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NOVELL TECHNICAL INFORMATION DOCUMENT
TITLE: Frequent Questions about LANalyzer for Windows
DOCUMENT ID: TID200014
DOCUMENT REVISION: B
DATE: 05NOV93
ALERT STATUS: Yellow
INFORMATION TYPE: Issue
README FOR: NA
NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION:
LANalyzer for Windows 2.0
ABSTRACT:
This file contains the most frequently asked questions and
answers about the LANalyzer for Windows 2.0 product.
------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------
ISSUE
This document contains information on the most frequently
asked questions about LANalyzer for Windows 2.0:
Q: Does LANalyzer for Windows work with a "True Blue" IBM
8-bit 16/4 Token Ring board?
A: No. These IBM boards use the TROPIC chipset and there
is a limitation on the chipset that won't allow it to
go into promiscuous mode, which is required by
LANalyzer for Windows.
Q: What does Promiscuous Mode mean?
A: This is the mode in which the network interface card
(NIC) receives and passes on all packets that arrive.
The LANalyzer for Windows network analyzer monitors
network traffic by configuring its NIC to receive every
packet on the network.
Q: What boards are supported with the ODI drivers shipped
with LANalyzer for Windows?
A: 3Com
3C503 Etherlink II
3C505 Etherlink + Ethernet
3C523 Etherlink/MC
Cabletron
E20
E21
E2HUB
EXOS
HP MC Adapter/16 Ethernet
HP PC Adapter/8,16,16+ Ethernet
IBM PS/2 Ethernet
LANalyzer Ethernet Board
Madge Smart 16/4 (Token Ring)
NE1000
NE1500T
NE2
NE2_32
NE2000
NE2100
NE3200
SMC Ethercard Plus
Q: Is it possible to configure the LANalyzer for Windows
to see through the server/router?
A: No. LANalyzer for Windows will only see the packets on
the segment that it is attached to. (If activity from
another segment is transmitted onto the segment with
the LANalyzer for Windows, you will see that activity.)
To see another segment, you must move the LANalyzer for
Windows to that segment. However, this functionality
is available with NetWare Management System (NMS) 2.0.
Q: Can LANalyzer for Windows decode IBM NetBIOS traffic?
A: No. It will not decode the IBM NetBIOS packets;
however, it will present you with the MAC-layer header
information and a raw hex dump of the rest of the
packet. It will be included in the utilization, packet
rate, error graphs, and the Station Monitor.
Q: What is the complete list of protocols that LANalyzer
for Windows will decode?
A: NetWare
IPX/SPX
NCP
RIP
SAP
TCP/IP
TCP/IP
SNMP
OSPF
AppleTalk
ATP
AFP
RTMP
ZIP
Q: Are there any patches available on NetWire for
LANalyzer for Windows?
A: Yes, there two different patches. The LZW40.EXE patch
gives you NetWare 4.0 decodes, and the LZW143.ZIP file
contains the current certified promiscuous mode ODI
drivers for LANalyzer for Windows 2.0.
Q: Does LANalyzer for Windows work with OS/2?
A: No.
Q: Is it a requirement to load APPLE.EXE?
A: No; however, you will lose Apple support if it is not
loaded.
Q: Is it a requirement to load NETX?
A: No; however, without it, you lose NetWare name
gathering.
Q: Can you give a brief explanation of Server Monitoring?
A: When LANalyzer for Windows is started, server
monitoring broadcasts a "Get Nearest File Server"
packet. For a file server to respond, the file server
must have parameter set to respond to the broadcast
request:
"SET RespondToNearestFileServer = ON"
Also, a known limitation is on NetWare SFT III servers
in that they do not seem to want to respond to the
broadcast request, and the SET command is not supported
for some reason.
All the servers that respond to this broadcast will be
added to the "Server Monitor" screen. Not all servers
always respond. For whatever reason, some might fail
to respond every time. Novell believes that this is
due to the server being busy and that responding to the
packet is a low priority. This will explain why
servers sometimes get in the list and others do not,
and it seems to change.
Now, you have a list of servers to poll. The idea is
to go down the list of servers, one at a time, and send
them a packet. If they respond, server monitoring
moves on to the next server until it reaches the end of
the list. Then, it starts over at the top of the list.
One server from the list is polled ever 15 seconds or
so.
If a server fails to respond to the poll, it goes into
a "retry" mode. Server monitoring tries more
frequently to poll the server (every 2 seconds or so)
for three or so tries. If the server has not replied
to even one of the polls, server monitoring calls it
down and send an alarm. Then server monitoring just
moves on to the next server. When it cycles around the
list again, it still tries the down server to see if it
is back up.
After several times through the list, server monitoring
"rebuilds" the list. The idea here is to get rid of
servers that are down for a long time or have been
moved to another segment. It also picks up new servers
that were just added or came on line since server
monitoring started. The rebuild process is basically,
a throw out the old list and start over with the
broadcast procedure. Unfortunately the side effects of
all this are that servers can tend to "come and go"
from the list. There is no way to "Fix" or "Set" the
list to poll. You can only determine the servers you
want or do not want.
The easiest way to see this algorithm in action is to
set up a capture filter between "This Workstation" and
"ANY." Let server monitoring run for an hour or so.
Then "Post Filter" on NetWare SAPs. You do this by
double clicking on the SAP layer in the decode, and it
will appear as follows:
=========== Service Advertising Protocol =============
Router polling is exactly the same except that NetWare
RIP packets are used in place of SAP packets.