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Configuring the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

Configuring the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

SCO PPP is a STREAMS-based computer networking facility that provides for the transmission and reception of IP packets over serial lines. As such, SCO PPP provides for the use of TCP/IP networking applications such as rlogin and telnet over serial lines.

Commonly, PPP is used to connect computers in homes and small offices to workplace computers (to enable file transfer, remote login, and other TCP/IP capabilities) or to Internet service providers (to access services such as World Wide Web servers and Usenet news).

SCO PPP is an implementation of the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) as defined in the following Internet standards: RFC 1144, RFC 1172, RFC 1332, RFC 1334, RFC 1471, RFC 1473, and RFC 1548.

Use PPP when an Ethernet or Token-Ring connection between the local host and another location is not possible but a serial line connection is. PPP can be used to connect the local host to another host via a single, physical serial line connection between serial ports or over longer distances using telephone lines and modems. A computer that is running PPP over one or more serial lines and that is also connected to a computer network (such as an Ethernet) can serve as a communication gateway between computers on the network and the computers at the far ends of the serial lines.

This chapter describes:

Also available for serial line communication, for use instead of PPP, is SLIP. See ``Configuring the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP)'', for more information on SLIP, and ``Serial line communications'', for a comparison of the two protocols.

SCO PPP supports only asynchronous communications. SCO provides PPP as a discrete package within the SCO TCP/IP runtime system, meaning it may be selectively installed with SCO TCP/IP.

Terminology used in this chapter:


endpoint
the definition of one end of a PPP link -- a PPP interface and its link are constructed from this definition

line
as in serial line -- the physical medium over which data flows

link
as in PPP link -- the virtual connection between two machines over which data flows

interface
as in PPP interface -- the abstract entity to which the IP driver routes datagrams

Next topic: PPP endpoint configurations

© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003