Network Access Protection (NAP) : Resources

New blog for the Windows Server User Assistance Networking writing team

MS NAP Team — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:04:00 GMT

There is a new blog being published by the Windows Server User Assistance Networking (WSUAN) writing team:

http://blogs.technet.com/wsnetdoc/default.aspx

The IT Pro and Developer writers on the WSUAN writing team are using this blog to describe the improvements that they are making to networking documentation for Windows Server and to share technical tips and tricks.

Check it out.

The NAP Product Team

Network Access Protection Design Guide wins big at Society of Technical Communication (STC) awards!

MS NAP Team — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:47:00 GMT

Greg Lindsay (writer) and Allyson Adley (editor) won the Online Best of Show award for the NAP Design Guide at the Puget Sound Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) awards ceremony on January 29th.

Congratulations Greg and Allyson for the fantastic technical documentation on NAP!

NAP Product Team

What other networking experts have written about NAP

MS NAP Team — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:10:00 GMT

Greg Lindsay, our NAP product documentation writer, and I are not the only ones writing about NAP. NAP is also being described by Thomas Shinder and Brien M. Posey. Check out the following content by these industry experts.

Thomas Shinder’s articles on deploying NAP IPsec

Part 1: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Deploying-IPsec-Server-Domain-Isolation-Windows-Server-2008-Group-Policy-Part1.html

Part 2: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Deploying-IPsec-Server-Domain-Isolation-Windows-Server-2008-Group-Policy-Part2.html

Part 3: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Deploying-IPsec-Server-Domain-Isolation-Windows-Server-2008-Group-Policy-Part3.html

Part 4: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Deploying-IPsec-Server-Domain-Isolation-Windows-Server-2008-Group-Policy-Part4.html

Thomas Shinder’s articles on deploying NAP DHCP

Part 1: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Using-Group-Policy-Filtering-Part1.html

Part 2: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Using-Group-Policy-Filtering-Part2.html

Part 3: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Using-Group-Policy-Filtering-Part3.html

Part 4: http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Using-Group-Policy-Filtering-Part4.html

Brien M. Posey’s article series on NAP

Part 1: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part1.html

Part 2: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part2.html

Part 3: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part3.html

Part 4: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part4.html

Part 5: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part5.html

Part 6: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part6.html

Part 7: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Network-Access-Protection-Revisited-Part7.html

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

Network Access Protection Troubleshooting Guide is live!

MS NAP Team — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:39:00 GMT

Hey citizens of New NAP City!

The Network Access Protection Troubleshooting Guide, authored by our very own technical writer and NAP Forum hero Greg Lindsay, is now live! This completes the product documentation set for NAP in Windows Server 2008.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd348515.aspx

The NAP Troubleshooting Guide provides provides task-oriented information to help you identify and resolve NAP-related problems quickly for the Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows XP with Service Pack 3 operating systems. This guide can assist you when performing root-cause analysis of incidents and problems with the components of a NAP infrastructure.

This guide contains the following sections:

· Introduction to Troubleshooting NAP

· A-Z List of Problem Topics for NAP

· Things to Check Before Troubleshooting NAP

· Quick Fixes for NAP

· Tools for Troubleshooting NAP

· Troubleshooting NAP Problems

You can provide feedback on individual pages of the NAP Troubleshooting Guide by clicking “Click to Rate and Give Feedback” just above the content pane.

A big thank you to Greg for his authoring efforts and to NAP product team reviewers.

Enjoy!

Joe Davies

Resources for using certificates with NPS and NAP

MS NAP Team — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:59:00 GMT

An interesting but also somewhat complicated element of deploying a network access method with or without a NAP health evaluation is the use of digital certificates. Digital certificates can be used to provide strong authentication for remote access VPN connections, IEEE 802.1X-authenticated wired and wireless connections, and IPsec-protected traffic.

