IPX/SPX Programming Manual

Addressing
HP NonStop IPX/SPX Programming Manual—528022-001
2-4
Supported NetWare Protocols
If the destination address of an IPX packet contains a network field value that is
different from the source address, IPX consults the RIP routing table to determine the
best route on which to send the packet. See the IPX/SPX Configuration and
Management Manual.
IPX addresses are typically displayed in hexadecimal notation. An example of an IPX
address is:
000000F2:00001B30DD8C:0451
IPX and SPXII Socket Numbers
IPX and SPXII sockets allow an application running on a system to distinguish the
packets that are intended for it from packets for other applications on the same system.
IPX and SPXII sockets function similar to BSD TCP and UDP ports. Before an
application can send or receive packets over the NetWare network, it must specify an
IPX or SPXII socket. SPXII socket numbers are used by applications running over the
SPXII protocol. IPX socket numbers are used by applications running over the IPX
protocol. IPX and SPXII socket numbers must be unique within a system, but the same
socket number can be used on different systems. Novell has designated certain ranges
of socket numbers for specific purposes. For example, IPX delivers NCP packets to
socket 0x451. Table 2-2
and Table 2-3 show the socket numbers and their uses with
the IPX and SPXII protocols, respectively.
Node identifies a specific machine within a network. The node field is
usually related to the physical address of the network adapter.
On Ethernet LANs, the node field is the MAC address of the
LAN adapter or controller. The combination of the network and
node fields is used by IPX to transmit packets within a NetWare
internetwork. On a NonStop system, the node address is the
same as the MAC address of the LAN controller. Because there
is only one LAN port associated with an IPXPROTO process,
the node address maps directly to a configured IPXPROTO
process.
Socket identifies the higher-level protocol and/or application within a
specific node. IPX uses the IPX packet type field and the IPX or
SPXII socket number to identify the process for which an
incoming packet is intended.
Note. A BSD Internet Protocol (IP) port is equivalent to a Novell socket. Throughout this
manual, socket refers to the BSD definition of a socket, that is, an end point for
communication. An IPX or SPXII socket, or a socket number, refers to the socket address
portion of the IPX address.
Note. In addition to an IPX or SPXII socket, a NonStop IPX/SPX communications session
requires additional BSD socket end points on the source and destination nodes. BSD sockets
are created by the socket[_nw] calls. For more information on creating sockets, see
Section 5, Library Routines
.