One goal of PPP is to allow interoperability among the remote access software of
different manufacturers. Another goal is to allow the same physical communication
line to be used by multiple network communication protocols.
Requirements for AS/400 SLIP
Youneed two or more computers that support the SLIP protocol. The following is a
summary of AS/400 requirements for Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP):
vThe correct communications ports and adapters must be installed on AS/400.
vA connection must be established using either a switched line or a direct leased
line.
vA modem to send and receive data over the connection. “Connection
Alternatives” on page111 contains a brief overview of data transmission
equipment available at the time of this writing.
vIf you plan to connect to the Internet, you must have a dial-up account with an
Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Note: Many PCs have an internal modem that is equipped with the serial port.
AS/400 does not support an internal modem. Youmust use an external
modem connected to your AS/400 by one of the required I/OAdapters (IOA).
Point-to-Point Request for Comments (RFC)
A sample of related Request for Comments (RFC) are:
vRFC 1661,

The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

, describes the base structure for
PPP communications.
vRFC 1662,

PPP in HDPC-like Framing

, describes PPP packet encapsulation over
asynchronous and synchronous communication lines.
vRFC 1994,

PPP Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)

,
describes system authentication.
Line Pools
In the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), a

line pool

is a list of lines that are used by a
connection profile.
Youcan use a line pool instead of defining a particular line description to a
connection profile. The connection profile selects an available line from the line pool
when the profile is started.
Advantages of using line pools:
vYouare not committing a line resource to a connection profile until it is started.
For connection profiles using a specific line, the connection profile ends if the line
is not available. For connection profiles that use a line pool, only one line in the
line pool must be available when the profile is started.
vYoucan use dial-on-demand profiles with line pools to use resources more
efficiently.
A line is selected from the line pool only when a dial-on-demand connection is
required. At other times, the same line can be used by other connection profiles.
vYoucan start more profiles than you have resource to support.
Chapter4. Configuring Point-to-Point TCP/IP (PPP and SLIP) 95