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I
n the 1980s, Apple Computer released the Macintosh--a platform
that would later be regarded with almost religious reverence. The Mac has cer-
tainly established a niche for itself, and all but controls the education and desktop
publishing environments. It is also frequently found in businesses, especially in
smaller companies.
Although an all-Macintosh network traditionally used the AppleTalk net-
work protocol, the explosive growth of the Internet has generated a need for
TCP/IP, as well. With the latest releases of the Macintosh OS and Apple-
Share IP, many administrators, especially those in combined Mac and PC
environments, have migrated away from AppleTalk in favor of IP only.
To its credit, AppleTalk does simplify administration, as compared to TCP/
IP. Further, some applications will continue to need AppleTalk, and there are
still good reasons to understand and use this protocol. This chapter addresses
many of the troubleshooting issues commonly found in AppleTalk networks.
The AppleTalk Protocol
T
he AppleTalk protocol is designed primarily for ease of adminis-
tration. In fact, small networks can be created with virtually no formal
training and little administration. This is made possible by the following
protocols that are part of AppleTalk:
AppleTalk Address Resolution Protocol
AARP
performs two different
functions in AppleTalk. First, it is responsible for mapping AppleTalk
addresses to hardware addresses. This Layer 3 to Layer 2 mapping is similar
to the ARP process in IP. Second, AARP handles the dynamic assignment of
node addresses. (This will be covered in greater detail later in this chapter.)
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