Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack
The Scalable Networking Pack adds new Windows Server 2003 (Server Pack 1 or later) architectural enhancements and application programming interfaces (APIs) to support the next generation of network acceleration and hardware-based offload technologies.
These Scalable Networking innovations help optimize Windows Server 2003 performance and maximize network throughput by reducing inefficient utilization of platform resources and offloading potentially CPU-intensive network packet processing to specialized network adapter hardware.
This frees up CPU cycles for application related tasks, such as supporting more user sessions or responding faster to network application requests. Depending on the workload, this can reduce network packet processing overhead by 20 to 100 percent, resulting in significant server performance gains.
You find detailed technical information on the corresponding TechNet site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/network/snp/default.mspx
