LANplex® 2500 Ver 5.0 Extended Switching Software Release Notes

Modified: 05/22/98

LANplex 2500
Software Release Notes

LANplex Intelligent Switching Software
Revision 5.0
October 14, 1995

Part No. 801-00196-000

Published October 17, 1995

3Com Corporation n 5400 Bayfront Plaza n Santa Clara, California n 95052-8154

© 3Com Corporation, 1995. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without permission from 3Com Corporation.

3Com Corporation reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to time without obligation on the part of 3Com Corporation to provide notification of such revision or change.

3Com Corporation provides this documentation without warranty of any kind, either implied or expressed, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. 3Com may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any time.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGENDS:

If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the software described herein are provided to you subject to the following restricted rights:

For units of the Department of Defense:

Restricted Rights Legend: Use, duplication or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c) (1) (ii) for restricted Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-7013. 3Com Corporation, 5400 Bayfront Plaza, Santa Clara, California 95052-8145.

For civilian agencies:

Restricted Rights Legend: Use, reproduction or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraph (a) through (d) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights Clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-19 and the limitations set forth in 3Coms standard commercial agreement for the software. Unpublished rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.

3Com and LANplex are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.

3Com registered trademarks are registered in the United States, and may or may not be registered in other countries. Other brand and product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

Contents

LANplex 2500
Overview 1
Release Highlights 1
Before You Start 1
Updating Your System Software 2
Copying Software to a Hard Disk 2
Copying to UNIX 2
Copying to DOS 3
User Documentation 4
Whats New at Revision 5.0? 5
New Features 5
AppleTalk Routing 5
IPX Routing 5
Software Changes 6
System Issues 6
Known Problems 6
SNMP MIB Files 6
Supported Versions 6
Compiler Support 7
Revision History 8

A Administering AppleTalk Routing

Configuring AppleTalk for Your System A-2
Administering Interfaces A-3
Displaying AppleTalk Interfaces A-4
Defining an Interface A-4
Removing an Interface A-5
Administering Routes A-6
Displaying the Routing Table A-6
Flushing all Routes A-7
Administering the AARP Cache A-8
Displaying the AARP Cache A-8
Removing an Entry in the Cache A-9
Flushing All Cache Entries A-10
Displaying and Searching the Zone Table A-10
Configuring Forwarding A-12
Configuring Checksum Generation A-12
Configuring Checksum Verification A-13
Pinging an AppleTalk Node A-13
Viewing Appletalk Statistics A-14
Displaying DDP Statistics A-14
Displaying RTMP Information A-16
Displaying ZIP Information A-17
Displaying NBP Information A-18

B Administering IPX Routing

Configuring IPX for Your System B-2
Administering Interfaces B-3
Displaying IPX Interfaces B-4
Defining an Interface B-4
Modifying an Interface B-5
Removing an Interface B-5
Administering Routes B-6
Displaying the Routing Table B-7
Defining a Static Route B-7
Removing a Route B-8
Flushing Routes B-8
Administering Servers B-9
Displaying the Server Table B-9
Defining a Static Server B-10
Removing a Server B-11
Flushing Servers B-11
Setting IPX Forwarding B-11
Setting the RIP Mode B-12
Setting the Enhanced RIP Mode B-13
Setting the SAP Mode B-13
Displaying Statistics B-14
Displaying IPX Statistics B-14
Displaying IPX RIP Statistics B-15
Displaying IPX SAP Statistics B-16
Displaying IPX FP Statistics B-17

LANplex 2500

Extended Switching Software
Revision 5.0

Overview

These release notes describe revision 5.0, of the LANplex 2500 Intelligent Switching software from 3Com Corporation, dated October 14, 1995. This revision supersedes the earlier revision 4.3.0 dated September 8, 1995.

Release Highlights

This release contains the following items:

· Support for the new LANplex Management Module (LMM) Plus

CAUTION: In order to run software revision 5.0 on the LANplex 6000, you must have the new LMM Plus installed i your system. To verify if you have an LMM Plus installed, check the module's ejector tabe to ensure it says LMM+.

· Support for AppleTalk Routing

· Support for IPX Routing

For more information about this release, see the section "Whats New at Revision 5.0."

Before You Start

Prior to installing your new software, read these release notes in their entirety. Carefully read the sections System Issues and Known Problems on page 7.

Updating Your System Software

You can install a new software version from any host-running ftp server. The system software is distributed for both UNIX and DOS platforms.

