Cisco Systems BC-281 manual Configuring Data-Link Switching Plus

Configuring Data-Link Switching Plus

This chapter describes how to configure data-link switching plus (DLSw+), Cisco’s implementation of the DLSw standard for Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and NetBIOS devices. Refer to the DLSw+ Design and Implementation Guide for more complex configuration instructions. For a complete description of the DLSw+ commands mentioned in this chapter, refer to the “DLSw+ Commands” chapter of the Cisco IOS Bridging and IBM Networking Command Reference (Volume 1 of 2). To locate documentation of other commands that appear in this chapter, use the command reference master index or search online.

This chapter contains the following sections:

•Technology Overview, page 281

•DLSw+ Configuration Task List, page 288

•Verifying DLSw+, page 310

•Monitoring and Maintaining the DLSw+ Network, page 311

•DLSw+ Configuration Examples, page 312

To identify the hardware platform or software image information associated with a feature, use the Feature Navigator on Cisco.com to search for information about the feature or refer to the software release notes for a specific release. For more information, see the “Identifying Platform Support for Cisco IOS Software Features” section on page lv in the “Using Cisco IOS Software” chapter.

Technology Overview

DLSw+ is a method of transporting SNA and NetBIOS. It complies with the DLSw standard documented in RFC 1795 and the DLSw Version 2 standard. DLSw+ is an alternative to RSRB that addresses several inherent problems that exist in RSRB, such as:

•SRB hop-count limits (SRB’s limit is seven)

•Broadcast traffic (including SRB explorer frames or NetBIOS name queries)

•Unnecessary traffic (acknowledgments and keepalives)

•Data-link control timeouts