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Setting the external and internal network numbers

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Setting the external and internal network numbers

The IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol (NWLink) uses two types of IPX network numbers for routing purposes: external network numbers, referred to as the Network number in the Manual Frame Detection dialog box, and internal network numbers, referred to as the Internal network number in the NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol Properties dialog box. Both are hexadecimal numbers, with 1 to 8 digits (1 to FFFFFFFE).

The external network number is associated with physical network adapters and networks. To communicate with each other, all computers on the same network that use a given frame type must have the same external network number. If your computer has multiple network adapters that are connected to different networks, you must assign an external network number to each configured frame type and network adapter combination on your computer. If you do not know the appropriate numbers to use, see your NetWare documentation. If you do not set an external network number, the number is automatically detected by the Windows operating system.

The internal network number, also called a virtual network number, identifies a virtual network inside a computer. On a server computer running Windows, programs advertise themselves as being located on the virtual network, not a physical network. When you assign internal network numbers, you gain more efficient routing to the programs in a computer with multiple network adapters that are connected to multiple, interconnected networks. By default, the internal network number is 00000000. However, in each of the following situations, you need to manually assign a unique, nonzero internal network number:

  • Your computer is acting as a server (running Windows) for a program that uses the NetWare Service Advertising Protocol (SAP), such as SQL Server or SNA Server.

  • Your computer is acting as an IPX router that uses the Windows routing.

For more information about setting the external and internal network numbers, see Configure NWLink.

Important

  • Client Service for NetWare is not available on 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.

  • Gateway Service for NetWare is included in Windows 2000 Server. It is not included in the Windows Server 2003 family.

  • Computers running operating systems in the Windows Server 2003 family cannot be IPX routers.