The following media typemedia types are used to distribute software releases (the files are compressed on the media):

· UNIX tar format 3½ inch double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB diskette

· DOS format 3½ inch double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB diskette

To install or upgrade your system software, you must:

· Copy the software from the diskette to your UNIX-based or DOS-based computers hard disk.

· Uncompress the software

· Load the system software from your computers hard disk to flash memory on the LMM.

Copying Software to a Hard Disk

You can copy software to either a UNIX-based or DOS-based hard disk.

Copying to UNIX

The LANplex software for UNIX-based hard disk is distributed on three floppy diskettes. Diskettes #1 and #2 contain the LANplex software. Diskette #3 contains SNMP MIBs.

To copy software to a UNIX hard disk, follow the instructions below:

If the directory /usr/lp6000 does not exist on your computer, create the directory before proceeding. If your /usr directory is full, you can use a different directory. In this case, substitute the actual directory used for /usr in this and subsequent examples.

1 Insert diskette #1 containing the system software file into a disk drive (these instructions assume drive rfd0).

2 Extract the first part of the LANplex software file using the following commands:

cd /usr/lp6000R

tar xvf /dev/rfd0

3 Remove diskette #1 using the following command:

# eject

4 Insert the diskette #2 containing the LANplex software file into a disk drive and extract the second part of the file using the following commands:

tar xvf /dev/rfd0

5 Remove diskette #2 using the following command:

# eject

The following files should be in your /usr/lp6000R directory:

· README1
· lp6000R00
· lp6000R01
· restore_lpxR

7 Use the supplied script to decompress and restore the split file (lp6000R00 and lp6000R01).

# ./restore_lpxR

See the README1 file for size and checksum information.

8 Decompress the file using the following command:

uncompress lp2500.Z

Copying to DOS

The LANplex software for a DOS-based hard disk is distributed on two floppy diskettes. Diskette #1 contains the LANplex software. Diskette #2 contains the SNMP MIBs.

To copy software to a DOS hard disk, follow the instructions below:

If the directory lp6000R does not exist on your computer, create the directory before proceeding.

1 Insert the diskette containing the software file into a disk drive (these instructions assume drive B:).

2 Copy the software file to the lp6000R directory of your computer using the following commands:

cd lp6000R

copy b:lp6000R.exe

The file lp6000R.exe is a self-extracting archive. It decompresses and creates the loadable software file.

3 Decompress the file using the following command:

lp6000R

This creates a file called lp6000R, which you can then ftp into flash memory.

User Documentation

This version of software is compatible with the documentation revisions listed below. These release notes describe only the changes and additions to this documentation.

The following documents comprise the LANplex 6000R documentation set.

FILL IN

Whats New at Revision 5.0?

This section describes any new features, software enhancements, or corrections implemented at this release.

New Features

The following features are added at this release:

AppleTalk Routing

This release implements AppleTalk Routing in the LANplex 6000 system software. AppleTalk routing is composed of the following elements:

· DDP (Datagram Delivery Protocol) ensures delivery of datagrams between AppleTalk sockets

· RTMP (Routing Table Maintenance Protocol) maintains information about internetwork addresses and connections between the various networks

· AARP (AppleTalk Address Resolution Protocol) maps a hardware address to an AppleTalk protocol address

· ZIP (Zone Information Protocol) helps maintain a mapping of network numbers to zones

· AEP (AppleTalk Echo Protocol) sends a datagram from one node to another and causes the destination node to return or echo, the datagram to the sender

· NBP (Name Binding Protocol) translates device names to addresses

For more information on how to configure AppleTalk Routing using the LANplex Administration Console, see Appendix A: Administering AppleTalk Routing.

IPX Routing

This release implements IPX routing in the LANplex 6000 system software. IPX routing is composed of the following elements:

· IPX (Internet Packet Exchange) defines internetworking and intranode addressing schemes

· RIP (Routing Information Protocol) provides for the exchange of routing information

· SAP (Service Advertisement Protocol) provides routers and servers (that contain SAP agents) with a means of exchanging network service information

For more information on how to configure IPX Routing using the LANplex Administration Console, see Appendix B: Administering IPX Routing.

Software Changes

The following software change is implemented at this release:

By default, IP Forwarding is now set to off.

System Issues

The following system issue is identified at this release:

· Packet filtering is not available on those ports that have an IP interface defined.

Known Problems

The following software problems are identified at this release:

· Packet filters and statically configured addresses are lost when upgrading from 3.19 to 5.0.

