
-
Open Specifications Developer Center: This Developer Center provides access to resources designed to assist developers implementing the technical specifications, including white papers, tools, and training videos.
-
Microsoft Open Specifications: This web-site provides information on licensing programs for patents covering the technical specifications as well as access to a variety of support and other resources such as test tools, training videos, interoperability events (including plugfests and interoperability labs), and case studies.