Internetwork Packet Exchange
IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange) is a networking protocol
from Novell that interconnects networks that use Novell's NetWare clients
and servers. IPX is a datagram or packet protocol. IPX works at the network
layer of communication protocols and is connectionless (that is, it doesn't
require that a connection be maintained during an exchange of packets as,
for example, a regular voice phone call does).
Packet acknowledgment is managed by another Novell protocol, the Sequenced
Packet Exchange (SPX). Other related Novell
NetWare protocols are: the Routing Information
Protocol (RIP), the Service Advertising Protocol (SAP), and the NetWare
Link Services Protocol (NLSP).
IPX/SPX are comparable to the basic Internet
protocols, Internet Protocol and Transmission
Control Protocol