IPX, is it needed?

[IdahoTech]

Hello all again,

Got a interesting question. We are running Novell 6 and were wondering if we can remove IPX and only use a strict IP network, but can't remember for the life of me where it is needed. Please help. My brain is dead, school is almost over, and I am daydreaming of the day the kids are not here and I can do more work with it not working the next day. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I digress. So what is needed for IPX? Can I run Novell6 with straight IP? Why would it be bad to get rid of it?

Thanks For any help folks.

IdahoTech

IdahoTech

http://www.sd60.k12.id.us

 

[Psychoid]

Hi there.

NetWare 6 does not require IPX at all.

HOWEVER, before you rip out all IPX, there are a few things that you'll need to consider.

1. Will your NetWare 6 boxes be communicating with any NW servers that use only IPX (ie NetWare 4.11)? If so, IPX will still be necessary. If all of your servers are at least NetWare 5 you shouldn't have communication problems with just IP
2. Do you have any legacy apps that require IPX? Older DOS Btrieve apps are notorious for this.
3. Do you have any older print servers that require IPX? Newer ones should be able to talk IP, but will they need to be reconfigured for IP?
4. If you were using IPX, your servers announced themselves via SAP. In the IP world, this is done via SLP. Is SLP set up properly on your network?
5. Do you have any older DOS clients that connect to the NetWare servers using IPX?
6. Is the Novell client on your workstations set up to use IPX? IP? Both?

I'm sure there are other questions to ask, but those are a start.

Feel free to discuss any of those issues here.

------------
Bill
Consultant / Network Engineer
CNE, CCNA

 

[IdahoTech]

Hey Bill,

Well, they are as follows:

1. We have 4 NW6, 2 NW5.1
2. Do not belive any at all, if so they need to go.
3. All printservers are IP from HP.
4. This one I am not sure on. I will have to check it and let you know.
5. No DOS clients. No DOS machines at all. If the teacher has a DOS machine it does not go on the network nor does it get support. Basically all 98SE, 2000Pro, and XP.
6. They are setup to do both but that can be easily changed .

That is what I am looking at here. The one that has me is number 4. Since I had to learn Novell last summer through books and redoing the servers over and over again,I am learning and so far knock on wood no problems. Well one but I will post another question for that one.

Thanks for the input and if there is a easy way to check if SAP is setup ok please let me know. It may take me a few to check into that without killing anything.

Thanks
Jim (a.k.a. IdahoTech)

IdahoTech

http://www.sd60.k12.id.us

 

[ITinKC]

Things to check :

Are you using queue based printing. If not servicing queues through iPrint/NDPS, you need IPX.

Backup program - I believe any version of Backup Exec prior to the current version (9) requires IPX.

Virus Scanner - All versions of CA's InoculateIT (except for the one in beta testing now) requires IPX and can not even be used in compatability mode.

More cases than not, even though Novell is finally (truely) ready to move to pure IP, the third party vendors had been draging their feet.

 

[Psychoid]

ITinkC is right. Vendors are very slow to remove IPX dependencies from their apps. You should spend a little time looking at the apps that run on your NetWare boxes.

Other than that, it looks like you may have a relatively easy migration path to pure IP.

The one thing that you really need to worry about is SLP. If it isn't set up properly, the clients may not be able to see servers. For a guide on how to set up SLP, I'll refer you here:

http://www.novell.com/documentation...mentation/lg/nw6p/scommenu/data/hg2i9c88.html

If you have any questions or problems, let us know...

Good luck

------------
Bill
Consultant / Network Engineer
CNE, CCNA

 

[IdahoTech]

Hello ITinkC and Psychoid,

Thanks for the info. I figured the 3rd part vendors wouldn't be with the program. We are using NDPS/iPrint and don't have any worries on that end.

For a virus scanner, believe it or not, we do not have one as of yet. I Can't find one that will not cause heartache on our Novell servers. No backup software. This, I am working on, but the state just cut our funding again and may not be able to afford it.

I will look into the SLP and check what is going on with that and post back here. Hopefully it is something we don't have to worry about . Thanks for the link Bill. I will check it out today. Was away for the weekend gambling and won, that has not happened in a long time.

Well I will let you know. Thanks again for the information.

Jim

IdahoTech

http://www.sd60.k12.id.us

 

[Psychoid]

Great!
For AV defense, I usually recommend McAfee's integrated package Active Virus Defense. It contains NetShield (which has been very stable on NetWare 5.1 & 6), an SMTP scanner, client scanners, and other features.

As for backups, I usually recommend Veritas Backup Exec because is sucks slightly less than ArcServe does.

------------
Bill
Consultant / Network Engineer
CNE, CCNA

 

[IdahoTech]

Really? McAfee's that good? When I tried to used CA Etrust it would dismount my drives. Other softwares slow down the responsiveness of the server. We use a program called SASIXP from NCSpearson and it is a hog when it comes to network traffic, this coupled with a virus scanner really makes it lag. I will check it out though. We are running on borrowed time with not having one.

I checked the link on SLP and WOW looks like it will take more than just a afternoon to figure out. Thankfully I have a test server I can try it on.

Backups yeah ARCServe is a pain in the ass. Worked with it when I was a consultant in chicago. Even when the printer was out of paper and it was going to print its report it would error out and not function properly.

But will look into Vertas. I may have to try to get funding or some kind of aide on my own to purchase it for the schools.

I will let you know if I crash and burn anything with the SLP.

Thanks for all your help!!

Jim

IdahoTech

http://www.sd60.k12.id.us