The Storport driver now supports virtual miniports in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and in later versions. An update is now available to enable this new feature.

Microsoft has defined the Storport Virtual Miniport (VMiniport) driver to extend the functionality of the Storport interfaces. Unlike physical miniports, virtual miniports can call Windows Driver Model (WDM) routines according to the WDM guidelines.

After you apply this update, miniports will no longer rely on the Storport driver to handle memory and to perform synchronization. Additionally, miniports will be able to handle I/O requests in new ways. These programming changes are targeted at technologies that include but that are not limited to the following:

•	iSCSI
•	Infiniband
•	Other non-standard storage interfaces that may appear in the future

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Initialization of Storport Virtual Miniport drivers

The Storport Virtual Miniport driver has three stages of initialization. In the first stage, a miniport calls the StorPortInitialize routine by pointing to a VIRTUAL_HW_INITIALIZATION_DATA structure.

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Storport Virtual Miniport routines

Storport Virtual Miniport drivers and Storport physical miniport drivers are equivalent in many ways. A physical miniport uses a physical host bus adapter (HBA). A virtual miniport differs from a physical miniport primarily in that the virtual miniport tells the Storport driver to assume that the miniport controls no hardware. In this case, the Storport driver does not obtain a direct memory access (DMA) object. Therefore, the Storport driver does not obtain an interrupt object, an interrupt lock, or non-cached storage.

Another obvious difference is that a virtual miniport can use all APIs that are documented in the Microsoft Windows Driver Kit (WDK). A physical miniport is expected to use only Storport APIs. However, a virtual miniport may also use other APIs. For example, a virtual miniport may also use the APIs that the system kernel provides, assuming the virtual miniport complies with the restrictions that apply to WDM drivers.

For more information about Storport support routines, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network Web site:For information about other kernel APIs, see the description of the relevant APIs in the WDK.

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Storport Virtual Miniport driver structures

The VIRTUAL_HW_INITIALIZATION_DATA structure contains information that is specific to each virtual miniport driver. This structure is defined as follows:

typedef struct _VIRTUAL_HW_INITIALIZATION_DATA {
  ULONG HwInitializationDataSize;
  INTERFACE_TYPE AdapterInterfaceType;
  PHW_INITIALIZE HwInitialize;
  PHW_STARTIO HwStartIo;
  PHW_INTERRUPT HwInterrupt;
  PVIRTUL_HW_FIND_ADAPTER HwFindAdapter;
  PHW_RESET_BUS HwResetBus;
  PHW_DMA_STARTED HwDmaStarted;
  PHW_ADAPTER_STATE HwAdapterState;
  ULONG DeviceExtensionSize;
  ULONG SpecificLuExtensionSize;
  ULONG SrbExtensionSize;
  ULONG NumberOfAccessRanges;
  PVOID Reserved;
  UCHAR MapBuffers;
  BOOLEAN NeedPhysicalAddresses;
  BOOLEAN TaggedQueuing;
  BOOLEAN AutoRequestSense;
  BOOLEAN MultipleRequestPerLu;
  BOOLEAN ReceiveEvent;
  USHORT VendorIdLength;
  PVOID VendorId;
  union {
    USHORT ReservedUshort;
    USHORT PortVersionFlags;
  };
  USHORT DeviceIdLength;
  PVOID DeviceId;
  PHW_ADAPTER_CONTROL HwAdapterControl;
  PHW_BUILDIO HwBuildIo;
  PHW_FREE_ADAPTER_RESOURCES HwFreeAdapterResources;
  PHW_PROCESS_SERVICE_REQUEST HwProcessServiceRequest;
  PHW_COMPLETE_SERVICE_IRP HwCompleteServiceIrp;
  PHW_INITIALIZE_TRACING HwInitializeTracing;
  PHW_CLEANUP_TRACING HwCleanupTracing;
} VIRTUAL_HW_INITIALIZATION_DATA, *PVIRTUAL_HW_INITIALIZATION_DATA;

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Virtual miniport I/O control codes

Virtual miniport clients use the IOCTL_MINIPORT_PROCESS_SERVICE_IRP I/O control code to communicate with a virtual miniport.

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Update information

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Windows Server 2003, x86-based versions

Download the Windows Server 2003, x86-based package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=06477C34-6DCD-491A-8520-16AD457B3F55)

Windows Server 2003, Itanium-based versions

Download the Windows Server 2003, Itanium-based package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1835D54D-BEE6-4FC7-A735-3A04A68F6B0B)

Windows Server 2003, x64-based versions

Download the Windows Server 2003, x64-based package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4904b19e-7f53-4b16-9899-7fa2fa2cceac&displaylang=en)

A supported feature that modifies the default behavior of the product is available from Microsoft. However, this feature is intended to modify only the behavior that this article describes. Apply this feature only to systems that specifically require it. This feature might receive additional testing. Therefore, if the system is not severely affected by the lack of this feature, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this feature.

If the feature is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the feature.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific feature. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the feature is available. If you do not see your language, it is because the feature is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this update, you must have Windows Server 2003 SP1 or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace any other updates.

File information

The English version of this update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Windows Server 2003, x86-based versions

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform	SP requirement	Service branch
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.3019	18,944	04-Oct-2007	18:52	x86	SP1	SP1QFE
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.3019	108,032	04-Oct-2007	18:52	x86	SP1	SP1QFE
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.4163	18,944	04-Oct-2007	12:35	x86	SP2	SP2GDR
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.4163	108,032	04-Oct-2007	12:35	x86	SP2	SP2GDR
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.4163	18,944	04-Oct-2007	15:39	x86	SP2	SP2QFE
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.4163	108,032	04-Oct-2007	15:39	x86	SP2	SP2QFE

Windows Server 2003, Itanium-based versions

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform	SP requirement	Service branch
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.3019	49,664	05-Oct-2007	15:05	IA-64	SP1	SP1QFE
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.3019	347,136	05-Oct-2007	15:05	IA-64	SP1	SP1QFE
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.4163	49,664	05-Oct-2007	15:15	IA-64	SP2	SP2GDR
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.4163	347,136	05-Oct-2007	15:15	IA-64	SP2	SP2GDR
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.4163	49,664	05-Oct-2007	15:05	IA-64	SP2	SP2QFE
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.4163	347,136	05-Oct-2007	15:05	IA-64	SP2	SP2QFE

Windows Server 2003, x64-based versions

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform	SP requirement	Service branch
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.3019	24,064	05-Oct-2007	15:04	x64	SP1	SP1QFE
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.3019	188,416	05-Oct-2007	15:04	x64	SP1	SP1QFE
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.4163	24,064	05-Oct-2007	15:14	x64	SP2	SP2GDR
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.4163	188,928	05-Oct-2007	15:14	x64	SP2	SP2GDR
Diskdump.sys	5.2.3790.4163	24,064	05-Oct-2007	15:05	x64	SP2	SP2QFE
Storport.sys	5.2.3790.4163	188,928	05-Oct-2007	15:05	x64	SP2	SP2QFE

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For more information about Storport Virtual Miniport development, see the Storport Virtual Miniport Developers documentation in the Microsoft Windows Development Kit or on the Microsoft Developer Network Web site. Or, contact a Microsoft support professional. For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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