Setting Up; Turning Off Ipx Packet Forwarding - Novell NetWare 6 Manual

3

Setting Up

®
Novell Internet Access Server 4.1 routing software provides a set of
configurable parameters with which you can modify operational
characteristics of the Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX ) network
TM TM
protocol. You configure all IPX parameters from the Novell Internet Access
Server Configuration utility (NIASCFG).

Turning Off IPX Packet Forwarding

As a typical part of its operation, a NetWare file server forwards (routes) IPX
packets between its network interfaces. By disabling the Packet Forwarding
parameter, you turn off IPX packet forwarding on a NetWare file server. This
is useful when you have more than one NetWare system on a network and you
want to make more computing resources available for file and print services.
A server with IPX packet forwarding disabled still operates as a file server, but
broadcasts only its own services and internal network number—not those
associated with its network interfaces. A server operating in this way is
sometimes called a multihomed server. Although a multihomed server does
not reply to routing requests from NetWare workstations, it still accepts
incoming RIP and SAP broadcasts to maintain its bindery.
Figure 11 on page 52 shows how the tasks of routing and file service can be
divided between a NetWare file server and a dedicated router on the same
network. Typically, the task of routing IPX traffic between the two
internetworks is shared by the router and the file server. When you disable
IPX packet forwarding on the file server, the dedicated router assumes the task
of routing all IPX traffic. The file server, now free from the tasks of routing
IPX packets and answering route requests, can devote its full processing
resources to file service.
51
Setting Up