Performance of IPX/SPX and TCP/IP

You're missing a critical distinction between SPX/IPX and TCP/IP. TCP/IP is the basis of the Internet. SPX/IPX is not.

SPX/IPX was an interesting protocol, but is now of interest only within a given corporation.

It's often the case in the real world that something technically superior loses due to business reasons. Consider Betamax video tape format vs. VHS. Betamax was considered technically superior, yet you can't buy a Betamax recorder today except maybe on eBay. One may argue that Windows won over Macintosh, despite the fact that the MacOS user interface was much nicer, due entirely to business decisions (mainly the decision by Apple not to permit clones).

Similarly, issues far beyond the control of Xerox destroyed SPX/IPX as a viable protocol - HTTP runs over TCP/IP, not over SPX/IPX. HTTP rules the world, therefore TCP/IP rules the world.

SPX/IPX has been left as an exercise for the reader.

BTW, I've been talking about SPX/IPX as though they were a Xerox protocol - not quite. They are a Novell protocol, but based on the Xerox Network System protocols. Interestingly, I found nothing about this protocol on the web site either of Xerox nor of Novell.

Also, see the Wikipedia article on IPX/SPX.

True. The SPX/IPX protocol is not popular in Wide Area Network and Internet, but it is superior to TCP in LAN. Hence eager to know the reasons for it.

Karthik Balaguru 2010-03-01 10:06:50

@Karthik: the reasons for what? The main reason for the failure of SPX/IPX is the success of the Internet, which used TCP/IP. That completely supersedes any technical advantages that SPX/IPX may enjoy. The technical advantages are totally irrelevant.

John Saunders 2010-03-01 10:13:12

So, Is it just because HTTP opted for using TCP/IP, the IPX/SPX got obsoleted ? But, aren't there any technical reasons that hindered IPX/SPX from being good for Wide Area Network or Internet ?

Karthik Balaguru 2010-03-01 14:28:59

@Karthik: I don't know the history on that. I do recall that HTTP (and the Web) was built on top of the ArpaNet, which used TCP/IP. The rest, as they say, was history. You'd have to do quite a bit of research to determine whether Xerox ever made any attempt to require that the Internet should run on either protocol.

John Saunders 2010-03-01 20:36:37

@Karthik: Also, keep in mind that, when it started, the Internet was quite a modest thing. I remember my first sight of amazon.com. I scoffed at a coworker who was actually going to allow his credit card number to go across the Internet to actually _buy_ some books! I thought he was crazy. Today, we think nothing of doing financial transactions and everything else over the Internet. I bet if Xerox had known that would happen, they'd have fought for parity.

John Saunders 2010-03-01 20:37:57

@John Saunders : I think, it has be be checked with Xerox too.

Karthik Balaguru 2010-03-03 01:40:40

@Karthik: _what_ has to be checked with Xerox?

John Saunders 2010-03-03 01:59:36

Is it just because HTTP opted for using TCP/IP, the IPX/SPX got obsoleted ? But, aren't there any technical reasons that hindered IPX/SPX from being good for Wide Area Network or Internet ?

Karthik Balaguru 2010-03-01 14:28:11

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Performance of IPX/SPX and TCP/IP

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