SNMP MIB Files

SNMP MIB files are shipped with the LANplex system software as ASN.1 files. Copies of ASN.1 files are provided for each of the supported compilers described at the end of this section.

Supported Versions

The SNMP MIB file names and the currently supported version of each MIB are listed below.

· bridge.mib Bridge MIB, RFC 1493

· ethernet.mib Ethernet MIB, RFC 1398

· fddiSmt7.mib FDDI SMT 7.3 MIB, RFC 1512

· lp.mib LANplex Systems MIB, version 1.2.0

· lpOpFddi.mib LANplex Optional FDDI MIB, version 1.2.0

· mib2.mib MIB-II, RFC 1213

Compiler Support

ASN.1 MIB files are provided for each of the MIB compilers listed below. Any warnings or exceptions related to a particular compiler are listed with that

compiler.

· SMIC (version 1.0.9)

· MOSY (version 7.1)

For the MIB file lpOpFddi.mib, the MOSY compiler reports warnings for counter names that do not end in s. This has no effect on the output produced by the MOSY compiler.

· HP Openview (version 3.1)

· mib2schema (with SunNet Manager version 2.0)

The MIB file fddiSmt7.mib produces the following warning messages when compiled using mib2schema:

Translating....

Warning: The following INDEX entries in fddimibMACCountersTable not resolved:

fddimibMACSMTIndex

fddimibMACIndex

Translation Complete.

Schema file in fddiSmt7.mib.schema

Oid file in fddiSmt7.mib.oid

However, these warning messages have no effect on the ability of SNM to use the schema file generated with versions of SNM greater than or equal to 2.0.

Revision History

The following table provides a brief description of the previous releases of the LANplex 2500 software.

Table 1 Revision History for LANplex 2500 Software

Revision Number	Description of Release
4.3.0	New features: · UDP Helper · IPX Snap Translation
4.2.0	New features: · IP Routing implemented · Support for the AUI and BNC Option Modules
4.0.1	Several bug fixes implemented
4.0.0	First release of LANplex 2500 system software

A

Administering AppleTalk Routing

This appendix describes how to set up your LANplex system to use the AppleTalk protocol to route packets. You can display and/or configure the following:

· AppleTalk interfaces

· Routes

· AARP cache

· Zones

· AppleTalk Forwarding

· Checksum generation/verification

· AppleTalk statistics

Configuring AppleTalk for Your System

You can access the AppleTalk routing functionality from the top-level menu of the Administration Console. See the menu below:

To configure your system for AppleTalk routing:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk

The following menu appears:

How to use the AppleTalk functionality is described in the following sections.

Administering Interfaces

You define interfaces to establish the relationship between the ports on your system and the subnets in your network. You must define one interface for each group of ports that are connected to the same subnet. This means that the system has one interface defined for each network to which it is directly connected.

The maximum number of interfaces you can configure per router is 18.

An AppleTalk interface has the following information associated with it:

· Seed Interface

You can configure the interface to be a seed interface or nonseed interface. Seed interfaces initialize the network with the configuration information the administrator enters (network range, address, zone name, and ports). Nonseed interfaces wait and listen for a seed interface and then take this configuration initialization information from the first seed interface they hear. After the nonseed interface obtains a network configuration, it begins to participate in the routing of the network.

· Network Range

A range of numbers used to designate a network segments identity. This allows the physical segment between two LANplex systems to be a range of multiple networks.

· Address

The AARP address based on the network range and the network node (1-253).

· Zone

The default zone name, as well as up to 15 additional defined zones.

· Ports

A single interface may contain several bridge ports. All of the ports corresponding to one interface share the same AppleTalk address, cost, and format. A LANplex 2500 system contains a maximum of eighteen ports: two FDDI and sixteen Ethernet. The port indices for the maximum configuration are the following: 1,2 = FDDI; 3 18 = Ethernet.

You do not have to include every system port in an interface (that is, some ports may remain unassigned). Packets will be bridged to and from unassigned ports. However, AppleTalk packets will not be forwarded to ports that are not assigned to an AppleTalk interface.

Displaying AppleTalk Interfaces

You can display a table that shows all AppleTalk interfaces and their parameter settings configured for the system.

To display the AppleTalk interfaces defined on the router:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk interface display

An example of interfaces defined is shown below:

Defining an Interface

When you define an interface, you define the interfaces network range, zone name, and the system ports associated with the interface.

To define an AppleTalk interface:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk interface define

You are prompted for the interfaces parameters. To use the value in brackets, press [Return] at the prompt.