Additionally, the following NAP enforcement methods use certificates:

· IPsec enforcement uses health certificates

· The 802.1X and VPN enforcement methods use the Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) method, which requires a computer certificate on the NPS server and a corresponding root certificate on the NAP client

Here are the key resources for learning about certificates and access methods with NPS:

· Certificates and NPS

· Certificate Requirements for PEAP and EAP

Additionally, here are two Foundation Network Companion Guides that describe certificate deployment for EAP and PEAP:

· The “Foundation Network Companion Guide: Deploying Server Certificates” available in HTML and Word document format

· The “Foundation Network Companion Guide: Deploying Computer and User Certificates” available in HTML and Word document format

Consume, assimilate, deploy, and enjoy!

Joe Davies

Network Access Protection Deployment Guide is live!

MS NAP Team — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:18:00 GMT

Greetings NAP fans!

The Network Access Protection Deployment Guide, authored by our very own technical writer and NAP Forum hero Greg Lindsay, is now live!

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd314175.aspx

The NAP Deployment Guide provides detailed guidance for deploying a specific NAP design that has been determined through your use of the Network Access Protection Design Guide. The NAP Deployment Guide contains checklists and step-by-step procedures for deploying NAP health policy servers, NAP enforcement points, IPsec policies with NAP, NAP certification authorities, and NAP client settings.

You can provide feedback on individual pages of the NAP Deployment Guide by clicking “Click to Rate and Give Feedback” just above the content pane.

A big thanks to Greg.

Enjoy!

Joe Davies

NAP in Microsoft Learning Certification courseware

MS NAP Team — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:25:00 GMT

In a previous NAP blog entry, I listed NAP training solutions from Microsoft. Here is a list of Microsoft Learning certification courses that contain NAP content:

· Course 6435A: Designing a Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure

· Course 6431A: Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Servers

· Course 6421A: Configuring and Troubleshooting a Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure

· First Look Clinic 6406B: First Look: Getting Started with Security and Policy Control in Windows Server 2008

· Course 6416B: Updating your Network Infrastructure and Active Directory Technology Skills to Windows Server 2008

As you can see, NAP is covered in multiple courses in your path for Microsoft certification.

Go forth. Get trained. Get NAPped! :>

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

"How Microsoft does IT: Managing Network Access Protection" TechNet WebCast now available

MS NAP Team — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:32:00 GMT

The "How Microsoft does IT: Managing Network Access Protection" TechNet WebCast, recorded on Tuesday, November 11 by Brent Scallan, Senior Systems Engineer with Microsoft IT, and Pat Fetty, Principal Program Manager with the Windows Customer Advisory Team, is now available at:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032391121&CountryCode=US

To view it, you will need to use your Windows Live ID.

I strongly recommend viewing this Webcast (or downloading it and listening to the WMA file in your car!).

It contains a wealth of information about the Microsoft NAP deployment experience, describes NAP on the Internet, provides a summary of lessons learned, shows a demonstration of IPsec enforcement on the Microsoft network, and includes a Q&A session that answers commonly asked questions about NAP deployment.

Thanks Brent and Pat!

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.2 Released

MS NAP Team — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:37:00 GMT

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is an integrated platform with tools and guidance that make it easier for you to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your needs. The MAP Toolkit 3.2 has been released and is available here. It includes a new feature to perform readiness assessment for a deployment of NAP with Microsoft Forefront.

Consume and enjoy!

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

FYI: In a previous blog post (located here), I described the beta of the MAP Toolkit 3.2.

Network Policy Server (NPS) Technical Reference published!

MS NAP Team — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:21:00 GMT

Greetings NAP and NPS fans!

The Network Policy Server Technical Reference, authored by Senior Technical Writer Jim McIllece, is now live! This resource is a treasure trove of deep technical information about the Network Policy Server (NPS) service in Windows Server 2008, including detailed discussions of protocols, processes, and policies.

Check out the following topics:

· What Is Network Policy Server (NPS)?

