[comp.sys.novell] ARCNET/ETHERNET routing

roe@unibase.uucp (Roe Peterson) (05/31/91)

This may be an old question - please forgive me if so.

I've got an arcnet novell 2.20 setup;  is there some way to
set up the dedicated server to route incoming arcnet ip-in-arcnet
packets as ip packets over an ethernet?

The goal is to permit telnet (etc) to access a unix ethernet without
buying ethercards for all the servers.

-- 

						  Roe Peterson
						  uunet!sobeco!unibase!roe
						  roe@unibase.UUCP

barrett@Daisy.EE.UND.AC.ZA (Alan P Barrett) (06/01/91)

In article <1991May31.060428.1643@unibase.uucp>,
roe@unibase.uucp (Roe Peterson) writes:
> I've got an arcnet novell 2.20 setup;  is there some way to
> set up the dedicated server to route incoming arcnet ip-in-arcnet
> packets as ip packets over an ethernet?

I don't know what you mean by "the dedicated server".

Do you really mean ip-over-arcnet (as per RFC 1051), or
ip-over-ethernet-over-ipx-over-arcnet (ip-over-ethernet as per RFC 894,
ethernet-over-ipx as supplied by the IPXPKT packet driver, and
ipx-over-arcnet as supplied by Novell), or ip-over-802.2-over-ipx-over
arcnet (ip-over-802 as per RFC 1042, 802.2-over-ipx as per RFC 1132) or
something else?

Not much software supports ip-over-arcnet (ka9q is the only one I know
of, though there are probably others).

Woolongong WIN-TCP uses ip-over-802.2-over-ipx, and can route between
that and ip-over-ethernet, but I don't know of anything else that uses
ip-over-802.2-over-ipx.

Many people are using ip-over-(ipxpkt)ethernet-over-ipx, and this is
what I would recommend.  It works well, and has the advantage that
software can treat it just like any other ethernet packet driver.  In
particular, PC Route or KA9Q can be set up to route between it and
ip-over-(genuine)ethernet, and all the popular packet driver
applications work with it.

> The goal is to permit telnet (etc) to access a unix ethernet without
> buying ethercards for all the servers.

With recent versions of IPXPKT, a single PC-based IP router (PC Route or
KA9Q) can be used to link your Novell net to your TCP/IP ethernet, even
if your Novell net is actually composed of several networks joined by
Novell "bridges" (which are really IPX routers).

--apb
Alan Barrett, Dept. of Electronic Eng., Univ. of Natal, Durban, South Africa
RFC822: barrett@ee.und.ac.za             Bang: m2xenix!quagga!undeed!barrett

dll@sirius.cc.utexas.edu (Don Loflin) (06/05/91)

>> I've got an arcnet novell 2.20 setup;  is there some way to
>> set up the dedicated server to route incoming arcnet ip-in-arcnet
>> packets as ip packets over an ethernet?

If you upgrade to Netware 386 3.11, you can use it as a router for IP
from ARCnet to ethernet.  Alternatively, but not as reliable, you could
use PCroute or KA9Q.

>Not much software supports ip-over-arcnet (ka9q is the only one I know
>of, though there are probably others).

Novell's LAN Workplace supports ip-over-arcnet, which works with the IP
router in 3.11 NetWare.  It includes telnet, ftp, etc, and there is
an NFS implementation available. (Beame & Whiteside).   If ODIPKT
becomes available with support for ARCNET framing, packet driver apps
can be used with a 3.11 router.

You could use PCroute or KA9Q with either scheme (ip over arcnet, or
ip inside of ipx), but with the Netware server, you can only use ip-over
arcnet.  We've had problems with KA9Q crashing/locking up a lot, and
thus opted for the NetWare router.  

>Many people are using ip-over-(ipxpkt)ethernet-over-ipx, and this is
>what I would recommend.  It works well, and has the advantage that
>software can treat it just like any other ethernet packet driver.  In
>particular, PC Route or KA9Q can be set up to route between it and
>ip-over-(genuine)ethernet, and all the popular packet driver
>applications work with it.

>> The goal is to permit telnet (etc) to access a unix ethernet without
>> buying ethercards for all the servers.
>
>With recent versions of IPXPKT, a single PC-based IP router (PC Route or
>KA9Q) can be used to link your Novell net to your TCP/IP ethernet, even
>if your Novell net is actually composed of several networks joined by
>Novell "bridges" (which are really IPX routers).

That is the advantage in using IPX-encapsulation: it's transparent to the
ipx network topology;  however, as I said, then you're depending on 
software which is likely less reliable, and certainly slower.  You
also have to dedicate a machine (& ethernet card) to the task of routing, 
which is O.K if you have the extra resources, but may not be an option
for some.  If you've already got a 3.11 server, it makes more sense to
use it for IP routing.

- - - - - - -
 Don Loflin
 Univ. of Texas at Austin
 Computation Center
 dll@emx.utexas.edu   (512) 471-3241
"A little birdie whispered it to me. Honestly! It made me say it!"