Network Driver Interface Specification: Difference between revisions

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{{Other uses|NDIS (disambiguation){{!}}NDIS}}

{{RefimproveMore citations needed|date=February 2014}}

The '''Network Driver Interface Specification''' ('''NDIS''') is an [[application programming interface]] (API) for [[network interface cardcontroller]]s (NICs).

==Specification==

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The NDIS forms the [[logical link control]] (LLC) sublayer, which is the upper sublayer of the [[OSI model|OSI]] [[data link layer]] (layer 2). Therefore, the NDIS acts as the interface between the [[media access control]] (MAC) sublayer, which is the lower sublayer of the data link layer, and the [[network layer]] (layer 3).

The NDIS is a library of functions often referred to as a "[[driver wrapper|wrapper]]" that hides the underlying complexity of the NIC hardware and serves as a standard interface for level 3 network protocol drivers and hardware level MAC drivers. Another common LLC is the [[Open Data-Link Interface]] (ODI).

The NDIS versions supported by various Windows versions are as follows:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/overview-of-ndis-versions|title=Overview of NDIS versions - Windows drivers|website=docs.microsoft.com|language=en-us|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref>

* NDIS 2.0: [[MS-DOS]], [[Windows 3.1x|Windows for Workgroups 3.1]], [[OS/2]]

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* NDIS 3.1: [[Windows 95]]

* NDIS 4.0: Windows 95 OSR2, [[Windows NT 4.0|NT 4.0]], [[Windows CE 3.0]]

* NDIS 54.01: [[Windows 98]],
* NDIS 5.0: [[Windows 98 SE]], [[Windows Me|Me]], [[Windows 2000|2000]]

* NDIS 5.1: [[Windows XP]], [[Windows Server 2003|Server 2003]], [[Windows CE]] 4.x, 5.0, 6.0<ref>{{Citation|title=Network Drivers (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)| date=5 January 2012 |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee484851(v=winembedded.60).aspx}}</ref>

* NDIS 5.2: Windows Server 2003 SP2

* NDIS 6.0: [[Windows Vista]]

* NDIS 6.1: Windows Vista SP1, [[Windows Server 2008|Server 2008]], [[Windows Embedded Compact 7]],<ref>{{Citation|title=What's New (Windows Embedded Compact 7)| date=14 March 2014 |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg154234(v=winembedded.70).aspx}}</ref> Windows Embedded Compact 2013

* NDIS 6.20: [[Windows 7]], [[Server 2008 R2]]

* NDIS 6.30: [[Windows 8]], [[Windows Server 2012]]

* NDIS 6.40: [[Windows 8.1]], [[Windows Server 2012 R2]]

* NDIS 6.50: [[Windows 10]], version 1507<ref name=MS":0">{{citeCite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.50 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/overviewintroduction-ofto-ndis-versions6-50 |titleaccess-date=Overview of NDIS versions2022-07-12 |publisherwebsite=Microsoftdocs.microsoft.com |accessdatelanguage=2018en-07-05us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.6051: [[Windows Server 2016]] and Windows 10, version 16071511<ref name=MS":0" />

* NDIS 6.60: Windows 10, version 1607 and [[Windows Server 2016]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.60 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-60 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.70: Windows 10, version 1703<ref name=MS/>

* NDIS 6.70: Windows 10, version 1703<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.70 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-70 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.80: Windows 10, version 1709<ref name=MS/>

* NDIS 6.80: Windows 10, version 1709<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.80 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-80 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.81: Windows 10, version 1803<ref name=MS/>

* NDIS 6.81: Windows 10, version 1803<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.81 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-81 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.82: Windows 10, version 1809<ref name=MS/>

* NDIS 6.82: Windows 10, version 1809 and [[Windows Server 2019]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.82 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-82 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.83: Windows 10, version 1903 and [[Windows Server 2022]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.83 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-83 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.84: Windows 10, version 2004<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.84 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-84 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.85: Windows 10, version 21H2<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.85 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-85 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.86: [[Windows 11]], version 21H2<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.86 - Windows drivers |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-86 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=docs.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.87: Windows 11, version 22H2<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |date=2024-05-22 |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.87 - Windows drivers |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-87 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.88: Windows Server 2022, version 23H2<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |date=2024-05-22 |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.88 - Windows drivers |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-88 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

* NDIS 6.89: Windows 11, version 24H2<ref>{{Cite web |last=aviviano |date=2024-05-22 |title=Introduction to NDIS 6.89 - Windows drivers |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-6-89 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

