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For this reason, the default configuration for Compatible Systems routers which support IPX has both 802.3 Raw and 802.2 set to autoseed (they will come up regardless of whether there is a server on line or not) and the other two frame types set to
This autoseeding default router configuration simplifies administration of the router since IPX can be routed right out of the box without any configuration. To determine a network number to use for autoseeding, a router listens to the network for several RIP periods, and then examines its routing table (which is filled in with information from RIP packets), and picks an unused number.
AppleTalk 101
ϖNote: This is a very brief introduction to AppleTalk networking. For more
AppleTalk Routing Basics
All routable protocols work by dividing the physical devices on a network into logical groups. A logical group will typically consist of all of the machines on a physical network segment (such as an Ethernet segment).
Each group of devices is assigned a unique “network number” (or a range of network numbers) which represents that particular group to all of the routers on the network. Packets which are sent between members of the same group are simply sent directly from one member to another.
Packets which must go between devices belonging to two different groups travel through routers, which forward them along an optimal path.
By examining the destination network number in a packet that must be forwarded, and by using information that routers automatically pass between themselves in AppleTalk Routing Table Maintenance Protocol (RTMP) packets, any router can determine the optimal path for forwarding packets from one group to another.
This scheme relies on the fact that each segment is assigned a unique network number/range. If not, the routers have no way of knowing which of the phys- ical segments with that number should actually receive a packet.
