With this architecture, it is possible for copies of the same transport, such as TCP, from different providers to be installed simultaneously. WinSock 2 also eliminates the need for a vendor to add proprietary calls to its implementation of WinSock. Instead, WinSock 2 provides an interface to plug into. IS departments could design and deploy WinSock 2 filters providing secure or encrypted communication. Any application or protocol stack can be used without modification.
Problems can still occur, however, if more than one filter on a transport is installed.
Filter order also may lead to complications. If a security or encryption layer filter were placed before the URL filter, it would be rendered useless because all data would be encrypted. NSPs give the name resolution for the transport providers. In this model, applications will not need to know how the actual registration takes place, but they must support this dynamic registration. Products, such as Bay Networks' NetID Enterprise and Quadritek Systems' QIP, which combine DNS and DHCP to provide dynamic naming, could easily develop an RNR service for WinSock 2.