The following message appears:

Configure seed interface? (n,y) [y]:

2 Enter n (no) or y (yes).

3 Enter the start of the network range associated with the interface.

4 Enter the end of the network range associated with the interface.

5 Enter the default zone name.

The default zone name is used by clients that have not been configured to use a particular zone.

6 Enter the zone name.

You can enter up to 16 zone names per interface.

7 Type q after entering all the zone names.

8 Enter the ports you want to include on the interface. Separate non-consecutive ports with commas (,). Enter a consecutive series of ports using a dash (-).

Removing an Interface

You may want to remove an interface if you no longer perform routing on the ports associated with the interface.

To remove an AppleTalk interface:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk interface remove

2 Enter the index number(s) of the interface(s) you want to remove.

The interface is no longer defined on the router.

Administering Routes

Your system maintains a table of routes to other AppleTalk networks. The routing table is generated automatically by the Routing Table Maintenance Protocol (RTMP). RTMP defines the rules for exchanging information between routers so that the routers can maintain their routing tables, as well as the rules for the information contained within each routing table.

Each routing table entry contains the following information:

· Network Range

A range of numbers used to designate a network segments identity.

· Distance

The distance in hops to the destination network

· Interface

The defined interface number

· State

The status (good, suspect, bad, or really bad) of each route.

Displaying the Routing Table

You can display the routing tables for the system to determine which routes are configured and if they are operational.

To display the contents of the routing table:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk route display

An example of a routing table display is shown below:

Flushing all Routes

Flushing deletes all dynamically learned routes from the routing table.

To flush all learned routes:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk route flush

Administering the AARP Cache

AARP allows hardware addresses to be mapped to an AppleTalk protocol address. AppleTalk uses dynamically assigned 24-bit addresses, unlike the statically-assigned 48-bit addresses used by Ethernet and token ring.

To make the address mapping process easier, AARP uses an Address Mapping Table (AMT). The most recently used addresses are maintained in the AMT. If an address is not in the AMT, AARP sends a request to the desired protocol address and the hardware address is added to the table when the destination node replies.

AARP is also responsible for registering a nodes dynamically assigned address on the network. This process is described below:

· AARP randomly assigns an address.

· AARP broadcasts AARP probe packets to this address to determine if another node is already using the address.

· If there is no reply, the address becomes that nodes address.

· If there is a reply, AARP repeats this process until an available address is discovered.

In the Administration Console, you can:

· Display the cache

· Remove entries

· Flush the cache

Displaying the AARP Cache

You can display the AARP Cache for the system to determine which routes are configured and if they are operational.

To display the contents of the AARP cache:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk aarp display

An example of an AARP cache display is shown below:

Removing an Entry in the Cache

To remove an AARP cache entry:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk aarp remove

You are prompted for a AARP address.

2 Enter the address at the prompt.

The entry is removed.

Flushing All Cache Entries

To flush all AARP cache entries:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk aarp flush

Displaying and Searching the Zone Table

AppleTalk allows for the logical grouping of nodes into zones to make navigation through the network easier. This is done with the Zone Information Protocol (ZIP). ZIP helps routers maintain a mapping of network numbers to zones in the entire network. To do this, ZIP creates and maintains a Zone Information Table (ZIT) in each router. The entries in this table match the network numbers with the zone names.

In the Administration Console, you can display the zone table either by network numbers or by zones.

To display the zone table:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk zone display network

OR

appletalk zone display zone

Depending on the command entered, the zone table is displayed by network or zone. An example of each type of display is shown below:

Configuring Forwarding

You can control whether the router forwards or discards AppleTalk packets addressed to other hosts. When you enable forwarding, the router processes packets as usual, forwarding AppleTalk packets from one subnet to another when required. When you disable IP forwarding, the router discards any AppleTalk packets not addressed directly to one of its defined interfaces.

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk forwarding

2 Enter enable or disable at the prompt.

Configuring Checksum Generation

Checksum generation is used to detect errors in the transmission of data. The checksum generation totals the bytes comprising the data and adds this sum to the end of the data packet. You can enable or disable this functionality.

To enable/disable the checksum generation:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk checksum generation

2 Enter enable or disable at the prompt.

Configuring Checksum Verification

The checksum verification allows you to verify the integrity of the data that is routed. You can enable or disable this functionality.

To enable/disable the checksum verification:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk checksum

2 Enter enable or disable verification at the prompt.

Pinging an AppleTalk Node

The AppleTalk Echo Protocol (AEP) sends a datagram (an Echo Request) from one node to another, which causes the destination node to return or echo, the datagram (an Echo Reply) to the sender. This allows you to determine whether a node is accessible before any sessions are started.

