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Internetwork packet exchange (ipx), Ipx address, Socket – Netopia Router PN Series User Manual

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5-2

Reference Guide

Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX)

IPX is a datagram, connectionless protocol that Novell adapted from
Xerox Network System’s (XNS) Internet Datagram Protocol (IDP). IPX
is dynamically routed, and the routing architecture works by
“learning” network addressing automatically.

IPX address

An IPX address consists of a network number, a node number, and a
socket number. An IPX network number is composed of eight
hexadecimal digits. The network number must be the same for all
nodes on a particular physical network segment. The node number
is composed of twelve hexadecimal digits and is usually the
hardware address of the inter face card. The node number must be
unique inside the particular IPX network. Socket numbers
correspond to the particular service being accessed.

Socket

A socket in IPX is the equivalent of a port in TCP/IP. Sockets route
packets to different processes within a single node. Novell has
reserved several sockets for use in the NetWare environment:

Field Value

Packet Type

Description

00h

Unknown Packet Type

Used for all packets not

classified by any other type

01h

Routing Information
Packet

Unused for RIP packets

04h

Service Advertising
Packet

Used for SAP packets

05h

Sequenced Packet

Used for SPX packets

11h

NetWare Core Protocol
Packet

Used for NCP packets

14h

Propagated Packet

Used for Novell NetBIOS