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893-741-B A7-1
Chapter A7 Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP)
The Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) enables you to send TCP/IP packets across a serial line.
A SLIP link is a point-to-point connection between two hosts. Using a SLIP link, you can connect
a node to the network without requiring special interface hardware. The Model 5390 implementation
of SLIP is compatible with the 4.3BSD implementation. The Model 5390 server also supports CSLIP
(compressed SLIP) as an option.
The Model 5390 server provides several options for setting up a SLIP link:
• You can use SLIP to connect two separate networks, routing data from one network to the
other over the SLIP link. SLIP can also be used to connect remote Model 5390 servers that
support terminals, printers, etc., or that support remote nodes over serial lines.
• You can attach a PC to the Model 5390 serial port. Using SLIP as the network interface, the
PC becomes a node on the network. For a remote PC, you can configure a port as both a SLIP
link and an incoming modem. Then, a user at a remote PC can dial into the Model 5390 server
and convert the port from an incoming modem to a SLIP link using the CLI slip command.
After converting the port to a SLIP link, the remote PC becomes a host directly attached to the
network.
• You can use a SLIP link to boot and, optionally, dump the Model 5390 server. You can define
a list of SLIP links and the local network interface over which a download is to occur. During
a load, the Model 5390 server makes a request from the first interface in the list. If the node
associated with that interface does not respond, the Model 5390 server makes the request
from the next interface in the list, and so forth until it has been booted.
Booting over a SLIP link supports remote Model 5390 servers, and allows a PC to act as
a load host for the Model 5390 servers on the network. Any serial port can be configured
for SLIP.
Compressed SLIP
The Compressed Serial Line Internet Protocol (CSLIP) improves bandwidth by compressing the
TCP/IP headers from 40 bytes to as few as three bytes when running over a SLIP link. Compression
creates smaller packets, and therefore faster throughput.
NOTE:
For best results, when using a SLIP link for booting or retriev-
ing files from a host, set the line speed to at least 4800 bps. You cannot
boot a Model 5390 server via SLIP using Port 1.