Chapter 2 - Monitoring the Network
The StreetTalk for Windows NT installation directory (for example, Program Files\Banyan) contains the STCOMMS utility in the BIN directory that displays:
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Interfaces ![]()
Neighbors ![]()
Routes ![]()
Results of a route trace Note: You can use StreetTalk Explorer 2.0 or greater to display this information. Chapter 2 of Monitoring and Optimizing Servers describes the concepts behind the network management information and the information displayed.
The STCOMMS command has the following syntax:
STCOMMS [-h | -i | -n | -r | -s | -t | -u] [-w]
where
-h displays
a usage message
-i displays information about all interfaces that StreetTalk
communications runs on
-n displays the neighbors table
-r displays the routing table
-s displays VINES IP statistics
-t traces the route between nodes
-u displays servers manually and automatically connected
to your server by Server-to-Server UDP
-w freezes the display on the terminal until you enter a
carriage return
Run STCOMMS from the system prompt. You do not have to be logged in to the Banyan network to run STCOMMS. However, if the StreetTalk Naming service on your Windows NT system is not running, STCOMMS cannot display the names of the servers that correspond to the server serial number displayed.
In every case except STCOMMS -h, -u, and -w, the output of the STCOMMS command is identical to the output of the VNSM MNET command when MNET is run against a native VINES or a StreetTalk for Windows NT 8.x server.
STCOMMS -i displays information about all interfaces that StreetTalk communications runs on including Ethernet, Token-Ring, and FDDI, as well as logical interfaces to UDP to support UDP clients and Server-to-Server UDP, if enabled.
Below is an example of the output from running STCOMMS -i, followed by an explanation of the output:
Interface - The name of the interface type:
Ethernet, Token Ring, or FDDI for those respective LAN types
Server-Server UDP for logical interfaces supporting Server-to-Server UDP tunneling
Local UDP Clients for all logical interfaces supporting UDP clients on directly connected subnetworks
Remote UDP Clients for the logical interface supporting remote UDP clients
Redirected UDP Clients for the logical interface supporting UDP clients that are redirected to the server and UDP clients to which the server is redirected.Note that STCOMMS truncates the Interface name to 17 characters; StreetTalk Explorer displays the full names.
Address - The address associated with the interface. For a LAN interface, the address is the MAC address of the LAN adapter in hexadecimal, with each byte separated by a space.
For Server-to-Server UDP interfaces, the address depends on the purpose of the logical interface. In all cases, however, the address is an IP address in dotted decimal notation.
If automatic connectivity on directly connected subnets is enabled, there is a logical interface for each directly connected subnet. The address for the logical interface is the IP address for the subnet with the host part 0 (zero). In the example output above, the Server-to-Server interfaces with addresses 131.100.71.0 and 131.100.72.0 are of this type, indicating that there are two directly connected subnets.
There is also an interface for each server being tunneled to, whether manually configured or established via automatic connectivity. In this case, the address is the IP address of the server being tunneled to. In the example output above, the interface with address 131.100.71.113 is this type and corresponds to a tunnel to a server whose IP address is 131.100.71.113.
For UDP Client interfaces, the address depends on the purpose of the logical interface. In all cases, however, the address is an IP address in dotted decimal notation or is blank.
If support for UDP clients on directly connected subnets is enabled, there is a logical interface for each directly connected subnet. The address for the logical interface is the IP address for the subnet with the host part 0 (zero). In the example output above, the UDP Client interfaces with addresses 131.100.71.0 and 131.100.72.0 are this type, indicating that there are two directly connected subnets.
If support for UDP clients on remote subnets is enabled, there is a single logical interface for all remote subnets. The address for this type of interface is blank because there is no single address to associate with the interface.
Totin - The total number of packets received by the interface. For Server-to-Server UDP interfaces corresponding to automatic connectivity on directly connected subnets, this number is always 0 (zero) because packets are received on the interface specific to the server being tunneled to.
Totout - The total number of packets sent by the interface.
Ierrs - The total number of packets received by the interface with errors.
Oerrs - The total number of packets that could not be sent by the interface due to errors.
See also Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of Monitoring and Optimizing Servers.