· How Network Policy Server Works

· Network Policy Server Tools and Settings

Whether you are deploying NAP and using NPS as a NAP health policy server or using NPS as a RADIUS server or proxy, this new resource can help you understand how NPS works to design, configure, and troubleshoot NPS servers.

Thanks for the excellent technical content, Jim!

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

“Introduction to Network Access Protection” white paper Webcast updated

MS NAP Team — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:38:00 GMT

Hey NAP fans!

Back in 2006, I had the idea of creating “white paper Webcasts,” or Webcast versions of important and popular white papers on networking technologies. I created a series of white paper Webcasts for wireless security technologies, IPv6, and of course, NAP.

Things have changed somewhat since 2006, especially for NAP. Therefore, I have re-recorded the “Introduction to Network Access Protection” white paper Webcast for the current version of the “Introduction to Network Access Protection” white paper (located here). This new Webcast updates NAP terminology and provides a better explanation of NAP components, the built-in WSHA and WSHV, and the various NAP enforcement methods and behaviors.

Download the WMV version for the full video or the WMV or MP3 audio versions to listen to in your car on the way to work.

Enjoy!

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

Network Access Protection Design Guide is live!

MS NAP Team — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:27:00 GMT

Hey NAP friends!

The Network Access Protection Design Guide, authored by our very own technical writer and NAP Forum hero Greg Lindsay, is now live!

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130154

The NAP Design Guide explains the advantages, disadvantages, requirements, recommendations, and design considerations for deploying NAP for the IPsec, 802.1X, VPN, and DHCP enforcement methods.

The NAP Design Guide contains the following sections:

· Understanding the NAP Design Process

· Identifying Your NAP Deployment Goals

· Mapping Your Deployment Goals to a NAP Design

· Evaluating NAP Design Examples

· Planning a NAP Deployment Strategy

· Planning the Placement of a NAP Health Policy Server

· Planning the Placement of a NAP Enforcement Server

· Planning the Placement of a NAP CA Server

· Planning the Placement of a NAP Remediation Server

· Planning the Placement of a NAP Health Requirement Server

· NAP Capacity Planning

· Additional NAP Resources

· Appendix A: NAP Requirements

· Appendix B: Reviewing Key NAP Concepts

· Appendix C: Documenting Your NAP Design

· Appendix D: NAP-NAC Design

You can provide feedback on individual pages of the NAP Design Guide by clicking “Click to Rate and Give Feedback” just above the content pane.

Huge thanks to Greg for his authoring efforts over the last year and to many NAP product team reviewers for helping to ensure that the content is technically accurate and complete.

Enjoy!

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

Network Access Protection Design Guide to be published on Thursday!

MS NAP Team — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:16:00 GMT

Hey NAP fans!

Great news from the documentation front: The Network Access Protection Design Guide from our intrepid technical writer and NAP Forum hero Greg Lindsay is going to be published this Thursday, Oct 9! This is part of the suite of guides for NAP that will be available from here.

The NAP Design Guide explains the advantages, disadvantages, requirements, recommendations, and design considerations for deploying NAP for the IPsec, 802.1X, VPN, and DHCP enforcement methods.

I will post the link to this valuable resource on Thursday.

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

Blog for the Microsoft Enterprise Networking Support Team

MS NAP Team — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:13:00 GMT

Greetings NAP fans!

I just found out about this and had to share it with the NAP community. The Enterprise Networking Customer Support team here at Microsoft has a blog at http://blogs.technet.com/networking/default.aspx. This blog has been around since April of 2007 (I may have been living in a cave since then…).

In this blog, the Microsoft engineers that support enterprise networking technologies in Windows share tips and tricks, technical information about support issues, lists of new Microsoft Knowledgebase articles, and much more.

If you deploy or support Windows enterprise networking technologies, take a look at this valuable resource and add it to your RSS feeds.

Joe Davies
Senior Program Manager

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.