Compatible Systems 5.4 manual AppleTalk On/Bridging/Off

80 Chapter 4 - AppleTalk Routing & Bridging

Once you have created a VPN port, you may access the AppleTalk Routing: VPN Configuration Dialog Box by clicking AppleTalk Routing under the VPN port’s icon.

A VPN port is a virtual port which handles tunneled traffic. Tunnels are virtual point-to-point connections through a public network such as the Internet. All packets sent through a VPN tunnel are IP-encapsulated packets, including AppleTalk, IPX and even IP packets. This encapsulation is added or removed, depending on the direction, by “Tunnel Peer” routers. Once a packet reaches the remote Tunnel Peer, the TCP/IP encapsulation is stripped off, leaving the original protocol. The unencapsulated packet is then handled according to the VPN port’s protocol configuration settings. Networks connected via a tunnel will communicate as if they were on the same network, even though they are separated by the Internet.

ϖNote: Remember that you must set up both ends of every tunnel. Therefore, you must repeat this setup with the remote router.

>AppleTalk On/Bridging/Off

This set of radio buttons controls how AppleTalk packets are handled for this interface.

• If set to AppleTalk On, then AppleTalk packets received on this inter- face are routed to the correct interface on the router.

• If set to AppleTalk Bridging, then any AppleTalk packets received on this interface are forwarded to the router’s internal bridge. This setting makes this Ethernet interface a member of the “AppleTalk Phase 2 Bridge Group” for this router.

ϖNote: The AppleTalk Bridging radio button will be grayed out unless bridging has been turned on globally for the device using the Main Bridging Configuration Dialog Box (under Global/Bridging) and locally on this inter- face using the Bridging: VPN Dialog Box (under VPN/Bridging).

•If it is set to AppleTalk Off, then any AppleTalk packets received on this interface are discarded.

Network Number

If you have set this interface to be a numbered interface, you must provide a network number to identify the VPN port. This number creates a “non-extended” AppleTalk network on the VPN port. Acceptable values vary from 1 to 65,279.

ϖNote: Accidental selection of an AppleTalk network number which is already in use on another network segment may cause hard-to-diagnose