NAP is one of the most desired and highly anticipated features of Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008. NAP is a new platform and solution that controls access to network resources based on a client computer’s identity and compliance with corporate governance policy. NAP allows network administrators to define granular levels of network access based on who a client is, the groups to which the client belongs, and the degree to which that client is compliant with corporate governance policy. If a client is not compliant, NAP provides a mechanism to automatically bring the client back into compliance and then dynamically increase its level of network access.
The NAP platform is built into Windows Vista™, Windows Server 2008, and Windows® XP Service Pack 3.