3Com 4007, Implementation Manual, Page: 510 / 684

510 C
HAPTER
20: IPX R
OUTING
Key Concepts
This section explains how IPX routing works and provides a glossary of IPX
routing terms.
How IPX Routing
Works
To route packets using the IPX protocol, take these general steps:
1 Define an IPX protocol or a virtual LAN (VLAN) with a grouping of ports.
2 Define an IPX routing interface.
3 Decide which IPX route and server options you want to use and select
these options from the Administration Console.
4 Enable IPX forwarding.
The IPX routing interface defines the relationship between an IPX VLAN
and the subnetworks in the IPX network.
Each IPX VLAN interface is associated with a VLAN that supports IPX. The
Multilayer Switching Module has one interface defined for each
subnetwork to which it is directly connected.
A router operates at the network layer of the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model. The router receives instructions to
route packets from one segment to another from the network-layer
protocol. IPX, with the help of the Routing Information Protocol (RIP),
performs network-layer tasks, including:
■
Addressing packets
■
Routing packets
■
Switching packets
IPX Packet Format
An IPX packet consists of a 30-byte header followed by packet data. The
packet header contains network, node, and socket addresses for both the
destination and the source.