A network redirector provides mechanisms to locate, open, read, write, and delete files and submit print jobs. It also makes available application services such as named pipes and mailslots. When an application needs to send or receive data from a remote device, it sends a call to the redirector. The redirector provides the functionality of the Application and Presentation layers of the OSI model.
The redirectors are included in the Windows 95 network client software as the following file system drivers:
Windows 95 also supports network redirectors from other network vendors.
Because each protected-mode redirector is implemented in Windows 95 as a file system driver, the redirector is managed by Installable File System (IFS) Manager. The redirector works with IFS Manager to map local names into network devices and decides whether the application needs access to a local or remote device. IFS Manager controls file I/O transfers for all the installable file systems in Windows 95. For more information about IFS Manager, see Chapter 31, "Windows 95 Architecture."
Client for Microsoft Networks (the redirector for Microsoft networks) formats an application's request into data packet SMBs and submits the packet to the protocol. Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks (the NetWare redirector) formats requests into NCP packets. The data packet is passed by the protocol to the adapter driver.
The Windows 95 server side at this layer of the networking model supports peer resource sharing. Windows 95 provides two server services for peer networking: