MacIP
Encyclopedia
MacIP refers to encapsulating Internet Protocol
(IP) packets within the AppleTalk
DDP
protocol.
MacIP was part of the solution to the problem of how to provide computers that have native LocalTalk
networking capabilities with access to TCP/IP based network services. Software implementing MacIP (such as MacTCP
or Open Transport
) was installed on the computer and a MacIP Gateway was placed elsewhere on the network. Applications that communicate with TCP/IP (such as Telnet
) have their IP packets encapsulated in DDP for transmission across the LocalTalk network to the MacIP Gateway. The MacIP Gateway strips off the DDP encapsulation and forwards the IP packet on the IP network.
as the
Stanford Ethernet - AppleTalk Gateway (SEAGATE) by Bill Croft in 1984 and 1985.
SEAGATE was commercialised by Kinetics as the Kinetics Internet Protocol
(KIP) for use with their FastPath
LocalTalk-to-Ethernet bridge
. Apple Computer
adopted the usage of KIP and refer to it as MacIP.
One of the mandates for the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) "IP over AppleTalk" working group was to document existing MacIP implementations and to develop a specification for MacIP that could be proposed as a standard. A draft document was submitted, however it was not accepted as a standard and has subsequently expired.
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
(IP) packets within the AppleTalk
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a proprietary suite of protocols developed by Apple Inc. for networking computers. It was included in the original Macintosh released in 1984, but is now unsupported as of the release of Mac OS X v10.6 in 2009 in favor of TCP/IP networking...
DDP
Datagram Delivery Protocol
Datagram Delivery Protocol is a member of the AppleTalk networking protocol suite. Its main responsibility is for socket-to-socket delivery of datagrams over an AppleTalk network....
protocol.
MacIP was part of the solution to the problem of how to provide computers that have native LocalTalk
LocalTalk
LocalTalk is a particular implementation of the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking system from Apple Computer. LocalTalk specifies a system of shielded twisted pair cabling, plugged into self-terminating transceivers, running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s...
networking capabilities with access to TCP/IP based network services. Software implementing MacIP (such as MacTCP
MacTCP
MacTCP was the standard TCP/IP implementation for the Macintosh operating system through version 7.5.1. It was the first application-independent implementation of a TCP stack for a non-Unix platform and predates Winsock by over 5 years...
or Open Transport
Open Transport
Open Transport was the name given by Apple Inc. to their implementation of the Unix-originated System V STREAMS. Based on code licensed from Mentat's Portable Streams product, Open Transport was built to provide the Mac OS with a modern TCP/IP implementation, replacing MacTCP...
) was installed on the computer and a MacIP Gateway was placed elsewhere on the network. Applications that communicate with TCP/IP (such as Telnet
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
) have their IP packets encapsulated in DDP for transmission across the LocalTalk network to the MacIP Gateway. The MacIP Gateway strips off the DDP encapsulation and forwards the IP packet on the IP network.
History
The practice of encapsulating IP packets within DDP was originally developed at Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
as the
Stanford Ethernet - AppleTalk Gateway (SEAGATE) by Bill Croft in 1984 and 1985.
SEAGATE was commercialised by Kinetics as the Kinetics Internet Protocol
Kinetics Internet Protocol
Kinetics Internet Protocol is a network protocol for encapsulation and routing of AppleTalk data packets over IP. It also controls the routing tables.It is defined in RFC 1742.Apple Computer adopted the usage of KIP and refer to it as MacIP....
(KIP) for use with their FastPath
FastPath
The Kinetics FastPath was an MacIP to TCP/IP router created in 1985 to allow Apple Macintosh computers to communicate with other computers on Ethernet networks. The product had five significant revisions during its lifetime and was sold by Shiva Networks late in its existence...
LocalTalk-to-Ethernet bridge
LocalTalk-to-Ethernet bridge
A LocalTalk-to-Ethernet Bridge is a network bridge that joins the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking used by previous generations of Apple Computer products to an Ethernet network....
. Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
adopted the usage of KIP and refer to it as MacIP.
One of the mandates for the Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
(IETF) "IP over AppleTalk" working group was to document existing MacIP implementations and to develop a specification for MacIP that could be proposed as a standard. A draft document was submitted, however it was not accepted as a standard and has subsequently expired.