In Pictures: 12 new network features in Windows 8

Microsoft’s new metro-style Start screen is getting all the buzz, but for IT administrators there are many new network-related features and changes in both Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 to be aware of.

NIC Teaming Network Interface Card (NIC)

Teaming provides network connection load balancing and failover by bonding two or more network interfaces. Though this functionality isn’t new, in the past NIC teaming was handled by the NIC vendor’s driver and management software. But now starting with Windows Server 2012, NIC Teaming is now part of the OS and supports Hyper-V networks as well. Like other NIC teaming solutions, Windows can divide the traffic by virtual LAN (VLAN) so that applications can connect to different VLANs at the same time. You can also utilize a few different configurations: switch-dependent via IEEE 802.3ad and IEEE 802.1ax/LACPor or switch-independent configurations. Algorithms can also be chosen to distribute incoming and outgoing traffic, for example using Hyper-V switch ports or hashing.

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