To ping an AppleTalk node:

1 At the Administration Consoles top-level menu, enter:

appletalk ping

You are prompted for a node address.

2 Enter the address of the node you want to ping.

If the node is accessible, you receive a response.

Viewing Appletalk Statistics

You can view statistics specific to the following AppleTalk protocols:

· Datagram Delivery Protocol (DDP)

· Routing Table Maintenance Protocol (RTMP)

· Zone Information Protocol (ZIP)

· Name Binding Protocol (NBP)

Displaying DDP Statistics

To display DDP statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk statistics ddp

An example of summary statistics is shown below:

The AppleTalk DDP statistics you can view are described in Table A-1:

Table A-1 AppleTalk Statistics

Field	Description
inReceives	Total number of packets received, including those with errors
inForwards	Total number of packets forwarded, including those with errors
inLocals	Number of DDP datagrams for which this entity was their final DDP destination
inNoRoutes	Number of DDP datagrams dropped because a route could not be found
inNoClients	Number of DDP datagrams dropped because of an unknown DDP type
inTooShorts	Number of input DDP datagrams dropped because the received data length was less than the data length specified in the DDP header or the received data length was less than the length of the expected DDP header
inTooLongs	Number of input DDP datagrams dropped because they exceeded the maximum DDP datagram size
inShortDdps	Number input DDP datagrams dropped because this entity was not their final destination and their type was short DDP
inCsumErrors	Number of DDP datagrams for which this DDP entity was their final destination, and which were dropped because of a checksum error
inBcastErrors	Number of DDP datagrams for which this DDP entity was their final destination, and which were dropped because of a broadcast error
inTooFars	Number of input datagrams dropped because this entity was not their final destination and their hop count would exceed 15
inDiscards	Number of DDP Datagrams thrown out during the routing process
outLocals	Number of host generated DDP datagrams

Displaying RTMP Information

To display RTMP statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk statistics rtmp

An example of summary statistics is shown below:

The RTMP statistics you can view are described in Table A-2:

Table A-2 RTMP Statistics

Field	Description
inDatas	Number of good RTMP data packets received
inRequests	Number of good RTMP request packets received
outDatas	Number of good RTMP data packets sent
outRequests	Number of RTMP request packets sent
routeEqChgs	Number of times RTMP changes the Next Internet Router in a routing entry because the hop count advertised in a routing table was equal to the current hop count for a particular network
routeLessChgs	Number of times RTMP changes the Next Internet Router in a routing entry because the hop count advertised in a routing table was less than the current hop count for a particular network
routeDeletes	Number of times RTMP deletes a route because it was aged out of the table
routeOverflows	Number of times RTMP attempted to add a route to the RTMP table but failed due to lack of space
inVersionErrs	Number of RTMP packets received that were rejected due to a version mismatch
inOtherErrs	Number of RTMP packets received that were rejected for an error other than due to a version mismatch

Displaying ZIP Information

To display ZIP statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk statistics zip

An example of summary statistics is shown below:

The ZIP statistics you can view are described in Table A-3:

Table A-3 ZIP Statistics

Field	Description
inQueries	Number of ZIP queries received
inReplies	Number of ZIP replies received
inExReplies	Number of ZIP extended replies received
inGniRequests	Number of ZIP GetNetInfo packets received
inGniReplies	Number of ZIP GetNetInfo reply packets received on this port
inLocalZones	Number of Zip GetLocalZones requests packets received
inZoneLists	Number of Zip GetZoneLists requests packets received
inObsoletes	Number of ZIP Takedown or ZIP Bringup packets received
inZoneCons	Number of times a conflict has been detected between this entitys zone information and another entitys zone information
inZoneInvs	Number of times this entity has received a ZIP GetNetInfo reply with the zone invalid bit set because the corresponding GetNetInfo request had an invalid zone name
inErrors	Number of ZIP packets received that were rejected for any error
outQueries	Number of ZIP queries sent
outReplies	Number of ZIP replies sent
outExReplies	Number of ZIP extended replies sent
outGniRequests	Number of ZIP GetNetInfo packets sent
outGniReplies	Number of ZIP GetNetInfo reply packets sent out of this port
outzoneInvs	Number of times this entity has sent a ZIP GetNetInfo reply with the zone invalid bit set in response to a GetNetInfo request with an invalid zone name
outAddrInvs	Number of times this entity had to broadcast a ZIP GetNetInfo reply because the GetNetInfo request had an invalid address

Displaying NBP Information

The NBP handles the translations between the numeric internet address and the alphanumeric entity names used by AppleTalk.

