IPX, the protocol most often associated with NetWare, resides at the bottom-most layer of the stack, and provides the "network" functions for the rest of the suite. IPX tracks the various network segments available on the network, and directs the delivery of data accordingly.
IPX addresses are 64-bit, hexadecimal strings. They are based on a combination of a manually- defined network number and the unique hardware signature of the devices on the network, as shown in Figure A.5 below. Most of the time, the network portion of the address is assigned by a NetWare server or router, and the clients simply read the network number during startup. If no local NetWare server exists, then a router may be configured to "seed" the network, or clients can be assigned a network address manually.
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The complete IPX address is made of the network and node addresses combined. For example, the complete IPX address of the NetWare server in is "00000001:000094058968".
Because the node addresses are actually the hardware addresses of the network adapter, systems can communicate directly without having to locate the hardware address first. If a destination system is on the local network segment, then IPX packets are handed directly to it. If the destination system is on a remote network, the data is handed to a router for delivery.
NOTE: IPX does not guarantee delivery, or provide error-correction services. These functions are left to the transport protocols like SPX and PEP.
For more information on SPX, refer to section A.3.2 Sequenced Packet Exchange (SPX). For more information on PEP and NCP, refer to section A.3.3 Packet Exchange Protocol (PEP) and the NetWare Core Protocol (NCP). For more information on SAP, refer to section A.3.4 Service Advertisement Protocol (SAP). For more information on IPX routing, refer to section A.3.5 Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and NetWare Link State Protocol (NLSP).
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