.: Advanced Linux Networking :.

Although TCP/IP is the most popular set of network protocols for Linux, and the one upon which the Internet is built, it's not the only choice of network protocol stack. The Networking Options menu includes several others. Most of the options in this menu are actually suboptions of TCP/IP Networking. If you scroll past these, you'll see the alternatives to TCP/IP:

• Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) — This is an experimental set of options to support ATM hardware and protocols. ATM is really at least as much of a hardware definition as a network stack, but in the 2.4.x kernels, it's enabled in the Networking Options menu, along with other protocol stacks.

• The IPX Protocol — Novell's Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is a protocol stack that's used on many local networks, particularly those running the Netware server OS. To use this stack, you'll need additional software, such as Mars_nwe (documented at http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/tips/Netware/netware.html). The NCP File System Support option in the Network File Systems submenu of the File Systems menu will let you mount Netware volumes, much as the equivalent NFS and SMB/CIFS options let you mount NFS exports or Windows file shares.

• AppleTalk Protocol Support — Apple developed the AppleTalk protocol stack to enable file and printer sharing on its Macintosh computers. Linux supports AppleTalk through a combination of the kernel and the Netatalk package (http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/).

• DECnet Support — Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC; since bought out by Compaq) developed a network technology known as DECnet for its computers. Linux includes support for DECnet, but you must have a package of programs to use this protocol stack. Check http://linux-decnet.sourceforge.net for more information.

Linux also includes support for a handful of more obscure network protocols, such as Acorn's Econet. On most systems, TCP/IP and possibly one or two other protocols will be quite sufficient. Because of the success of the Internet, vendors who had previously used proprietary protocol stacks have been converting their tools to use TCP/IP. For instance, although Apple has long used AppleTalk, its file-sharing tools now work both over plain AppleTalk and a TCP/IP-based variant.

The standard Linux kernel lacks support for one common network stack, NetBEUI. This stack was the default for Windows file sharing via SMB/CIFS in the past, but SMB/CIFS today works equally well over TCP/IP.