Chapter 8Chapter 8 IPX Routing Configuration GuideIPX Routing OverviewThe Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is a datagram connectionless protocol for theNovell NetWare environment. You can configure the SSR for IPX routing and SAP.Routers interconnect different network segments and by definitions are network layerdevices. Thus routers receive their instructions for forwarding a packet from onesegment to another from a network layer protocol. IPX, with the help of RIP and SAP,perform these Network Layer Task. These tasks include addressing, routing, andswitching information packets from one location to another on the internetwork.IPX defines internetwork and intranode addressing schemes. IPX internetwork ad-dressing is based on network numbers assigned to each network segment on a NovellNetWare internetwork. The IPX intranode address comes in the form of socket num-bers. Because several processes are normally operating within a node, socket numbersprovide a way for each process to distinguish itself.The IPX packet consists of two parts: a 30-byte header and a data portion. The networknode and socket addresses for both the destination and source are held within the IPXheader.RIP (Routing Information Protocol)IPX routers use RIP to create and dynamically maintain a database of internetworkrouting information. RIP allows a router to exchange routing information with aneighboring router. As a router becomes aware of any change in the internetworklayout, this information is immediately broadcast to any neighboring routers. Routersalso send periodic RIP broadcast packets containing all routing information known tothe router.The SSR uses IPX RIP to create and maintain a database of internetwork routing in-formation. The SSR's implementation of RIP allows the following exchanges of infor-mation:• Workstations locate the fastest route to a network number by broadcasting a routerequest.• Routers request routing information from other routers to update their own internaltables by broadcasting a route request.• Routers respond to route requests from workstations and other routers.• Routers perform periodic broadcasts to make sure that all other routers are aware ofthe internetwork configuration.
