The networking hardware that comes standard on every SGI system is an Ethernet controller and two serial ports. (Some hardware products may have more ports than this, including an ISDN port.) The Ethernet controller may be an entire board or an integrated chip. Controllers interface between the networking software and the network medium.

If you attach the system to a network you may need additional parts. These sections address networking hardware:

Basic Network Attachment

To connect your Ethernet controller to a network, you must have access to an active Ethernet cable.

Figure 1-1 shows how systems (termed “stations” on the network) might be connected to an Ethernet network.

Figure 1-1. Ethernet Network Attachment

The serial ports on a SGI system allow it to connect to serial networks. Serial-line networks are systems connected by serial lines and modems. You do not need special hardware installed in your computer to connect to a serial network.  

Figure 1-2 shows systems connected to a serial network using modems.

Figure 1-2. Serial Line Network

When you attach the system to the network, the network must know how to identify the system. The network controller, a physical board or chip, handles this function. The interface is software's interpreter and handler of the controller. The interface name is the name most evident to the user. For example, network management tools refer to the interface name when providing information about the physical controller.

To configure a controller, each network controller on a system must have a valid interface name. A single system may have multiple controllers; each controller must have a unique interface name. Several different types of controllers are available. Each type has its own special interface name. Most network software supports a maximum of four network interfaces by default.

You can get a list of the interfaces installed on a system using the hinv command:

% hinv -c network
Integral ISDN: Basic Rate Interface unit 0, revision 1.0
Integral Ethernet: ec0, version 1

The interface name for the Ethernet controller in this example is “ec0.”

The standard networking software shipped with all SGI systems adheres to the Internet Model standards and protocols. It is derived from the networking software in the 4.3BSD UNIX release from the University of California at Berkeley and the RPC (remote procedure call) system from Sun Microsystems. The IRIX operating system implements the Internet Protocol suite and UNIX domain sockets using the 4.3BSD UNIX socket mechanism. The system also supports access to the underlying network media by means of raw sockets.

All standard networking software is supplied on the Execution Only Environment media (eoe and license_eoe). See Table 1-1 for a list of standard networking software for SGI systems. See Table 1-2 for a list of the optional networking products for SGI systems.

SGI supplies a variety of optional networking software to provide interconnectivity between various vendors and mediums. Table 1-2 lists some of these products. See your sales representative for detailed product information.