To display NBP statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

appletalk statistics nbp

An example of summary statistics is shown below:

The NBP statistics you can view are described in Table A-4:

Table A-4 NBP Statistics

Field	Description
inLkupReqs	Number of NBP Lookup Requests received
inBcastsReqs	Number of NBP Broadcast Requests received
inFwdReqs	Number of NBP Forward Requests received
inLkupReplies	Number of NBP Lookup Replies received
inErrors	Number of NBP packets received that were rejected for any error

B

Administering IPX Routing

This chapter describes how to set up your LANplex system to use the Internet Packet Exchange (IPX) protocol to route packets. For more information about how IPX works, see Part III: Routing in the LANplex 2500 Operation Guide.

You can display and/or configure the following:

· IPX interfaces

· Routes

· Servers

· IPX forwarding

· Routing Information Protocol (RIP)

· Enhanced RIP mode

· Service Advertising Protocol (SAP)

· IPX statistics

Configuring IPX for Your System

You can access the IPX routing functionality from the top-level menu of the Administration Console. See the menu below:

To configure your system for IPX routing:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx

The following menu appears:

How to use the IPX functionality is described in the following sections.

Administering Interfaces

You define interfaces to establish the relationship between the ports on your system and the network in your IPX network. You must define one interface for each group of ports that are connected to the same network. This means that the system has one interface defined for each network to which it is directly connected.

An IPX interface has the following information associated with it:

· IPX Network Address

This is a 4-byte address set by the network administrator. Each address within the network should be unique.

· Cost

This is the number between one and fifteen that is used when calculating route metrics. Unless your network has special requirements, you should assign a cost of 1 to all interfaces.

· Encapsulation Format

There are four Ethernet encapsulation formats and two FDDI encapsulation formats used in IPX routing. The Ethernet encapsulation formats are Ethernet Type II, Novell 802.3 raw, 802.2 LLC, and 802.3 SNAP. The FDDI encapsulation formats are FDDI 802.2 and FDDI SNAP. The two FDDI encapsulation formats correspond to the Ethernet 802.2 LLC and 802.3 SNAP encapsulation formats. If you select either of these Ethernet encapsulation formats, the corresponding FDDI encapsulation format is automatically selected for shared Ethernet and FDDI ports.

· Ports

A single interface may contain several bridge ports. All of the ports corresponding to one interface share the same IPX address, cost, and encapsulation format. A LANplex 2500 system contains a maximum of eighteen ports: two FDDI and sixteen Ethernet. The port indices for the maximum configuration are the following: 1,2 = FDDI; 3 18 = Ethernet.

You do not have to include every system port in an interface (that is, some ports may remain unassigned). Packets will be bridged to and from unassigned ports. However, IPX packets will not be forwarded to ports that are not assigned to an IPX interface.

Displaying IPX Interfaces

You can display a table that shows all IPX interfaces and their parameter settings configured for the system.

To display IPX interface information:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx interface display

As shown in the following example, the current configuration is displayed. It contains IPX forwarding and RIP and SAP information for the system as well as IPX interface information.

Defining an Interface

When you define an interface, you define the interfaces IPX address, cost, format, and the system ports associated with the interface.

To define an IPX interface:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx interface define

You are prompted for the interfaces parameters. To use the value in brackets, press [Return] at the prompt.

2 Enter the IPX network address of the interface.

3 Enter the cost of the interface.

4 Enter the format of the interface.

5 Enter the port(s) that you want to include in the interface. Separate non-consecutive ports with commas (,). Enter a consecutive series of ports using a dash (-).

See the example below:

Modifying an Interface

You may want to change the configuration of an interface you have already defined.

To modify an IPX interface:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx interface modify

You are prompted for the interface parameters. Press [Return] at the prompts for which you do not want to modify the value.

2 Modify the existing interface parameters by entering a new value at the prompt.

Removing an Interface

You may want to remove an interface if you no longer perform routing on the ports associated with the interface.

To remove an IPX interface definition:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx interface remove

2 Enter the index number(s) of the interface(s) you want to remove.

Administering Routes

Your system maintains a table of routes to other IPX networks. You can either use the Routing Information Protocol (RIP) to exchange routing information automatically or make static entries in this table using the Administration Console.

