Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Matthew R Cox

Ivan Dimitrov Pashov

Jonathan A Silvera

Billy Anders

Ziyan Zhou

Paul J Leach

Israel Hilerio

Anil K Ruia

David Joel Sheldon

Anish Desai

Kedar Hirve

Katerina V Sedova

Karen Elizabeth Parker Anderson

Paul Sliwowicz

Paul Trunley

Martin Andras Chisholm

David Vaughn Winkler

Eric Neal Loewenthal

Rick James

Alexandru Jercaianu

Milan Crowley Justel

Aditi Pravin Patange

Dany Joly

Victor Ngo

Adam U Herchenroether

Jesse D Mcgatha

Daniel R Thornton

Adrian Robert Bateman

Methods and apparatuses for handling raw DNS queries or DNS queries that generate responsive DNS records from a DNS server that are not recognized or decodable by a DNS client are described. The DNS client may receive a DNS query from an application and provide a numerical IP address and one or more DNS records for a given domain name to the application. In some cases, a DNS client provides an interface that enables the application to send and receive DNS queries and responses to DNS queries that use DNS functionalities and customizations that are not recognized by the DNS client. This capability allows the application to craft its own DNS queries to send and receive resulting response bytes or packets through the DNS client, while allowing the DNS queries to pass through the DNS client to make use of host system cache, policies, and settings.

Handling raw DNS queries in DNS client

Techniques described herein enable a client to store information indicating whether various hosts (e.g., servers, web domains) support a preferred security protocol, such as a False Start-modified TLS or SSL protocol. The client may then use this information to dynamically determine whether to use the preferred protocol when connecting to a particular host. When the client attempts a handshake to establish a secure connection with a host for the first time, the client does so using the preferred protocol. If the handshake fails, the client locally stores domain or other identifying information for the host so that the client may employ a non-preferred protocol in subsequent connection attempts. Thus, a client may avoid performance degradation caused by attempting a preferred-protocol connection with a host that does not support the preferred protocol. Stored information may include a time stamp enable periodic checks for host capability updates.

Dynamic selection of security protocol

Browser storage management techniques are described. In one or more implementations, inputs are received at a computing device that specify maximum aggregate sizes of application and database caches, respectively, of browser storage to be used to locally store data at the computing device. For example, the inputs may be provided using a policy, by an administrator of the computing device, and so on. The maximum aggregate sizes are set of application and database caches, respectively, of browser storage at the computing device to the sizes specified by the inputs.

Browser storage management

A computer can be configured to provide seamless access to a proxy server by, upon connection to a computer network, determining whether a proxy server using authentication is connected to the computer network, and then prompting a user of the computer to enter authentication information for that proxy server. This authentication information for the proxy server then can be stored in a manner accessible by applications on the computer to use the authentication information to connection with requests by the applications to access the second computer network. For example, the operating system can store the authentication information. It also can include a module that processes all requests from applications that access the proxy server, and then includes in such requests the stored authentication information.

Seamless authentication with proxy servers

Various embodiments enable on-demand scaling of a timer wheel. Some embodiments dynamically start and stop a timer wheel based, at least in part, on whether the timer wheel has any associated active timers. In some cases, the timer wheel is suspended when all associated active timers have been serviced. Alternately or additionally, the timer wheel is re-activated upon associating one or more active timers in need of service to the timer wheel. Various embodiments enable addition and removal of timer(s) to the timer wheel and/or various time slots associated with the timer wheel without using a global lock associated with the timer wheel.

On-demand scalable timer wheel

Various embodiments initialize a communication link associated with data transfer to a connected state between participants in the communication link. In some cases, the communication link is paired with a first Input/Output (I/O) completion port effective to enable the data transfer. Some embodiments disassociate the communication link with the first I/O completion port and re-initialize the communication link while retaining the connected state. Alternately or additionally, the communication link is paired with at least a second I/O completion port. In some cases, the second I/O completion port utilizes an I/O model that differs from an I/O model associated with the first I/O completion port. Alternately or additionally, the communication link can be reconfigured to follow a IO model that does not utilize an IO completion port at all.

Reliable socket transfer based on initializing and re-initializing a communication link and retaining a connected state

A client system and a server system use a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) authentication mode preference header to negotiate an HTTP authentication mode. The client system sends an HTTP request to the server system. In response to the HTTP request, the server system sends an HTTP response to the client system. The HTTP response includes an HTTP authentication mode preference header. The HTTP authentication mode preference header indicates whether a preferred HTTP authentication mode is connection-based HTTP authentication or request-based HTTP authentication. In subsequent HTTP requests to the server system, the client system uses the HTTP authentication mode indicated by the HTTP authentication mode preference header.

Predictive HTTP authentication mode negotiation

Growing community of inventors

Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Matthew R Cox