NOVELL TECHNICAL INFORMATION DOCUMENT TITLE: NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1 & 2.11 Update DOCUMENT ID: TID200053 DOCUMENT REVISION: A DATE: 15JUL94 ALERT STATUS: Yellow INFORMATION TYPE: Symptom Solution README FOR: MPR199.EXE NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: NetWare MultiProtocol Router PLUS 2.1 NetWare MultiProtocol Router PLUS 2.11 ABSTRACT: This update provides NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1x with software-based data compression over a PPP connection without using additional hardware. This update also corrects a problem with the PPP.LAN found in PPPCMP.EXE, and FRELAY.EXE releases placed on NetWire, and the NetWare MultiProtocol Router 2.11 Plus. The compression is proprietary and only works when used with other NetWare MultiProtocol Router 2.1 or 2.11 Plus routers that have PPP data compression installed. 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 DISCLAIMER THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 SYMPTOM NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1 provides no data compression support for NetWare/Link PPP WAN connections. This update provides PPP data compression that is compatible with other NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1 routers running this update and NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.11 routers with compression enabled. NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.11 with PPP.LAN dated 12-21-93 and NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1 routers running the previous version of this update with PPP.LAN dated 11-1-93 could experience unnecessary compression resets, which could degrade the performance of the PPP Data Compression. SOLUTION Installing this update corrects this problem for all versions of NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1X supporting PPP data compression. Self-Extracting File Name: MPR199.EXE Revision: A Files Included Size Date Time \ MPR199.TXT (This File) PIN.DAT 76978 04-28-94 2:15p PPPCMP2.TXT 21028 07-15-94 9:25a FILEDATA.DAT 2129 04-28-94 3:04p PINSTALL.HLP 4286 10-28-93 11:13a PINSTALL.NLM 22511 04-28-94 2:15p PRODUCTS.515 5120 05-21-93 8:22a PRODUCTS.610 8192 05-21-93 8:53a \UTILS\ PPP_UPD.NLM 1530 11-29-93 12:24p \WANNM\ PPPCFG.NLM 34611 11-29-93 12:16p \WAN\ PPP.LAN 115226 01-28-94 9:13a Before you read the Installation Instructions below, please extract the file using the following procedure: 1. Make a new directory on a hard disk. 2. Copy PPPCMP.EXE into that directory. 3. Run PPPCMP to extract the files listed above from them. 4. Label a blank diskette PPPCOMP with the DOS Label command. 5. Xcopy these files to the diskette, including subdirectories(use Xcopy /s). Installation Instructions: Before installing the NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression product, you must first have the NetWare 3.1X or NetWare Runtime(TM) 3.1X software installed on your server or router. You must also have the NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1X software installed. Refer to the NetWare documentation for installation instructions. If you are also installing any other Novell(R) products, do so before installing the NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression product. Use the following procedure to install the software on your machine: 1. Insert the NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression diskette (that you made from the NetWire(R) electronic bulletin board) into the disk drive. 2. At the server or router console prompt, type: LOAD INSTALL The Installation Options menu appears. 3. Select Product Options and press . A new window displays the currently installed products. 4. Press to insert a new product. A new window displays a prompt with drive A: as the default. 5. If you are installing the software from drive A:, just press . If you are installing the software from drive B:, replace "A:" with "B:," then press . The Installed Product menu appears after a few moments. 6. Select Install on this Server and press . 7. When the installation is complete, select No to return to the Product Options menu; or select Yes to view the INSTALL.LOG file. If you chose to view the INSTALL.LOG file, press to continue. 8. Press until you exit INSTALL. The software is installed. 