What Is Data Link Switching (DLSw)?
Data Link Switching (DLSw) is the way to go when you want to take your non-IP traffic with you on the road. DLSw stands for data link switching, and it's a tunneling protocol that lets you direct unroutable non-IP protocols across IP networks. Certain legacy IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) or NetBIOS Frames (NBF) protocols are inaccessible and non-IP-based. DLSw carries SNA and NetBIOS traffic over IP networks instead of source-route bridging. Source-route bridging is used for packaging local area network data for transmission over a wide area network, where it is initially encapsulated in TCP packets. DLSw was first published to the public in 1993 as IETF RFC 1434. It was later enhanced and republished in 1995 as IETF RFC 1795. The joint development of DLSw was accomplished by the Data-Link Switching Related Interest Group and the Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking Implementors Workshop. DLSw is an implementation of X.25 for TCP/IP networks, allowing users to use X.25 services transparently over a TCP/IP network. It uses sockets to provide connectionless datagram service over an IP network, which offers low overhead and efficient support for real-time traffic such as video or voice. DLSw is sold commercially by many vendors, including Cisco Systems Inc., which acquired the technology from Digital Equipment Corporation in 1997. Two peers are like two peas in a pod. They're so close they can't see each other, but they're also completely different. Peers are an essential part of a DLSw network. Without them, you'd have no connection, making them so unique! A peer is like your friend who always has your back. It connects to other peers and updates them about its capabilities, but it only connects to some. It only connects with people it knows—other peers! Peers can be classified into three types, namely, the active peer, the passive peer, and the promiscuous peer. The active peer establishes connections with other peers that are already known. The passive peer accepts connections from other available peers. The promiscuous peer accepts any connection from any peer, whether known or not.
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