Each routing table entry contains the following information:

· Address

The 4-byte IPX network address of a segment currently known to the router.

· Hops

The number of routers that must be crossed to reach the network segment. The maximum number of routers a packet can cross is fifteen. The maximum number of routers an IPX NetBIOS packet can cross is seven.

· Tics

An estimate of how long it will take the packet to reach this segment. A tic is approximately 55 ms.

· Node

The 6-byte address of the router that can forward packets to the segment. A node address of all zeroes (00-00-00-00-00-00) means that the route is connected directly to the router.

· Age

This is the number of seconds that have elapsed since the last time the route was heard from.

Displaying the Routing Table

You can display the routing tables for the system to determine which routes are configured and if they are operational.

To display the contents of the routing table:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx route display

In the following example, routes for an EFSM in slot 3 are displayed. The configuration of IPX forwarding, RIP, and SAP is indicated in the display.

Defining a Static Route

Prior to defining static routes on the system, you must define at least one IPX interface (see the section Defining an Interface on page B-4). Static routes remain in the table until you remove them, or until you remove the corresponding interface. Static routes take precedence over dynamically-learned routes to the same destination. You can set up to a total of 16 static routes.

To define a static route:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx route static

2 Enter the 4-byte IPX network address of the route.

3 Enter the cost of the route.

4 Enter the interface number of the route.

5 Enter the node address of the route.

A static route is defined in the following example:

Removing a Route

To remove a route:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx route remove

2 Enter the 4-byte IPX network address.

The route is immediately deleted from the routing table.

Flushing Routes

Flushing deletes all dynamically-learned routes from the routing table.

To flush all learned routes:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx route flush

All learned routes are immediately deleted from the routing table.

Administering Servers

Your system maintains a table of servers on other IPX networks. You can either use the Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) to exchange server information automatically or make static entries in this table using the Administration Console.

Each server table contains the following information:

· Name

The user-defined name of the server.

· Type

The type of service provided by the server.

· Node

The 6-byte address of the server that can forward packets to the segment.

· Socket

The 2-byte socket address on which the server will receive service requests.

· Hops

The number of networks that must be crossed to reach the server. The maximum number is fifteen.

· Age

This is the number of seconds that have elapsed since the last time a server in the table was heard from.

Displaying the Server Table

You can display the server tables for the system to determine which routes are configured and if they are operational.

To display the contents of the server table:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx server display

In the following example, servers known to an EFSM in slot 3 are displayed. The configuration of IPX forwarding, RIP, and SAP is indicated in the display.

Defining a Static Server

Prior to defining static servers on the system, you must define at least one IPX interface (see the section Defining an Interface on page B-4). Static servers remain in the table until you remove them, or until you remove the corresponding interface. Static servers take precedence over dynamically-learned servers to the same destination. You can have a maximum of eight static servers.

To define a static server:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx server static

2 Enter the interface number of the server.

3 Enter the service type of the server.

4 Enter the service name of the server.

5 Enter the IPX network address of the server.

6 Enter the socket value of the server.

7 Enter the node address of the server.

8 Enter the number of hops to the server.

A static server is defined in the following example:

Removing a Server

To remove a server:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx server remove

2 Enter the service type of the server.

3 Enter the service name of the server.

The server is immediately deleted from the server table.

Flushing Servers

Flushing deletes all dynamically-learned servers from the server table.

To flush all learned servers:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx server flush

All learned servers are immediately deleted from the server table.

Setting IPX Forwarding

You can control whether the system forwards or discards IPX packets addressed to other routers. When you enable IPX forwarding, the system acts as a normal IPX router, forwarding IPX packets from one network to another when required. When you disable IPX forwarding, the system discards any IPX packets not addressed directly to one of its defined IPX interfaces.

IPX forwarding default

By default, IPX forwarding is disabled.

To enable or disable IPX forwarding:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx forwarding

2 Enter the IPX forwarding state (enabled or disabled). To use the value in brackets, press [Return] at the prompt.

Setting the RIP Mode

You can select a RIP mode that is appropriate for your network. RIP can operate in any of three modes:

· Off The system ignores all incoming RIP packets and does not generate any RIP packets of its own.

· Passive The system processes all incoming RIP packets, responds to RIP requests, but does not broadcast periodic or triggered RIP updates.

· Active The system processes all incoming RIP packets, responds to explicit requests for routing information, and broadcasts periodic and triggered RIP updates.

RIP default mode

By default, RIP is off.

