| Internet protocol suite |
|---|
| Application layer |
| Transport layer |
| Internet layer |
| Link layer |
Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is the OSI-model Network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol stack.
The IPX/SPXM protocol stack is supported by Novell's NetWare network operating system. Because of Netware's popularity through the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, IPX became a popular internetworking protocol. Novell derived IPX from Xerox Network Systems' IDP protocol.
IPX was not scalable enough for large networks such as the internet[1] and as such, IPX usage decreased as the boom of the Internet made TCP/IP nearly universal. Computers and networks can run multiple network protocols, so almost all IPX sites will be running TCP/IP as well to allow for Internet connectivity.[2] It is also now possible to run Novell products without IPX, as they have supported both IPX and TCP/IP since NetWare reached version 5[3] in late 1998.
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The IPX network address is conceptually identical to the network part of the IP address (the parts with netmask bits set to 1); the node address then has the same meaning as the bits of IP address with netmask bits set to 0. As the node address is usually identical to the MAC address of the network adapter, the Address Resolution Protocol is not needed.
For routing, the entries in the IPX routing table are similar to IP routing tables; routing is done by network address, and for each network address a network:node of the next router is specified in a similar fashion an IP address/netmask is specified in IP routing tables.
IPX can be transmitted over Ethernet using one of the following 4 encapsulation types: