Packet delivery
The successful delivery of a packet over a NetWare network
depends on the proper addressing of the packet.
To send a packet,
the sender must know the full IPX address
(network, node, and socket) of the recipient.
The address is specified in the packet's medium-access
protocol and IPX protocol address fields.
Once the sender has the recipient's
address, it can address the packet.
The way the
MAC header of that packet is addressed, however, depends on
the network's topography.
Specifically, it depends on
whether the sending node and the destination node are separated by a
router.
The effect of network topography on IPX addressing
is discussed in the following sections.