To set the RIP operating mode:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx rip

2 Enter the RIP mode (off, passive, or active). To use the value in brackets, press [Return] at the prompt.

Setting the Enhanced RIP Mode

Standard IPX RIP packets can include up to 50 route advertisements, but some routers allow up to 68. Enhanced RIP mode increases the number of entries in a RIP packet that the system will accept, allowing the system to have greater interoperability with routers that do not explicitly follow the IPX router implementation guidelines.

Enhanced RIP default

By default, enhanced RIP is disabled.

To enable or disable enhanced RIP mode:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx enhanced

2 Enter the enhanced RIP state (enabled or disabled). To use the value in brackets, press [Return] at the prompt.

Setting the SAP Mode

You can select a SAP mode that is appropriate for your network. SAP can operate in any of three modes:

· Off The system ignores all incoming SAP packets and does not generate any SAP packets of its own.

· Passive The system processes all incoming SAP packets, responds to SAP requests, but does not broadcast periodic or triggered SAP updates.

Active The system processes all incoming SAP packets, responds to explicit requests for routing information, and broadcasts periodic and triggered SAP updates.

SAP default mode

By default, SAP is off.

To set the SAP operating mode:

1 From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx sap

2 Enter the SAP mode (off, passive, or active). To use the value in brackets, press [Return] at the prompt.

Displaying Statistics

The Administration Console allows you to display four types of IPX-related statistics:

· IPX statistics

· IPX RIP statistics

· IPX SAP statistics

· IPX Forwarding statistics

Displaying IPX Statistics

To display IPX statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx statistics summary

Statistics are displayed, as shown in the example below:

The IPX statistics you can view are described in Table B-2.

Table B-1 IPX Statistics

Field	Description
Received	Number of IPX packets received
Transmitted	Number of IPX packets transmitted
Dropped	Number of IPX packets dropped
Msg Pool Empty	Number of IPX RIP or IPX SAP messages delivered to the IPX application that are dropped due to resource limitations

Displaying IPX RIP Statistics

To display IPX RIP statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx statistics rip

Statistics are displayed, as shown in the example below:

The IPX RIP statistics you can view are described in Table B-2.

Table B-2 IPX RIP Statistics

Field	Description
RIP Received	Number of IPX RIP packets received
RIP Transmitted	Number of IPX RIP packets transmitted
RIP Dropped	Number of IPX RIP packets dropped
RIP Responses	Number of IPX RIP Responses that have been processed
RIP Requests	Number of IPX RIP Requests that have been processed
RIP Entries	Number of routes in the routing table

Displaying IPX SAP Statistics

To display IPX SAP statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx statistics sap

Statistics are displayed, as shown in the example below:

The IPX SAP statistics you can view are described in Table B-2.

Table B-3 IPX SAP Statistics

Field	Description
SAP Received	Number of IPX SAP packets received
SAP Transmitted	Number of IPX SAP packets transmitted
SAP Dropped	Number of IPX SAP packets dropped
SAP Responses	Number of IPX SAP Responses that have been processed
SAP Requests	Number of IPX SAP Requests that have been processed
ISAP Entries	Number of servers in the server table
SAP GNS Responses	Number of IPX SAP Get Nearest Service Responses that have been received
ISAP GNS Requests	Number of IPX SAP Get Nearest Service Requests processed

Displaying IPX FP Statistics

To display IPX Forwarding statistics:

From the Administration Console top-level menu, enter:

ipx statistics fp

Statistics are displayed, as shown in the example below:

The IPX Forwarding statistics you can view are described in Table B-2.

Table B-4 IPX FP Statistics

Field	Description
Received	Number of IPX Forwarding packets received
Transmitted	Number of IPX Forwarding packets transmitted
Forwarded	Number of IPX packets forwarded by the IPX router
Hdr Errors	Number of IPX packets dropped due to IPX Network layer header errors
Hop Count Errors	Number of IPX packets dropped due to exceeded maximum transport control
Addr Errors	Number of IPX packet dropped due to IPX Address errors in network layer header
No Routes	Number of IPX packets dropped because the IPX route is unknown
Misc Errors	Number of multicasts attempted to be forwarded
NetBios Rx	Number of IPX NetBIOS packets received
NetBios Tx	Number of IPX NetBIOS packets transmitted
NetBios Max Hops	Number of IPX NetBIOS packets that exceeded the Transport control maximum
Host Rx	Number of IPX packets delivered to the IPX hosts RIP and SAP applications
Host Tx	Number of IPX packets transmitted from IPX hosts RIP and SAP applications

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