IPX Broadcast problem

[nakkii]

We are a small company that has grown rapidly and is now faced with growing pains.

We have a network that is primarily a W2K ADS environment running TCP/IP. The client machines have IPX/SPX because we have a two legacy applications that need to run on Novell.

Analysis of our traffic is showing that nearly 80% of network traffic is IPX/SPX broadcast traffic and is causing slowness across the network.

We have considered our choices and they are:

1. Upgrade Novell to be able to use TCP/IP - This is extremely cost prohibitive

2. Segment out current network architecture - Again substantial equipment purchases make this cost prohibitive (although not as much as a Novell upgrade)

3. Setup an NT bridge? To allow those clients that need to talk to Novell but not have IPX/SPX installed.

I know this last option sounds corney and cheap but due to our growth we need to wait until next fiscal year in order to segment the network.

Any suggestions or other possibilities would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Persistence....Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. -Calvin Coolidge

 

[DanMc]

It's been a while since I played with this and I don't have a Novell server in front of me to check, but you can cut back on the broadcasts by tweaking. Check in spxconfg.nlm and ipxcfg.nlm on the server, and go through all the client32 options and see what can be increased.

You say that you have apps running on Novell that can't easily be migrated to Win2k... Are they NDS aware apps, or do they have an NLM component that runs on the server?

The only way an NT gateway will work is if the app is file-based (like a bunch of people open an access MDB). And if your apps are file-based, then it's probably easier just to migrate them to NT.

 

[TheLad]

If you wanted to go IP on your NetWare server, you would need NetWare 5.x as NetWare 4.x does not talk over IP even though you can load IP and bind it.

-----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
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[CHM1]

Check if IPX routing is enabled somewhere on a netware server. If so, every broadcast frame is duplicated by ipx routers on the all the IPX Networks (types of frames raw, snap, 802.2, 802.3).
You can see this with a sniffer : in the case of 2 IPX routers for every broadcast frame, you have 2*4 other broadcast frames relayed !

 

[marvhuffaker]

How many users do you have in your company that login to Novell? If you have less than 100, you can purchase the Small Business Suite at a very attractive price and go full TCP/IP.

Also, CHM1 has a good point but I think it could be clarified.... The more frame types you have on the server, the more IPX broadcasts you'll see. Try to eliminate all unnecessary frame types -- stick to just 802.2 if possible.

PLEASE PLEASE I BEG YOU, Do NOT setup an NT bridge, you will regret that decision over and over again. That should not even be considered a valid option.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[nakkii]

Thanks, for the two recent responses, but we upgraded/re-wrote the applications over a year ago to run on W2K, and the Novell servers have been retired.

Thanks.

Persistence....Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. -Calvin Coolidge

 

[marvhuffaker]

Sorry, somebody responded to a very old post, and i just responded to that without realizing it was so old. Too bad you killed NetWare.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com