Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!hedrick From: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans Subject: Re: Novell: fear and loathing... Keywords: novell ethernet Message-ID: Date: 4 Nov 90 04:28:45 GMT References: <15581@cbmvax.commodore.com> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 39 To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com We handle IP, DECnet, Appletalk, and Novell on our campuswide network, using cisco routers. For convenience in network administration, we tie the network numbers together. Novell needs a 32-bit network address. We use the IP network number. Some newer Novell machines need a separate network number of individual machines. We use the IP address of the machine for that. I don't know of any major misbehaviors that would affect other protocols. Novell uses a couple of routing protocols that behave more or less like RIP, and they use broadcasts in reasonably sensible ways. The only problem I've heard is that the default setup uses a packet format that looks like it is IEEE 802.2 (i.e. a length code instead of a packet type), but isn't. If a system that understands IEEE 802.2 sees the packet, it finds all ones where it would expect an NSAP. This is supposed to mean "all destinations". Some other protocol stacks apparently get confused. One solution is to run a utility called ECONFIG, which sets things up so that Novell uses its assigned Ethernet type code in the Ethernet header. This prevents other protocols from looking at its packets. I haven't seen this problem myself, though we use ECONFIG on most of our nets, so I guess I wouldn't expect to. I think doing corporate Email using a proprietary protocol such as Novell is a terrible idea. Novell is a neat way for PC's to talk to servers intended to deliver PC-specific services. But you'd like connectivity outside of your PC LAN to be done using TCP/IP, so that you can talk to other types of computer. If there's a gateway from Novell's mail to SMTP, then I guess I wouldn't object to using Novell's mail software, but I'd configure it so the corporate-wide mail is done using SMTP. Our Macs and IBM PC's use Appletalk and Novell respectively for PC services, but also have P.D. TCP/IP software for network-wide services. (We also have a site license for Multinet, so our DECnet machines also run TCP/IP.) For the IBM PC's, this means using packet drivers, so that Novell and something like NCSA Telnet can talk to the Ethernet card at the same time. I strongly recommend that you do something like this, so you don't build up islands of mutually non-communicating systems.