How you configure IP beyond the most basic configuration depends on the following decisions:
The IP Packet Forwarding parameter, which controls IP packet routing, is enabled by default. This parameter permits your computer to operate as an IP router. When you want your computer to operate as an end node only, disable this parameter.
How you configure a WAN connection depends on how you want to use it and whether you use ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), PPP/ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), X.25, or frame relay.
To configure a WAN connection, refer to "Configuring IP for a WAN Connection.”
RIP and OSPF are IP routing protocols. If you already have IP routers in your network environment, use the same routing protocol they use. If your network currently has no other routers, use OSPF.
To configure your router as a RIP router, refer to "Configuring RIP.”
To configure your router as an OSPF router, refer to "Configuring OSPF.”
To configure a mixed RIP-OSPF environment, refer to both of the preceding procedures.
Static routes are useful for reducing routing traffic, providing security, accessing isolated networks, and operating as backup routes on routers. Static routes are required for on-demand connections.
To configure static routes on a router, refer to "Configuring Static Routes for WAN Connections” and to "Configuring Static Routes for LANs.”
Enable filters when you want to do either of the following:
To configure TCP/IP filters, you must enable the Filtering Support parameter in NIASCFG and then load the Filter Configuration utility (FILTCFG). For more information, refer to Chapter 15, "Configuring Filters.”
Router discovery enables end nodes to find an IP router on their network. If your computer is operating as a router, it can advertise itself periodically as a router. If your computer is operating as an end node, it can send queries to locate a router.
To configure router discovery, refer to "Configuring Router Discovery.”
ARP is a LAN protocol that maps Internet addresses to physical addresses. IP routers and end nodes use ARP to determine a destination node's physical address.
An IP router using Proxy ARP replies to ARP requests it receives through an interface on behalf of an end node on a network attached to another interface.
To change the default settings of the ARP or Proxy ARP features, refer to "Configuring ARP and Proxy ARP.”
A directed broadcast is a broadcast intended only for a specific group of nodes rather than all nodes on the network.
To enable directed broadcast forwarding, refer to "Configuring Directed Broadcast Forwarding.”
The BOOTP protocol enables end nodes to obtain an IP address at startup time. If there is a BOOTP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server on your internetwork, any IP routers that are configured to act as a BOOTP forwarder accept and forward BOOTP or DHCP requests to the server. The BOOTP or DHCP server then assigns an IP address to the end station.
To configure BOOTP forwarding, refer to "Configuring BOOTP Forwarding.”
Using multiple logical interfaces enables you to bind more than one IP network to a LAN or WAN board. Each binding operates as a separate logical interface.
To configure multiple logical interfaces on a board, refer to "Configuring Multiple Logical Interfaces.”
Multihoming enables an interface to be bound to multiple IP addresses on the same network. Multihoming can be used for all IP networks bound to a router, whether the networks are bound to on the same interface or different interfaces. The most common use of multiple addresses on the same network is to enable a Web server to operate as though it is several Web servers. In this application, each secondary IP address is used by a different virtual host on the same Web server. The Domain Name System (DNS) can be used to access these virtual hosts using unique host names.
Multihoming is also commonly used with Network Address Translation (NAT), the proxy server, and the Virtual Private Network (VPN).
To configure multihoming, refer to "Multihoming.”
To access the Internet, you must use a globally unique IP address. If the IP addresses of your private network are not globally unique, you can avoid assigning new addresses to each IP host on your private network by configuring a router interface to perform network address translation. NAT automatically assigns a globally unique address to any IP host that accesses the Internet through a NAT-enabled interface. Additionally, NAT can be used to provide other benefits, such as proxy server functionality and enhanced network security.
Like the Novell IP Gateway, NAT enables you to hide the IP addresses of your private network from the Internet. However, using NAT to access the Internet has the following advantages over using the Novell IP Gateway:
To configure network address translation, refer to "Configuring Network Address Translation.”
The Novell IP Gateway is used to enable IPX and IP clients on your private network to access the Internet (or other TCP/IP services) without being required to assign globally unique IP addresses to all your private systems.