Windows XP Peer-to-Peer F.A.Q.

A: The Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP is a set of platform technologies designed to run on Windows XP SP1 to enable the use and deployment of distributed, peer-to-peer applications based on Internet standards. The update includes an updated version of the IPv6 stack, including support for NAT traversal for IPv6 applications. An IPv6 firewall is included to protect the end-user's machine from unsolicited IPv6 traffic, while the peer-to-peer platform makes it simple to write distributed solutions.

Q: What is IPv6 and Teredo?

A: IPv6 is the next generation Internet Protocol that enables communication across a diverse set of networks. The technology referred to as Teredo in the IETF is a transition technology that allows automatic IPv6 tunneling between hosts that are located across one or more IPv4 NAT devices.

Q: Where can I obtain more information regarding the various aspects of the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP?

A: To obtain more information about IPv6 please see: http://www.microsoft.com/ipv6. For more information about Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking, please see: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p2p. In addition, more information about the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/ipv6icf/ics/ipv6_icf_start_page.asp.

Q: Why can't I install the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP on Windows 2003 Server?

A: Currently, the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP is only supported on Windows XP SP1 Home Edition and Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Q: Is the SDK for the Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking Infrastructure and the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall included in the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP?

A: No. The Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP provides the operating system components for Microsoft’s Peer-to-Peer Infrastructure and the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall. SDKs are provided for both of these technologies. For more information on the Windows XP Peer-to-Peer SDK please see: http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5116A614-A487-4DFF-B384-829CD8CE977D&displaylang=en. For more information on the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall SDK please see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/ipv6icf/ics/ipv6_icf_start_page.asp.

Q: Does the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP contain the Peer Networking technology from Windows NT 4.0? Are they the same technologies?

A: The two are not the same technologies. The Peer Networking technology in Microsoft Windows NT WorkStation 4.0 is intended to allow Network Administrators to create small (less than 10 machines) networks for file and print sharing services without the need for Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0. The peer-to-peer technology included in the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP is Microsoft’s Peer-to-Peer Infrastructure for distributed application development.

IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall Questions:

Q: How do I disable the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall on the local machine?

A: To disable the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall on the local machine, simply go to “Add/Remove Programs->Add/Remove Windows Components->Networking Services” and uncheck “IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall”. This, however, will reset the port openings in the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall. To disable the firewall and retain port settings, disable the “IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall” service via the “Services” application located in the “Administrative Tools” folder in the “Control Panel”.

Q: What ports does the Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking Infrastructure use?

A: The Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking Grouping and PNRP services utilize IPv6 ports 3587 (TCP) and 3540 (UDP). These ports must be open in an IPv6 Firewall for Windows Peer-to-Peer applications to communicate. By default, these ports are opened on the local IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall when Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking is enabled. If the application utilizes Windows Peer-to-Peer Graphing, the application specific ports must be opened in the IPv6 Internet Connection Firewall.

Connectivity Questions:

Q: How do I know if I have network connectivity over IPv6?

A: An easy way to tell whether or not you have IPv6 connectivity is to ping a well known site that supports IPv6. To ping with IPv6, simply click “Start->Run”. Then in the dialog type “cmd”. At the command prompt type “ping6 <<Server Name/Address>>”.

Q: How can I access my peers behind a NAT?

A: To access peers behind a NAT, an application can utilize the technology referred to as Teredo in the IETF. For more information see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/winsock/winsock/using_ipv6_protection_level.asp.

Q: What is the difference between a “Teredo” address and other kinds of IPv6 addresses?

A: A “Teredo” address as specified in the IETF is an IPv6 address that contains information about how to traverse IPv4 Network Address Translators. For more information see: http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-huitema-v6ops-teredo-00.txt.

Q: Does the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP provide technology to traverse my corporate firewall or a firewall other than Microsoft’s Internet Connection Firewall?

A: No. The Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP includes a NAT (Network Address Translator) traversal technology entitled “Teredo”. This technology provides end-to-end connectivity through IPv4 based NATs, it does not provide end-to-end connectivity if a firewall is in place at the edge of the network.

Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking Questions:

Q: What is the Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking Infrastructure?

A: Windows Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Networking is a developer platform to create P2P applications for computers running Windows XP. Windows P2P networking allows application developers to utilize powerful personal computers that exist at the edge of the Internet, to create exciting new distributed applications. P2P technology provides an opportunity to make existing applications work together in new and useful ways. For more information see: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p2p.

Q: How do I enable Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking?

A: To enable Peer-to-Peer Networking, simply go to “Add/Remove Programs->Add/Remove Windows Components->Network Services” and check “Peer-to-Peer Networking”.

Q: What is the difference between Peer-to-Peer Graphing and Peer-to-Peer Grouping?

A: Peer-to-Peer Graphing is the underlying communication transport that provides the stable, reliable, and robust infrastructure allowing Windows Peer-to-Peer applications to communicate. In addition, a security model can be associated with a graph to secure data and authenticate peers. Peer-to-Peer Grouping is built on top of Peer-to-Peer Graphing. Peer-to-Peer Grouping provides Microsoft’s security model implementation and allows multiple applications to share a graph. In addition, Peer-to-Peer Grouping uses PNRP as the discovery mechanism for IP endpoints of members in the group.

Q: What is a PNRP seed server?

A: In order to register or resolve PeerNames to IP endpoints in PNRP, a peer must be bootstrapped into the PNRP cloud. In order for peers to bootstrap into the Global or Internet PNRP cloud, a peer may contact a PNRP seed server hosted by Microsoft. This server acts as an always on, well known server that peers can utilize to bootstrap into the global PNRP cloud.

Q: Can I setup a machine as a well-known PNRP node from which to bootstrap on my local network?

A: For each IPv6 scope (local, site, global), a user can specify a well known PNRP seed node for bootstrapping purposes via a specific registry key. The three registry keys (1 for each scope) similar to: HKLM/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/PeerNet/PNRP/IPV6-<insert scope here> “SeedServer” allows for specification of a well-qualified IPv6 address & port or a DNS resolvable name. The node specified will be used by Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking for bootstrapping into the PNRP cloud for that given scope. It is important to note that the “Peer Name Resolution Protocol” service must be restarted for the changes to take effect. For the global (Internet) scope the default is the Microsoft hosted PNRP Seed Server.

Q: Does a PNRP seed server collect any personal information about me?

A: The Microsoft PNRP seed server acts as a peer in the network aiding in the referral of numeric identifiers to IP endpoints to other peers for the purpose of bootstrapping into the PNRP cloud. Since each peer in the cloud is responsible for caching a subset of identifier / IP endpoint pairs, a PNRP seed server must cache a subset of these pairs in order to do the referral. At any given point in time, an identifier / IP endpoint registered by a peer could be in the seed server’s cache. These identifiers could be used to identify an individual user and their IP address on the internet. These pairs are not logged by the seed server and will expire over time.

Q: How do I know if I can contact the Microsoft hosted PNRP seed server?

A: To determine whether or not you can contact the PNRP seed server, simply click “Start->Run”. Then in the dialog type “cmd”. At the command prompt type “netsh p2p pnrp diag ping seed”. If the returned IDs is greater than 1, then you have connectivity to the PNRP seed server.

Q: What is the Windows XP Peer-to-Peer SDK?

A: The Windows XP Peer-to-Peer SDK provides documentation, sample code and other tools that allow developers to build P2P applications or services that capitalize on the new Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP.

Q: Where can I get the Windows XP Peer-to-Peer SDK?

A: The Windows XP Peer-to-Peer SDK can be found here: http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5116A614-A487-4DFF-B384-829CD8CE977D&displaylang=en.