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Sockets

Socket APIs enable programmers to create advanced Internet, intranet, and other network-capable applications to transmit application data across the wire, independent of the network protocol being used. Socket APIs in Windows and the .NET Framework are based on a paradigm that was first popularized by Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) UNIX, yet also expose additional functionality to beyond the traditional notion of a socket to meet the evolving needs of applications.

Platform Support
Managed API	User Mode API	Kernel Mode API
Supported	Supported	Supported

Managed API Documentation

System.Net Sockets MSDN Design Guide
MSDN design guide for the System.Net.Sockets namespace
System.Net.Sockets MSDN Reference Guide
MSDN reference documentation for the System.Net.Sockets namespace
System.Net.TcpClient MSDN Design Guide
Applications can use Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) services with the TcpClient, TcpListener, and Udplient classes. These protocol classes are built on top of the System.Net.Sockets.Socket class and take care of the details of transferring data.
System.Net.TcpClient MSDN Reference Guide
MSDN reference documentation for the System.Net.TcpClient namespace
System.Net.UdpClient MSDN Design Guide
Applications can use Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) services with the TcpClient, TcpListener, and Udplient classes. These protocol classes are built on top of the System.Net.Sockets.Socket class and take care of the details of transferring data.
System.Net.UdpClient MSDN Reference Guide
MSDN reference documentation for the System.Net.UdpClient namespace
System.Net.TcpListener MSDN Design Guide
Applications can use Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) services with the TcpClient, TcpListener, and Udplient classes. These protocol classes are built on top of the System.Net.Sockets.Socket class and take care of the details of transferring data.
System.Net.TcpListener MSDN Reference Guide
MSDN reference documentation for the System.Net.TcpListener namespace
System.Net Networking Performance Counters (.NET)
System.Net Networking Performance Counters

Non Managed API Documentation

Sockets 2 MSDN Design Guide
MSDN conceptual documentation for Windows Sockets 2 (Winsock 2)
Sockets 2 MSDN Reference Guide
MSDN reference documentation for Windows Sockets 2 (Winsock 2)
Winsock Kernel (WSK) MSDN Design Guide
MSDN conceptual documentation for the Winsock Kernel (WSK) API
Winsock Kernel (WSK) MSDN Reference Guide
MSDN reference documentation for the Winsock Kernel (WSK) API

Related Sites

New High Performance Socket API: .NET Framework "Orcas" (.NET)
A new async programming API has been added to the Socket class in the .NET Framework which enables up to 70% greater throughput than previous versions.
IPv6 Guide for Socket Applications
This guide provides the information you need to enable your Microsoft® Windows® application to use the next generation of Internet Protocol, version 6 (IPv6). Adding IPv6 capability to your application is not necessarily porting — to port an application suggests modifying code to work on a different platform, which implies leaving the previous platform behind; this guide is specifically structured to add IPv6 capability while retaining IPv4 functionality.
NOTE: While the document is written from a Winsock 2 point of view, many of the concepts are directly applicable to sockets programming in the .NET Framework and, to a lesser extent, the Winsock Kernel API.
High Performance Winsock 2 Sockets Applications
Microsoft® Windows® networking components — developed for performance and scalability — enable applications to maximize available network bandwidth. Windows Sockets and the Windows TCP/IP protocol stack have been tuned and streamlined. As a result, properly written Windows applications can achieve exceptional throughput and performance.
NOTE: While the document is written from a Winsock 2 point of view, many of the concepts are directly applicable to sockets programming in the .NET Framework

Community News

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Videos & Webcasts

Channel9: Leveraging IPv6 in your socket-based applications
Anthony Jones (Winsock Developer) & Mike Flasko (Winsock/System.Net PM) talk about enhancements made to the Winsock and .NET sockets APIs to make leveraging IPv6 easy.

Blogs

Windows Network Developer Platform Team Blog

Forums & Newsgroups

.NET Framework Networking and Communication
Discuss using the System.Net namespace and associated Uri class in the .Net Framework to write apps that leverage managed sockets, HTTP web requests, FTP, SMTP, etc
Winsock Kernel Forum
Discuss using the Winsock Kernel (WSK) Network Programming Interface to perform network I/O operations in kernel mode

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