IPX Implementation

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Connectionless data packet delivery over a network is... it can send packets without first establishing a connection.
IPX addresses have the following format: 80 bits... 32 network and 48 node.
IPX network numbers are assigned by the network administrator.
IPX's Service Advertisement Protocol (SAP) is used to advertise services.
The three major types of SAP advertisements are NetWare file server, print server, remote bridge server (router).
Novell's client/server network concept is NCP.
The function and process of Get Nearest Server (GNS) in a Novell network is: a broadcast is sent from a client needing a server. The nearest NetWare file server responds with another SAP of the GNS protocol.

Multiprotocol routing is when one routes more than one protocol.
The flow of SAP advertisements across a network is controlled by a router in the following way (describe the specific router function): routers do not forward individual SAP packets. Rather, they build SAP tables and forward them to other routers at 60-second (by default) intervals.

In our district WAN we used IPX because... the curriculum required it.

Local LAN IPX scheme:

IP Network Address           IPX Network Address             Router Int
219.17.101.0                      1006                                     E0
219.17.100.0                      1056                                      E1


Router command sequence:

Sunset# config t
Sunset(config)# ipx routing
Sunset(config)# int e0
Sunset(config-if)# ipx network 1006
Sunset(config-if)# int e1
Sunset(config-if)# ipx network 1056

The default encapsulation type, novell-ether, will suffice.

IPX is the protocol used by Novell. IPX is a client/server based protocol that uses RIP as its routing protocol. IPX's version of RIP uses ticks and hops as its routing metrics. Novell servers use service advertisements(SAPs) to show what services they provide. SAPs are sent every 60 seconds which may overburden bandwidth. Workstations use Get Nearest Server(GNS) packets to locate Novell servers and recieve network information from them. If a GNS packet doesn't find a server on the LAN the router will try to reply with a Novell server in its address table.

Currently, there are no Novell servers in Sunset, but IPX documentation has been included for that possibility.