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OSR File Systems Filter Driver Kit TM
For Windows NT V3.51/4.0

Until now, file systems development in the Windows NT environment has been
difficult given the minimal information available. Windows NT provides the
facilities to layer one file system on top of another, allowing the top file
system to intercept and processes all requests first. Microsoft refers this
facility as filtering. While some projects require the development of a
complete new file system (like the OSR File Systems Development Kit), many
projects can take advantage of file system filtering.

Previously, the only barrier to taking advantage of this inherent support in
Windows NT has been the lack of available tools and documentation. To
facilitate the development of file system filter drivers, OSR Open Systems
Resources, Inc. now provides the OSR File Systems Filter Driver Development
Kit (FDDK), a complete file system filter driver development package.

Product Overview

   * This package provides the essential components needed to develop
     Windows NT file system filter drivers allowing your team to focus on
     adding value to Windows NT rather than on the filter driver design and
     development process. The FDDK includes everything required to develop a
     file system filter driver using the NT DDK and Visual C/C++:
   * Fully documented, product quality source code for the file system
     filter driver and file system recognizer driver (more than 5,000 lines
     of code). You are free to use this code as is, or modify it to fit your
     particular requirements.
   * Detailed documentation describing how the file system filter driver
     works and how to build it under Windows NT 3.51/V4.0
   * Up to five seats in one of our regularly scheduled File Systems
     Development Courses.
   * A royalty-free, non-exclusive license to distribute binary images
     including the FDDK as part of your product.
   * One full year of product support (including bug fixes) from OSR's
     technical staff.

Product Features

The FDDK provides all the features needed to provide file system filtering
services for Windows NT, including:

   * Support for dynamic file system recognition. Windows NT does not load
     file systems at boot time. Rather, they are loaded during the normal
     course of system execution. The FDDK includes a "recognizer" component
     which handles these dynamic file system load events.
   * Support for removable media. Windows NT creates "device objects" for
     each file system instance. When media is changed in a drive supporting
     such operations, the old "device object" is deleted and a new "device
     object" is created for the new media. The filtering component of the
     FDDK includes support for such media change events.
   * Support for fast I/O, including the new NT V4.0 fast I/O entry points.
     Windows NT allows file systems to support "fast I/O" entry points. The
     FDDK includes full support for all entries in the fast I/O entry table
     to ensure proper compatibility with other NT kernel components (such as
     the LanManager server, SRV) which rely upon this behavior.
   * Support for Paging I/O. Since Windows NT file systems must support
     paging I/O, the filter driver FDDK detects such requests and passes
     them immediately on to the lower-level file system without filtering.
     This prevents deadlocks from occurring.
   * Support for user-written Functionality Drivers. As supplied, the FDDK
     will call a separate user-written Functionality Driver whenever an I/O
     Request Packet of the desired type is passed to a file system that is
     being filtered. Several example Functionality Drivers are supplied with
     the FDDK to help get you started.
   * The FDDK only requires the Windows NT DDK, available as part of the
     Microsoft Software Developer's Network subscription and the Microsoft
     Visual C/C++ V2.2 (or later) compiler. No additional development kit,
     of any kind, is needed from Microsoft.
   * Full portability. The source code in the FDDK is written in C with no
     assembly language and no architectural dependencies. It can be used on
     the Intel, MIPS, Alpha, or PowerPC platforms without requiring code
     changes.

The FDDK is completely compatible with both Windows NT 3.51 and V4.0
Workstation and Server and allows for the development of a binary image for
each environment.

Quality Assurance and Support

     Your investment in the FDDK is sure to be a good one. The FDDK has
     been exhaustively tested by OSR. Not only has the kit run through
     our standard suite of regression tests, but its quality has been
     demonstrated by running continuous file copy operations for over
     two months (24 hour per day, 7 days per week) without a single
     error being observed. Further, you are protected against both bugs
     and obsolescence in the FDDK with one full year of support by
     OSR's world-class technical staff.

FDDK Evaluation Kit

     A time restricted, object-only, version of the FDDK is available
     for evaluation purposes from OSR. This Evaluation Kit allows you
     to write your own Functionality Drivers to interface with the
     FDDK, to test if the FDDK is right for you. If you choose to
     purchase the full FDDK, the cost of the evaluation kit will be
     credited towards the price of the full kit.

Contact OSR to arrange for more information, to order the FDDK or an
Evaluation Kit.

OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc.
105 Route 101A, Suite 19
Amherst, New Hampshire 03031-2277
USA

+1 (603) 595-6500 (voice)
+1 (603) 595-6503 (fax)

Want more information? Email us at fddk@osr.com

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