Windows Sockets 2

Windows Sockets 2 Windows Sockets 2 adds several areas of functionality and is available on all Windows systems, although 9x systems require an installable update. The examples used Version 2.0, but Version 1.1 also works in the event that interoperability is required with 9x systems that have not been updated. Furthermore, Version 1.1 is adequate for most purposes. Version 2.0 features include those listed here. Standardized support for overlapped I/O (see Chapter 14). This is considered to be the most important enhancement. Scatter/gather I/O (sending and receiving from noncontiguous buffers in memory). The ability to request quality of service (speed and reliability of transmission). The ability to organize sockets into groups. The quality of service of a socket group can be configured, so it does not have to be done on a socket-by-socket basis. Also, the sockets belonging to a group can be prioritized. Piggybacking of data onto connection requests. Multipoint connections (comparable to conference calls).