9. Type the following command at the server prompt: LOAD INETCFG 10. Enable your NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression software by configuring the appropriate Enable/Disable parameter in the NetWare Link/PPP Expert Port Configuration screen of INETCFG. Enabling the data compression option allows negotiation of compression with the remote peer. Data compression is used only if both the local and remote peers support a common technique appropriate for the link speed. You can disable compression on a given link if the data to be transferred is not of a compressible nature, such as previously compressed archive files or encrypted data. For information about configuring the other parameters for PPP WAN connections, see the NetWare WAN Connectivity Supervisor's Guide Version 2.1. Common installation and configuration problems, plus solutions: * If you have difficulty installing this update, check the following list of common problems and their solutions: The diskette is not recognized or accepted during installation. - Make sure that the diskette has been properly labeled (check the label with the DOS LABEL command) when it was formatted: PPPCOMP is the proper label. - Make sure that there are no TSRs or other memory resident programs loaded on the server before you run SERVER.EXE. The best way to do this is to make sure that they are not in the server's CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and then boot the server before running SERVER.EXE. - Check your floppy drive to make sure that it can recognize when diskettes are removed and inserted. Patch History: * NetWare/Link PPP Data Compression: - Provides a proprietary, software-based solution for data compression over a NetWare/Link PPP connection without additional hardware. - Compression algorithm allows compression up to T1/E1 line speeds. - Depending on the type of data, the PC system speed, and the line speed, compression ratios can be expected to be 2:1, on average. - Recognizes NetWare/Link PPP connections to other PPP nodes that are unable to provide compression and reverts to a PPP connection without data compression. WARNING: This update is applicable to NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus 2.1 and 2.11. It is incompatible with WAN Links 2.0. DO NOT INSTALL THIS UPDATE ON WAN LINKS 2.0 Solution Specifics NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression Support for data compression is provided in the NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression software as a user-configurable option of the NetWare Link/PPP component. Data compression reduces the amount of information transferred over a communications link by replacing previously observed data sequences with more compact sequences. This increases the apparent speed of the link, at the cost of some additional NetWare MultiProtocol Router CPU load. This support allows more effective PPP link utilization when routing or bridging between remote LANs. Note that data compression is only necessary over the PPP link connecting two LANs, because this is the slowest portion of the end-to-end network traffic. Proper operation of most data compression algorithms requires that no data corruption be permitted on the communications link, because each bit of the compressed data is much more significant than the uncompressed data. One incorrect bit can result in thousands of bytes of incorrect output. This, in turn, results in retransmission requests and lower overall throughput. NetWare Link/PPP is, by default, an unreliable or "best effort" data link that does not guarantee data integrity. Retransmission of lost or corrupted data is the responsibility of higher-level protocols. Therefore, when data compression is successfully negotiated by the PPP Link Control Protocol, the unreliable PPP data link is replaced with a reliable data-link protocol to ensure data integrity of the compressed data exchange. This reliable data-link protocol is CCITT Link Access Protocol-Balanced (LAPB). LAPB significantly increases the reliability of the communications link when used in conjunction with rigorous error checking after the receive data is uncompressed. Data compression is performed on network data only. NetWare Link/PPP Link Control Protocol and Network Control Protocol data is passed uncompressed. Link Control Protocol and Network Control Protocol data exchanges are used for connection management and configuration negotiation. They are typically only used during the connection establishment and termination operations. These protocol exchanges have their own error recovery mechanisms and, as such, do not benefit from the LAPB reliable data-link services. The current NetWare Link/PPP data compression implementation supports a pattern prediction algorithm. This implementation is proprietary to Novell and does not interoperate with other vendors' data compression implementations. This compression algorithm provides useful data compression over a wide range of interface speeds, from 1,200 baud through E1 data rates. Future versions of the NetWare Link/PPP product might include additional compression algorithms tailored to provide higher compression at specific interface speeds. As currently implemented in NetWare Link/PPP, the data compression capability permits a "best case" 8:1 compression ratio with highly compressible data. A realistic figure for a typical mix of graphic, text, and binary data is on the order of a 2:1 compression ratio. This increases the apparent throughput