Windows 10 Anniversary Update to bring TCP improvements

Kareem Anderson

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is bringing more than just some UI tweaks and Cortana additions to users in a month. The Anniversary Update will also bring new transport advancements to Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 when it’s finally released to the public.

According to Microsoft’s Networking Blog, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 users can expect performance improvements in TCP-based communications used to connect IoT devices to cloud-backed services and data.

In conjunction with the Windows 10 development roadmap, TCP features will be rolled out in phases with the first including:

  • TCP Fast Open (TFO) for zero RTT TCP connection setup. IETF RFC 7413 [1]
  • Initial Congestion Window 10 (ICW10) by default for faster TCP slow start [5]
  • TCP Recent ACKnowledgment (RACK) for better loss recovery (experimental IETF draft) [4]
  • Tail Loss Probe (TLP) for better Retransmit TimeOut response (experimental IETF draft) [3]
  • TCP LEDBAT for background connections IETF RFC 6817 [2]

For more details on the first wave of features rolling out with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, head over to Microsoft’s Networking Blog. The announcement post for TCP improvements includes detailed information on boosted Round Trip Times over TCP connections, templates for RACK configurations, tweaks to background transport and Congestion Control Modules (CCM).

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is shaping up to be a rather huge release for Microsoft, perhaps almost as big as the original Windows 10 release this time last year.