RE: Vague JetDirect Problem

["Joe Ippolito" <joe () joesnet com>]

MDF=Main Data Facility (usually a server room)
IDF=Intermediate Data Facility (usually a wiring closet)
MPOE=Main Point of Entry (WAN entry point to building/campus)

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-firewall-wizards () lists nfr net
[mailto:owner-firewall-wizards () lists nfr net]On Behalf Of Randy Witlicki
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 1999 5:24 PM
To: wpl1 () jps net
Cc: firewall-wizards () nfr net
Subject: Re: Vague JetDirect Problem


  Our pal Dean wrote:

> ...<snip>... connects to via fiber to the MDF ....

  What's an MDF ?

> ....  Our building, in which a couple dozen workstations connect to
> one of two daisy-chained hubs, connects to via fiber to the MDF in another
> building where several dozen workstations are more efficiently connecting
to
> switches.  The JetDirect is connected to one of those two chained hubs in
> our building....
  ..<snip>..
> The JetDirect's configured gateway is the internal IP of the firewall.
>
> Now, folks at the remote building (site of the MDF, et al.) can print to
our
> device.  We can print from our building to devices at the remote building.
> But we can't print to our device.  (The printer never produces the job
which
> remains as a pending job according to the printer's status.)  The network
> print server is a host connected to the switches mentioned above.  Is the
> gateway configuration--which is the same for all successfully operating
> JetDirects on the network--feeding the data by default to the PIX?  Is the
> PIX possibly trashing the data?

  If you are on the same ethernet segment and have the same IP network
address as everybody else on the local ethernet segment, then
the gateway should be irrelevant.
  If you picture:

  ----- X.X.X.*---|router|---Y.Y.Y.*----|router|---all other IP addresses

  If your PC and the JetDirect printer are on the X.X.X.* network
and *both* have X.X.X.* IP addresses and the correct subnet mask, then
the gateway never gets involved with these packets.

  JetDirects can also handle multiple protocols including Netware IPX
queues, which mode are you using ?  If there is a Netware queue
involved in another building, then this could be a cause of the problem.

  When you say "The network print server is a host connected to the
switches mentioned above" does that mean that all print data traffic
goes to a print server device and then to the printer ?

  More details needed.

  I think it this is probably not a firewall issue since it is
all part of your internal network, unless there are security
filters on the internal routers.

  - Randy
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