IP Costing (Use?)
Articles and Tips: qna
01 Dec 2002
Q.
There is an IP Costing setting found in the Advanced Settings of the NetWare Client v4.8x. The range for this setting is 0=off and 2 uses an ICMP PING to evaluate the route. The only real white paper I have found on the topic is related to NetWare Client v4.81 and not to v4.83, so I am not sure what has changed between these versions.
Be that as it may, I am wondering what benefit this setting brings to the table if you are on a switched network without a WAN connectivity? The default is 2 and I switched my client's settings to 0 (off). I have noticed a gain in performance for most Internet related connectivity and no impact on my Novell resources. Would this be the case for those on a non-flat network or for the rare few that are on my network behind a router? Inquiring minds want to know.
Fred Floppy Drive Finch
A.
Dear Fred: Costs are to bias choices amongst routes. Your clients may have two choices: IPX or IP. Internet connections from a client have only one choice: IP. On a local network, ping times as a basis for cost are next to worthless. As usual, when it comes to on-the-wire behavior, a good packet sniffer program provides many answers.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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