of a 56 Kbps link, for example, to almost 112 Kbps. Generally, as the communications link speed increases, the percentage of throughput improvement provided by data compression decreases, due to the additional CPU overhead of the compression processing. So, although data compression provides some benefit at speeds up to E1 (2.048 Mbps), the performance improvement is not as great as on a lower speed 56 Kbps link. Refer to Tables 4 and 5 for a comparison of typical compression improvements at 56 Kbps and T1 (1.536 Mbps). Actual results, of course, vary depending on a number of factors, including the type of data being transferred, the type of PC systems NetWare Link/PPP runs on, and the speed of the communications link. Maximizing Performance NetWare Link/PPP data compression works best when a constant supply of transmit data is available at the interface. This allows the compression logic to maximize the replacement of data sequences with the more compact sequences. Therefore, when using IPX with NetWare Link/PPP data compression, the IPX Packet Burst(TM) protocol and the Large Internet Packet (LIP) protocol should also be used. The Packet Burst protocol enhances IPX by allowing larger data transactions, composed of multiple IPX packets, to be transmitted as a single burst (or logical operation). Acknowledgments are issued for the complete burst rather than for individual IPX packets. For best results, the Packet Burst protocol and the LIP protocol can be enabled on each client and server end node system. Although the LIP protocol is included in the Packet Burst software for NetWare servers, it can be independently enabled or disabled on each client. Packet Burst protocol support is provided for IPX client workstations by the latest version of the Virtual Loadable Module(TM) (VLM(TM)) update. Packet Burst protocol support is provided for NetWare 3.11 servers by PBURST.NLM. In NetWare 3.12 and NetWare 4.01, Packet Burst protocol support is included in SERVER.EXE. TROUBLESHOOTING Packet burst protocol support should be enabled on all client and server systems. Enabling the packet burst protocol on intermediate systems such as MPRs that do not also function as servers is not necessary, but does no harm. Novell recommends that you use PBURST.NLM 2.02 (or higher) for NetWare 3.11, PBWANFIX 1.0 or higher for NetWare 3.12, and PBWANFIX 1.0 or higher for NetWare 4.01. OS/2 users should use the NetWare Client for OS/2 2.1 or later. Please note that BNETX.COM must never be used. NetWare Clients using NETX.COM will not utilize PBURST functionality and will adversely affect PPP data compression efficiency. Earlier versions of PBURST.NLM or the client VLMs can be used; however, when operating over PPP with data compression connections at less than 56 Kbps, client workstations may experience network time-outs. If a time-out occurs, a message similar to the following will be displayed on the IPX client workstation: Error receiving from network. Abort, Retry, Fail? The user should select the R (retry) option after the time-out notification. This will reestablish the connection if the session is still active. Multiple consecutive time-out messages indicates that the client session is lost. In this case the user must login again. If you are experiencing network time-outs, refer to the NetWare 3.12 or 4.0 Workstation for DOS and Windows manual. This manual contains information on configurable NET.CFG parameters that may be used to minimize time-out errors. Both the NetWare 3.11 PBURST.NLM and the NetWare 3.12 PBWANFIX.NLM and NetWare 4.01 PBWANFIX.NLM and the client VLMs are available on NetWire on CompuServe. The current version of PBURST.NLM and PBWANFIX.NLM are packaged in the PBURST.EXE package in the NOVLIB 05 forum. The 1.1 version of the VLMs are packaged in the DOSUP9.EXE package in the NOVFILES forum. To download DOSUP9.EXE log onto CompuServe and issue the GO NOVFILES command to go to the NOVFILES library. From there, a menu of prompts will guide you through the download process. WINUP9.EXE should also be used to insure matched DOS and Windows components are used. To download PBURST.EXE, log onto CompuServe and issue the GO NOVLIB command to go to the NOVLIB library. From there, a menu of prompts will guide you through the download process. The DOSUP9.EXE file and PBURST.EXE file is also available on Novell's FTP server, FTP.NOVELL.COM (137.65.1.1) in the files \NETWIRE\NOVFILES\DOSUP9.EXE and \NETWIRE\NOVLIB\05\PBURST.EXE. Login in as ANONYMOUS and give your e-mail address as a password. Statistics The NetWare Monitor NLM provides real-time statistics indicating the Interface Speed, Send Compression Throughput, Send Compression Ratio, LAPB Retransmissions, and Compression Resets, as shown next: Line 1 Interface Speed (bits/second): 56,000 Line 1 Send Comp Throughput (bits/second): 128,500 Line 1 Send Comp Ratio (1000 * uncomp/comp): 2,295 Line 1 LAPB