MacIP
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MacIP refers to encapsulating Internet Protocol (IP) packets within the AppleTalk DDP protocol.
MacIP was part of the solution to the problem of how to provide computers that have native LocalTalk networking capabilities with access to TCP/IP based network services. Software implementing MacIP (such as MacTCP or Open Transport) was installed on the computer and a MacIP Gateway was placed elsewhere on the network. Applications that communicate with TCP/IP (such as Telnet) have their IP packets encapsulated in DDP for transmission across the LocalTalk network to the MacIP Gateway. The MacIP Gateway strips off the DDP encapsulation and forwards the IP packet on the IP network.
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[edit] History
The practice of encapsulating IP packets within DDP was originally developed at Stanford University[1][2] as the Stanford Ethernet - AppleTalk Gateway (SEAGATE) by Bill Croft in 1984 and 1985[3].
SEAGATE was commercialised by Kinetics as the Kinetics Internet Protocol (KIP) for use with their FastPath LocalTalk-to-Ethernet bridge[4]. Apple Computer adopted the usage of KIP and refer to it as MacIP.
One of the mandates for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) "IP over AppleTalk" working group was to document existing MacIP implementations and to develop a specification for MacIP that could be proposed as a standard[5]. A draft document was submitted, however it was not accepted as a standard and has subsequently expired[6][7].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ MacWorld 2004 Keynote: A History Of Macintosh Networking - reported notes - See "Macs and the Internet: a long digression"
- ^ MacWorld 2004 Keynote: A History Of Macintosh Networking - relevant slide
- ^ Bill Croft announces SEAGATE in TCP-IP list - See "000007"
- ^ Bill Croft declares in net.micro.mac that Kinetics are using a modified version of the SEAGATE code
- ^ IP Over AppleTalk Working Group Charter
- ^ Internet-Drafts Database entry
- ^ Latest draft document with content removed
