Use Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 to implement Winsock Direct in a System Area Network

This article describes the significance of installing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) if you implement Winsock Direct (WSD) in a System Area Network (SAN) environment. WSD is supported in both Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) fixes many WSD-related problems that you currently experience in Windows Server 2003. Some of the WSD-related problems that you currently experience in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 include slow performance, STOP errors, and memory leaks. To avoid these problems, make sure that you use Windows Server 2003 with Windows Server 2003 SP1 to implement WSD.

For more information about how to obtain the latest service pack for Windows Server 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

The WSD mechanism makes it possible for you to deploy server programs that use the Winsock API in a SAN environment. WSD bypasses the kernel networking layers and communicates directly with the SAN hardware to provide faster communication between servers that are in a SAN. The WSD mechanism is supported in Windows 2000 Datacenter Server that has Windows 2000 SP1, Windows 2000 Advanced Server that has Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2), and in all editions of Windows Server 2003. Before you implement WSD in a SAN environment, you have to make sure that you have appropriate hardware to support WSD. You can install multiple hardware devices such as network adaptors that support the Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) mechanism or InfiniBand to enable WSD. As of April, 2005, no vendors provide hardware and drivers together for WSD. Many vendors plan to provide hardware and drivers together for WSD in future. When you obtain these hardware and drivers, make sure that you use Windows Server 2003 that has Windows Server 2003 SP1 to implement WSD. This is because other Microsoft Windows operating systems that support WSD may not work as you expect with these hardware and drivers.

For more information about WSD, visit the following Microsoft Web sites: For more information about System Area Networks, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: