Introduction to Networking for NonStop S-Series Servers

Application Programming With Communications
Products
Introduction to Networking for HP NonStop S-Series Servers—520670-005
3-18
Using Standards-Based Interfaces
Using Standards-Based Interfaces
Some communications products offer programming interfaces that do not consist of
file-system procedure calls. Examples of such products are NonStop TCP/IP and Open
Systems Interconnection/Application Services (OSI/AS). These and other similar
products are described in more detail in NonStop TCP/IP and NonStop OSI/AS and
OSI/FTAM, both on this page.
NonStop TCP/IP
HP NonStop TCP/IP Socket Library routines are based on the Berkeley Software
Distribution (BSD) 4.3 implementation of the UNIX operating system. These routines
allow programmers familiar with the BSD sockets interface to develop applications for
the NonStop Kernel operating system. Applications that exist on other systems and
use BSD sockets can be easily ported to the NonStop S-series server using this
interface. NonStop TCP/IP is described in Section 10, TCP/IP Network Connections.
OSS sockets are not BSD and have their own set of functions. For more information
about OSS sockets, see the OSS Porting Guide and the OSS Programmer’s Guide.
NonStop OSI/AS and OSI/FTAM
In the OSI architecture, communication between applications and the OSI Application
Layer, Presentation Layer, or Session Layer is through use of layer-specific primitives.
The programmatic interface to OSI/AS is a set of procedures, called the Application,
Presentation, and Session (APS) procedures, designed to resemble the primitives. The
procedures are the same regardless of the layer the application is using; parameters
are different for different layers. APS procedures handle all communication with the
underlying subsystem processes, so the application programmer need not be
concerned with those components. Because the interface is based on standards, you
can conveniently port existing OSI applications from other systems to the NonStop
S-series server. Section 8, Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Network Connections,
describes HP NonStop OSI/AS and includes a diagram of the OSI Reference Model.
HP OSI/FTAM also offers a programming interface in which the procedures correspond
directly to primitives defined in the standard. OSI/FTAM is described in Section 8,
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Network Connections.
NonStop IPX/SPX
HP NonStop Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (HP
NonStop IPX/SPX) allows Novell Netware clients to access HP OLTP or database
services directly from their Novell network. IPX/SPX supports an open, standards-
based program interface for custom network-based application development. The
Sockets Library routines are based on those in the 4.3 BSD version, with HP
extensions. IPX/SPX is described in Section 9, Local Area Network (LAN)
Connections.