Microsoft invests in fundamentally speeding up networking

We all want, and need, the fastest possible Internet. To give that to its customers, Microsoft is upgrading its TCP/IP networking stack in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

These improvements are designed to decrease TCP connection setup time, increase TCP startup speed, and to decrease time to recover from packet loss. Specifically, in the Windows Redstone releases, these are:

1. TCP Fast Open (TFO) for zero RTT TCP connection setup. IETF RFC 7413

2. Initial Congestion Window 10 (ICW10) by default for faster TCP slow start

3. TCP Recent ACKnowledgment (RACK) for better loss recovery (experimental IETF draft)

4. Tail Loss Probe (TLP) for better Retransmit TimeOut response (experimental IETF draft)

5. TCP LEDBAT for background connections IETF RFC 6817 [1|

[1] By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for ZDNet

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