Configuration Decisions

This section provides you with the information you need to decide whether a feature is useful in your environment and how to configure a feature to fit your needs. How you configure AppleTalk beyond the most basic configuration depends on the following decisions:

• Whether to use the computer as a router or as an end node

  The Packet Forwarding parameter controls AppleTalk routing. Enable this parameter if you want your computer to operate as an AppleTalk router. Disable it if you want your computer to operate as an end node.

  Select an end node configuration only if you are using AppleTalk for NetWare to support applications and you already have another AppleTalk router that provides connectivity to other networks.

  For more information, refer to Enabling Expert Configuration Options.

• Whether your network supports Phase 1 or Phase 2 routing

  The Type of Packet Forwarding option you select depends on the type of AppleTalk routing your network supports. The default is Phase 2 . Select Transition (Phase 1 and Phase 2) if you need to connect to Phase 1 routers.

  The type of AppleTalk routing your network supports depends on the type of media used. An extended network, such as EtherTalk 2.0, supports both Phase 1 and Phase 2 routing. Nonextended networks, such as LocalTalk, ARCnet, and EtherTalk 1.0, support only Phase 1 routing.

  For more information, refer to Configuring Basic AppleTalk Parameters.

• Whether to use an internal network

  The Internal Network , Network Number , and Network Zone(s) List parameters let you configure an internal network to enable application support on the internal network.

  For more information, refer to Configuring an Internal Network and Internal Network.

• If you are configuring a WAN connection, whether to use a permanent or an on-demand link .

  Determine whether the interface to which you are binding AppleTalk should bring up a permanent or an on-demand link to the remote peer. For permanent connections, specify WAN call destinations for the interface during binding configuration. For on-demand calls, specify an on-demand WAN call destination for the interface during binding configuration, then specify the static route configuration for that call destination.

  Advantages of using on-demand connections include the following:

  • On-demand WAN connections usually cost less than permanent WAN connections.
  • After an on-demand connection terminates, you can use the same interface to establish another on-demand connection to a different location. Unlike permanent WAN connections, no service provider involvement is necessary to connect to a different destination.

  Disadvantages of using on-demand connections include the following:

  • On-demand connections are configuration-intensive; therefore, they are more prone to operator errors. You must list all the networks (through static routes) that users might need to get to the other end of the connection.
  • To prevent periodic routing traffic from keeping the on-demand connection active continuously, static route configuration is required. Because static routes do not get updated dynamically, packets are sent to a destination even if the actual network is disconnected or down temporarily.
  • If, while using the Macintosh Chooser, a user accidentally browses a zone located at the other end of an on-demand connection, the connection will be brought up to retrieve the service information. As a result, unexpected cost is incurred.
  • If a user connects to a file server over an on-demand connection but sends no data, the connection will not time out and disconnect. The file server constantly sends tickle packets, keeping the connection active.

  To configure AppleTalk to run over an on-demand connection, you must enable the Static Routes for On Demand Calls in the AppleTalk protocol configuration, and enter static routes for your on-demand call in Static Routes Configuration when configuring the WAN call destination during the binding configuration.

  For more information, refer to Configuring AppleTalk for LAN Connections.

• If you are configuring a permanent WAN connection, whether to use an unnumbered point-to-point link, a numbered point-to-point link, or a multiaccess link

  Unnumbered point-to-point links do not require a network number or a zone name. Numbered point-to-point links and multiaccess links require a network number (or network range), zone(s) list, and peer address configuration. AppleTalk for NetWare supports on-demand links only in the unnumbered point-to-point mode.

  Use unnumbered point-to-point when connecting two Novell Internet Access Server 4.1 peers together. Select numbered point-to-point to connect to third-party routers that do not support unnumbered schemes. Select multiaccess to connect with a third-party router that requires multiaccess configuration using ATM, frame relay, or X.25 links.

  Numbered and multiaccess link configurations are created only to allow interoperability with other AppleTalk router vendors that do not implement unnumbered point-to-point links.

  For more information, refer to Configuring Basic AppleTalk Parameters.

• Whether your router will be a seed router

  A seed router propagates network and zone configuration information to other routers in the network. A non-seed router learns its configuration information from the seed router. The seeding state is configured individually for each interface.

  At least one router on an AppleTalk network must be a seed router. If you have more than one seed router on a network, the network number/range and zone(s) list configuration must be the same for all seed routers.

  Non-seed routers learn the network number and zone name from a seed router on the network. Therefore, if you need to reconfigure the network addressing, you need to change the configuration only on the seed router and restart all the directly connected non-seed routers, rather than reconfiguring all the routers.

  However, before restarting the routers with new configuration information, you must wait 10 minutes to make sure the changed network and zone names are aged out from the internetwork.