The traffic accepted by the NIC is controlled by an NDIS [[miniportMiniport]] Driver<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/deserialized-ndis-miniport-drivers|title = Deserialized NDIS Miniport Drivers - Windows drivers| date=14 March 2023 }}</ref> while various protocols, such as [[Internet Protocol Suite|TCP/IP]], are implemented by NDIS Protocol Drivers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-ndis-protocol-drivers|title = Introduction to NDIS Protocol Drivers - Windows drivers| date=14 March 2023 }}</ref> A single miniport may be associated with one or more protocols. This means that traffic coming into the miniport may be received in parallel by several protocol drivers. For example, [[pcap|Winpcap]] adds a second protocol driver on the selected miniport in order to capture incoming packets. Furthermore, it is possible to simulate several virtual NICs by implementing virtual miniport drivers that send and receive traffic from a single physical NIC. One example of virtual miniport driver usage is to add virtual NICs, each with a different [[Virtual LANVLAN]]. Because implementations cannot assume that other drivers received the same buffers, one must treat the incoming buffers as read -only and a driver that changes the packet content must allocate its own buffers. NDIS Miniport drivers can also use [[Windows Driver Model]] interfaces to control network hardware.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/ndis-miniport-drivers-with-a-wdm-lower-edge|title = NDIS Miniport Drivers with a WDM Lower Edge - Windows drivers| date=14 March 2023 }}</ref>

Another driver type is NDIS Intermediate Driver. Intermediate drivers sit in-between the MAC and IP layers and can control all traffic being accepted by the NIC. In practice, intermediate drivers implement both miniport and protocol interfaces. The miniport driver and protocol driver actually communicate with the corresponding miniport and protocol interfaces that reside in the intermediate driver. This design enables adding several chained intermediate drivers between the miniport and protocol drivers. Therefore, driver vendors cannot assume that the interface that they send traffic to is implemented by the last driver in the chain. In order to write applications using NDIS, one can use samples that accompany Microsoft's [[Windows Driver Kit]] (WDK). The "PassThru" sample is a good starting point for intermediate drivers as it implements all the necessary details required in this driver type, but just passes the traffic through to the next driver in the chain.

A '''miniport''' is a type of hardware driver, part of the [[Windows Driver Model]]. These are [[USB]], Audio, [[SCSI]] and [[network card]] adapters. They should usually be source and [[binary code compatibility|binary compatible]] between [[Windows 98]] and [[Windows 2000]] and are hardware specific but control access to the hardware through a specific [[Bus (computing)|bus]] class driver. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/wdf/wdf-intro.mspx |title=Introduction to the Windows Driver Foundation |date=2006-10-13 |accessdate=2010-12-06 |publisher=[[Microsoft Developer Network]] |quote=The device class-specific driver models are typically structured as a port driver written by Microsoft paired with a miniport driver written by an independent hardware vendor. The port driver does much of the work required for the device class, and the miniport driver supports device-specific characteristics.}}</ref>

NDIS 4.1 has implemented [[Windows Driver Model|WDM]] features. NDIS 5.0 has implemented TCP/IP offload features.<ref> {{Cite web |last=Snakefoot |date=2007-10-30 |title=NDIS 5 hardware features that increases network performance |url=https://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-ndis5-network-features.html |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Smallvoid.com |language=en}}</ref>

Another driver type is NDIS Intermediate Driver. Intermediate drivers sit in-between the MAC and IP layers and can control all traffic being accepted by the NIC. In practice, intermediate drivers implement both miniport and protocol interfaces. The miniport driver and protocol driver actually communicate with the corresponding miniport and protocol interfaces that reside in the intermediate driver. This design enables adding several chained intermediate drivers between the miniport and protocol drivers. Therefore, driver vendors cannot assume that the interface that they send traffic to is implemented by the last driver in the chain. In order to write applications using NDIS one can use samples that accompany Microsoft's [[Windows Driver Kit]] (WDK). The "PassThru" sample is a good starting point for intermediate drivers as it implements all the necessary details required in this driver type, but just passes the traffic through to the next driver in the chain.

Since Windows 10 version 2004, a new driver framework for network adapters was created called Network Adapter WDF Class Extension (''NetAdapterCx'') which is meant to simplify the driver development process.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 May 2024|title=Network Adapter WDF Class Extension (NetAdapterCx)|url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/netcx/}}</ref>

== See also ==

{{Portal|Computer networking}}

* [[Open Data-Link Interface]] (ODI)

* [[Uniform Driver Interface]] (UDI)

* [[Universal Network Device Interface]] (UNDI)

* [[New API]]

* [[PC/TCP Packet Driver]]

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[[Category:Microsoft application programming interfaces]]

{{Portal|[[Category:Computer networking}}]]

[[Category:Device drivers]]