Retransmissions: 0 Line 1 Compress Resets: 0 o Interface Speed-is the actual bits-per-second speed of the interface measured during initialization. This is the maximum physical bandwidth of the interface. If the interface speed changes after initialization, for example by changing the speed of a fractional T1 DSU/CSU, the Interface Speed statistic does not reflect the speed change until the interface is reinitialized. Changes to interface speed also affect Send Comp Throughput. o Send Comp Throughput-is an eight-second running average of the bits-per-second speed at which uncompressed transmit data, excluding the reliable data-link overhead, is being transmitted on this interface. When compression is operational, Send Comp Throughput might exceed the interface speed. In the preceding example, Send Comp Throughput is twice the interface speed (the maximum physical bandwidth of the interface). When no data is being transmitted, or compression is disabled, Send Comp Throughput reads zero. o Send Comp Ratio-is an eight-second running average of send characters input to the compressor versus characters output by the compressor. The compression ratio is displayed with four significant figures, and should be read as if the comma were a decimal separator. In the preceding example, the compression ratio is 5.743:1, or for every 5,743 bytes of input data, 1,000 bytes of compressed data are sent over the link. When no data is being transmitted, or compression is disabled, Send Comp Ratio reads zero. o LAPB Retransmissions-is the number of information frames the LAPB reliable data link has re-sent since interface initialization. Excessive LAPB Retransmissions are an indication of poor line quality, and affect the overall Send Comp Throughput. o Compress Resets-is the number of times the data compression subsystem lost synchronization with the remote peer. This can be caused by LAPB failures resulting in data-link reinitialization or receive data decompression failures. Regular LAPB Compression Resets are an indication of poor line quality. To access these statistics: 1. At the server prompt, type: Load MONITOR 2. Select LAN Information from the main Monitor menu. 3. Select the desired PPP interface from the LAN Driver Information list. 4. Scroll to the desired PPP line group in the Custom Statistics area. Typical Performance The values of Send Comp Throughput and Send Comp Ratio vary depending on the amount and type of data being sent. For example, encrypted data does not compress at all (and might even increase the amount of data sent), while ASCII text documents might compress significantly. Data compression can significantly increase the apparent link speed of all protocols supported by the NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression software, including the Novell IPX protocol. Data compression is of greater value if the link is already busy; for example, when many workstations are using a remote server. Table 2 and Table 3 graph the performance of NetWare Link/PPP Data Compression, as tested with the PERFORM3 network test program using AST* 486/33E servers and workstations running the IPX Packet Burst protocol and the Large Internet Packet protocol. The test program was run using the following command: PERFORM3 12 128 4096 1024 The typical performance data shown in Table 4 and Table 5 is expressed in Kbps. Actual performance will vary depending on interface speed, PC hardware type, and data content. Table 2 Compression Performance for 56 Kbps Links ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scenario Performance (Kbps) One workstation, without compression 47.76 One workstation, with compression 147.68 Five workstations, without compression 50.56 Five workstations, with compression 173.92 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 3 Compression Performance for T1 (1.5 Mbps) Links ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scenario Performance (Kbps) One workstation, without compression 888.64 One workstation, with compression 1123.68 Five workstations, without compression 1309.44 Five workstations, with compression 2335.68 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Novell is not responsible for any data loss that may result from implementing this program. Novell strongly recommends a backup be made before any program is applied. Technical support for this program is provided at the discretion of Novell. NetWare, the N-Design, and Novell are registered trademarks, and IPX NetWare Link/Frame Relay, NetWare MultiProtocol Router, and NetWare MultiProtocol Router Plus are trademarks of Novell, Inc. NetWire is a registered service mark of Novell, Inc. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Inc. CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe, Inc.� ---------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information. ---------------------------------------------------------------- �