abels@pac.uucp (Meno Abels) (11/01/90)
Hallo Is there some documentation(specification) available for Novell LAN-protocols? Thanks in advance Meno Abels # abels@pac.uucp, PAC Technology GmbH Berlin # abels%pac.uucp%tub.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu Kurfuerstenstr. 112 # mcvax!unido!tub!pac!abels D-1000 Berlin 30 # have a good night and day Germany # Home 030-8345288,PAC 030-2139200,FAX 030-2139155
haas%basset.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Walt Haas) (11/02/90)
In article <1990Oct31.223449.11458@pac.uucp> abels@pac.uucp (Meno Abels) writes: >Is there some documentation(specification) available for Novell LAN-protocols? Novell is XNS, Xerox publishes the spec. -- Walt Haas haas@ski.utah.edu
ron@Eyring.COM (Ron Holt) (11/03/90)
In article <1990Oct31.223449.11458@pac.uucp> abels@pac.uucp (Meno Abels) writes: >Hallo > >Is there some documentation(specification) available for Novell LAN-protocols? > It depends on which layers of their protocols you are interested in. The lowest levels (IPX, SPX) are documented by Novell and available from them. These protocols are derived from Xerox's XNS, though I don't believe XNS and IPX/SPX are totally interoperable (if at all). The situation is different with NCP. The Novell Netware Core Protocol (NCP) is considered proprietary by Novell. An outline of what NCP does is covered in one of their technical reference manuals (sorry, I don't remember which one). I do recall reading in the Netware Technical Journal about a year ago that the NCP specification could be purchased, but that it cost many thousands of dollars. I've been told by one of the Novell engineers that NCP could probably be figured out by using a Network General "Sniffer" network protocol analyzer. The Sniffer can recognize and decode NCP packets. However, this guy's boss immediately pointed out in our discussion that Novell's lawyers would become even richer if some tried to reverse engineer NCP and build a product using it without licensing the protocol from Novell. They defended this position by contrasting their views with that of Sun and NFS. Sun's valued "intellectual property" was contained in their client side code, not in their server code. The opposite is true from Novell's point-of-view. They give away code to use Netware as a client but consider their server technology and protocol proprietary. Anyway, hope this helps. -- Ron Holt ron@Eyring.COM uunet!lanai!ron Eyring Inc. +1 801-375-2434 x434
ron@Eyring.COM (Ron Holt) (11/05/90)
In article <1990Oct31.223449.11458@pac.uucp> abels@pac.uucp (Meno Abels) writes: > >Is there some documentation(specification) available for Novell LAN-protocols? > I tracked down the following information. I comes from page 150 of the "NetWare Technical Journal", vol. 1, no. 1, January 1989: Peer-to-Peer Protocols for DOS. "IPX, SPX and NetBIOS libraries and documentation that allow developer's distribute Novell peer-to-peer communication protocols and LAN drivers with their applications. Price: US$10,000" NetWare Core Protocol (NCP). "Documentation of NetWare's client-server protocol. Contains specifications for the data portion of the IPX request/reply packets sent between workstations and file servers. Price: US$10,000" "Available from Developer Relations (801) 379-7508, FAX (801) 377-9353, or by calling Product Information (800) LAN-KIND." This same issue, on page 15, contains an article discussing Novell's view of the subjects of "prorietary" and "openness". -- Ron Holt ron@Eyring.COM uunet!lanai!ron Eyring Inc. +1 801-375-2434 x434