Chapter 6 - Appletalk Setup; Appletalk Setup - Netopia 435 Reference Manual

AppleTalk Setup

6-3
The Router assigns a unique network number to each member
network. In terms of the city street metaphor, the network number is
like the same name of the city. Putting a network number together
with a node number fully specifies the address of a node on an
internet.
To make the services on an internet manageable, groups of devices
on a network can be grouped into zones. When this is done,
selecting a network service (printer, etc.) includes choosing a zone
from which the service can be selected. Like network numbers,
zone names are assigned by routers.
A routing table is maintained by each AppleTalk router. The table
serves as a map of the internet, specifying the path and distance,
in hops, between its router and other networks. The routing table is
used to determine whether a router will forward a data packet and,
if so, to which network.
You can use the information in the AppleTalk routing table to
observe and diagnose the Netopia ISDN Router's current
connections to other AppleTalk routers. To go to the AT Routing
Table screen from the Netopia ISDN Router's console, select
Statistics, Utilities, Tests from the Main Menu and then select
Routing Tables and AppleTalk Routing Table.