Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:35:18 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <primenet.com!tlambert@minas-tirith.pol.ru> To: tarkhil@minas-tirith.pol.ru (Alex Povolotsky) Cc: freebsd.org!freebsd-hackers@minas-tirith.pol.ru Subject: Re: Ethernet_802.2 and IPX Message-ID: <199801252235.PAA14069@usr02.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <199801251206.PAA08837@minas-tirith.pol.ru> from "Alex Povolotsky" at Jan 25, 98 03:06:44 pm
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> Why doesn't IPX support frame types other than Ethernet_II? Is there any > black magic involved? Are there any description on making IPX router > (IPXrouted says nothing on how-to)? Nobody has written 802.3 LLC code (well, someone did, and implemented NetBEUI using it, over at Mitre, but the code isn't released yet). It is mostly there in the FDDI code... this is the same thing preventing use of token ring drivers. You can build a driver, but you can't make it talk to other machines without the right LLC. People have reported working on 802.3 IPX; check the list archives. I'm certainly not authoritative about whether one of these people has completed the code. 8-). Even so, Novell screwed up the 802.3 frame type usage by IPX. Instead of putting the right value in the length field and putting an encapsulated header containing the protocol type, they put the protocol type in the length field. A host can distibguish this because the protocol type is a high enough number that it would result in an illegally large packet. This is a kludge, and it's not a very good idea to use 802.3 IPX because of this. Most NetWare servers can do both frame types simultaneously, and you can run both frame types on the same wire successfully. One major advantage is that you can run NetWare for UNIX and Pathworks for VMS (NetWare) if you use Ethernrt II IPX. If you don't run Ethernet II, then you will have to load dual stacks on some NetWare server so it can act as a gateway. The Ethernet II IPX machines will not be able to respond to "GetNearestServer" requests. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199801252235.PAA14069>