NetWare Core Protocol (NCP)

NetWare is composed of several protocols. IPX is a connectionless delivery service that can be used by higher-level protocols (such as NCP or SPX) to create a connection-oriented, reliable transport service. Two other important protocols used in NetWare are the Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) and the Routing Information Protocol (RIP). It is through SAP that servers announce their presence periodically and clients can make requests to locate resources. RIP is used to locate servers on the network.

Another protocol, called NetWare Core Protocol (NCP), is used for communications exchange between a client and a server when file reads, file writes, or other file-related activities are being performed. It provides connection control and defines the methods used to encode requests and replies. NCP is a simple request-response protocol, similar to SMB in that respect. NCP requests are encapsulated in IPX packets. The NCP header information, which follows the IPX header information, consists of five fields. The first indicates the request type, which provides the function of the packet.

The client can make a request using four request types in this field, and the server can use this field to indicate a type of reply:

• Create a service connection (1111)

• General service request (2222)

• General service replies (3333)

• Terminate a service (destroy) connection (5555)

• Request burst-mode transfer (7777)

• Request being processed (9999)

These services can be further qualified by function and subfunction codes contained in the request packet. Other fields in the NCP header include the following:

• Sequence Number field, which is used to track the sequencing information for the connection.

• Connection Number Low field, which is a service connection number that is assigned to the client when it logs on to the server.

• Task Number field, which is a value that identifies the client that is making an NCP request.

• Connection Number High field, which is currently not used and should always have the value of 00 hex.

The header information for the response packet that the server sends back to the client will contain these same fields, but it will also add to additional fields. The first is a Completion Code field, which will be set to 0 if the request was successfully completed or to 1 if an error was encountered in processing the request. The Connection Status field might have values indicating an error condition between the client and server connection.

When the client initiates a connection request with a server, it will create a service connection (1111) request type. The server gives the client a connection number in its response. This connection number is used by the client when it submits its remaining requests. Each time a request is sent on the particular connection, the sequence number is incremented. The response to a request contains the same sequence number, making it easy for the client to match up responses to pending requests.

General Requests and Responses

Most of the exchanges between client and server are usually the result of requests made by the client (type 2222) and the replies sent by the server (type 3333). These requests can be used to search directories or to open, read, and write to files.

The server uses the connection ID number and the sequence number when it sends a reply to a request. The Completion Code field is filled in to indicate success or failure, and other data might follow in the packet that is used to fulfill the request (such as data read from the file).

Burst Mode

NCP provides commands that can be used to read and write blocks of information in files that reside on the network. However, when larger files must be transferred, a special NCP request (Request Type value=7777), using burst mode, allows the server to send a larger, single burst of data to the client at one timemuch larger than the amount allowed by the regular read and write requests (up to 64K).

Burst mode capabilities can be found on NetWare 3.0 and later servers.

The actual mechanics of burst mode involve more than just sending larger amounts of data in a single operation. The client first performs testing to determine a value that will be used for the Interpacket Gap Time (IPG) and the size of the data request (the burst windows size). The window size might vary during the history of the connection, based on how successful communications are. When data is lost during a transmission, the client can send a request to the server to transmit only fragments of the original data stream, those that were not correctly received.

An error condition such as this causes the window size to be reduced. As communications continue with no problems, the window size gradually increases.

Request Being Processed Response

When a client does not receive a response to a request after a timeout period, it will send in a duplicate request. If the server is heavily loaded, it might send back a request that has a request type value of 9999, which is the Request Being Processed type. This is an indication to the client that the request has been received, but that the server is just too busy to do anything about at it at the time. This reply does not guarantee the client that the request ever will get answered, however. It only lets the client know that it can reset its timer and wait longer if need be.

When the client's timer expires, it can send another request to the server, which might respond to the request or which might send another message telling the client to wait. This response type is used to help reduce congestion in a busy network by reducing the number of requests transmitted on the network.

Terminating Connections

This request type is used to end a connection between the client and the server. The only information needed in this packet, other than the request type (5555), is the sequence number of the request and the connection ID number. The server will respond with a standard response packet (3333) with a completion code of zero to indicate that the connection has been successfully brought to a close.