diff options
author | Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org> | 1998-05-07 02:55:41 +0000 |
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committer | Ralf Baechle <ralf@linux-mips.org> | 1998-05-07 02:55:41 +0000 |
commit | dcec8a13bf565e47942a1751a9cec21bec5648fe (patch) | |
tree | 548b69625b18cc2e88c3e68d0923be546c9ebb03 /Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt | |
parent | 2e0f55e79c49509b7ff70ff1a10e1e9e90a3dfd4 (diff) |
o Merge with Linux 2.1.99.
o Fix ancient bug in the ELF loader making ldd crash.
o Fix ancient bug in the keyboard code for SGI, SNI and Jazz.
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt | 32 |
1 files changed, 16 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt b/Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt index 7f64cbc72..1ffeb14bc 100644 --- a/Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt +++ b/Documentation/networking/wan-router.txt @@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ devices are notoriously expensive, with prices as much as 2 - 5 times higher then the price of a typical PC box. Alternatively, considering robustness and multitasking capabilities of Linux, -an internal router can be build (most routers use some sort of stripped down -Unix-like operating system anyway). With number of relatively inexpensive WAN +an internal router can be built (most routers use some sort of stripped down +Unix-like operating system anyway). With a number of relatively inexpensive WAN interface cards available on the market, a perfectly usable router can be built for less than half a price of an external router. Yet a Linux box acting as a router can still be used for other purposes, such as firewalling, @@ -39,37 +39,37 @@ running FTP, WWW or DNS server, etc. This kernel module introduces the notion of a WAN Link Driver (WLD) to Linux operating system and provides generic hardware-independent services for such -drivers. Why existing Linux network device interface can not be used for -this purpose? Well, it can. However, there are few key differences between -typical network interface (i.e. ethernet) and WAN link. +drivers. Why can existing Linux network device interface not be used for +this purpose? Well, it can. However, there are a few key differences between +a typical network interface (e.g. ethernet) and a WAN link. Many WAN protocols, such as X.25 and frame relay, allow for multiple logical connections (known as `virtual circuits' in X.25 terminology) over a single physical link. Each such virtual circuit may (and almost always does) lead -to diffrent geographical location and, therefore, different network. As a +to a different geographical location and, therefore, different network. As a result, it is the virtual circuit, not the physical link, that represents a route and, therefore, a network interface in Linux terms. To further complicate things, virtual cuircits are usually volatile in nature (excluding so called `permanent' virtual circuits or PVCs). With almost no -time required to set up and tear down virtual circuit, it is highly desirable +time required to set up and tear down a virtual circuit, it is highly desirable to implement on-demand connections in order to minimize network charges. So -unlike typical network driver, the WAN driver must be able to handle multiple -network interfaces and cope with multiple virtual circuits come into existance +unlike a typical network driver, the WAN driver must be able to handle multiple +network interfaces and cope as multiple virtual circuits come into existence and go away dynamically. Last, but not least, WAN configuration is much more complex than that of say ethernet and may well amount to several dozens of parameters. Some of them are "link-wide" while others are virtual circuit-specific. The same holds true for WAN statistics which is by far more extensive and extremely useful -when troubleshooting WAN connections. Extending ifconfig utility to suite +when troubleshooting WAN connections. Extending the ifconfig utility to suit these needs may be possible, but does not seem quite reasonable. Therefore, a WAN configuration utility and corresponding application programmer's interface is needed for this purpose. -Most of these problems are taken care of by this module. It's goal is to -provide user with more-or-less standard look and feel for all WAN devices and -assist WAN device driver writer by providing common services, such as: +Most of these problems are taken care of by this module. Its goal is to +provide a user with more-or-less standard look and feel for all WAN devices and +assist a WAN device driver writer by providing common services, such as: o User-level interface via /proc filesystem o Centralized configuration @@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ assist WAN device driver writer by providing common services, such as: o Network interface management (dynamic creation/destruction) o Protocol encapsulation/decapsulation -To ba able to use Linux WAN Router you will also need a WAN Tools package +To ba able to use the Linux WAN Router you will also need a WAN Tools package available from ftp.sangoma.com/pub/linux/vX.Y.Z/wantools-X.Y.Z.tgz @@ -112,12 +112,12 @@ ACKNOLEGEMENTS This product is based on the WANPIPE(tm) Multiprotocol WAN Router developed by Sangoma Technologies Inc. for Linux 1.2.x. Release of Linux 2.0 in summer 1996 commanded adequate changes to the WANPIPE code to take full advantage of -new Linux features. Instead of continuing developing proprietory interface +new Linux features. Instead of continuing developing proprietary interface specific to Sangoma WAN cards, we decided to put all hardware-independent code into a separate module and define two levels of interfaces - one for user- level applications and another for kernel-level WAN drivers. -Many usefull ideas concerning hardware-independent interface implementation +Many useful ideas concerning hardware-independent interface implementation were given by Mike McLagan <mike.mclagan@linux.org> and his implementation of the Frame Relay router and drivers for Sangoma cards (dlci/sdla). |