1.6 IPX Routing Overview
1.6.2 Novell Netware protocol suite
Novell IPX has the following characteristics:
  1. it is a connectionless protocol that does not require acknowledgments for each packet (best effort delivery) 

and 

  1. it is a Layer 3 protocol that defines internetwork and internode addresses.

Novell NetWare uses:

  • Routing Information Protocol (RIP) to facilitate the exchange of routing information. 
  • Proprietary Service Advertisement Protocol (SAP) to advertise network services. 
  • NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) to provide client-to-server connections and applications. 
  • Sequenced Packet Exchange (SPX) service for Layer 4 connection-oriented services.

The NetWare protocol stack supports all common media access protocols. The data link and physical layers are accessed through the Open Data Link (ODI) interface.