Microsoft's version of NAC

Clarifying issues surrounding this emerging security architecture

When Microsoft releases Service Pack 3 for Windows XP next year it will have a little something in it for NAC.

Or more precisely, something in it for network access protection, NAP, which is Microsoft’s version of NAC. The upgrade will include a NAP agent that will enable the platform to send health-check information and act as an 802.1x client for authentication.

This enables the client to interact with devices made by other vendors that comply with 802.1x NAC, which is good for anyone that wants to deploy NAC and doesn’t want to make the extra effort to distribute client software to all endpoints that need to be checked out.

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When Microsoft releases Service Pack 3 for Windows XP next year it will have a little something in it for NAC.

Or more precisely, something in it for network access protection, NAP, which is Microsoft’s version of NAC. The upgrade will include a NAP agent that will enable the platform to send health-check information and act as an 802.1x client for authentication.

This enables the client to interact with devices made by other vendors that comply with 802.1x NAC, which is good for anyone that wants to deploy NAC and doesn’t want to make the extra effort to distribute client software to all endpoints that need to be checked out.

The downside is that even with the service pack, the software doesn’t support Cisco’s NAC, which might be of interest to a significant number of potential NAC customers.

Perhaps Microsoft figures that by the time the service pack is available, many of its customers will have moved on to Vista, which does support Cisco NAC.

For those interested in NAP itself, they’ve got a wait as well. The server side of NAP won’t be available until Windows Server 2008 comes out. The most recent delay on that project puts availability at some time next year.

After that, it is probably prudent for potential users of the technology to test it out on their networks before deploying it. So NAP for general use may not come for another several months after the server is released.

One thing is clear. Microsoft NAP is for those who are patient.

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Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.