STCOMMS -s displays 29 statistics related to VINES IP. For descriptions of the displayed statistics, see the StreetTalk Explorer help system and the StreetTalk Communications Object Counter Definition (select Edit, Add To Chart) in the Windows NT Performance Monitor.
Below is the list of the parameters output from running STCOMMS -s:
Total Packets In
Total Packets Out
Bytes Received
Bytes Sent
Receive Errors - Bad Checksums
Receive Errors - Packets Too Small
Receive Errors - Bad Length
Receive Errors - No Buffers Available
Receive Errors - Allocate Failures
Send Errors
Packets Routed
Broadcasts Sent or Routed
Packets Routed (HWM)
Broadcasts Sent or Routed (HWM)
Fragmentations Done
Fragments
Reassemblies Done
Packets Sent To IP (TCP/IP)
Packets Received From IP (TCP/IP)
Heapsize (KB)
Heap In Use (Bytes)
Heap Allocation Failures
SPP Connections Configured
SPP Connections In Use
SPP Connections Maximum In Use
Sockets Configured
Sockets In Use
Sockets Maximum In Use
Socket Allocation Failures
STCOMMS -u displays the servername, server serial number (Netid), IP address, and metric flags of each server manually or automatically connected to your server by means of S-to-S UDP software. A metric flag is a hexadecimal number that shows the status of the connection. Table 2-1 shows all the possible values that may appear in this field, and the meaning of each value.
Flag | Description |
0 | No connection has been established. If this connection is not disabled, the server with which you are trying to communicate has not responded. It is still in request mode. |
1 | Server is connected. A VINES routing packet has been received from this routing server. |
2 | This server-to-server connection has been automatically established. This server is not locally configured but is able to establish a connection to your server because automatic connectivity is enabled. |
8 | This connection was manually disabled. If this flag is set, flag 1 will not be set. |
20 | The connection was established as a result of a UDP redirect. If this flag is set, flag 2 will not be set. |
STCOMMS - w allows you to create an icon or a shortcut that displays the system prompt, runs an stcomms command (for example, STCOMMS -r -w), and freezes the display on your terminal so that you can record the information. The display is resumed when you enter a carriage return. If you run the command directly from the system prompt, you can redirect the output to more (for example, STCOMMS -r | more).
A neighbor describes the relationship of one node to another node with which it shares a physical communications medium. For example, all Banyan client workstations and StreetTalk for Windows NT systems on an Ethernet LAN are neighbors.
The STCOMMS -n command displays the following two entries at the top of the output:
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Server Net Id (server serial number) of the StreetTalk for Windows NT server. ![]()
The total number of servers and workstations that are neighbors of the StreetTalk for Windows NT server.
The table of neighbors contains the following entries:
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Data Link layer address (for example, 00 00 1b 3d 69 5e) for each neighbor server and each neighbor DOS, Windows, or OS/2 workstation running StreetTalk for Windows NT networking software to communicate with the StreetTalk for Windows NT server. ![]()
The "net id" indicating the serial number (StreetTalk address) assigned to a server. Because Macintosh workstations use AppleTalk protocols to communicate with VINES servers, the table of neighbors does not have entries for Macintosh workstations. Client workstations are displayed only as neighbors to a StreetTalk for Windows NT server when that server is their StreetTalk router or they are using a service on that server and have open connections to it. It is possible for the same client address to appear multiple times as a neighbor. When you terminate a session and log back on, the older session remains in neighbor tables it was in until it ages out in approximately six minutes.
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The hexadecimal subnet identification number of the node. The value is always 0001 for a server and in the range 8001-FFFE for client nodes. ![]()
"SERVER" if the neighbor is a server or "PC" if the neighbor is a client workstation. ![]()
The servername if the neighbor is a server and the name can be obtained. If the neighbor is a client workstation, the StreetTalk name of the user logged in on the workstation is displayed.
See also Chapter 14 of Monitoring and Optimizing Servers.
The STCOMMS -r command displays a list of entries for VINES routes in this server's StreetTalk for Windows NT routing table. Each entry displays these fields:
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Destination - The network ID of the destination network and the name of the server to which the network ID corresponds. Each network ID corresponds to a server's serial number, and identifies a logical network. ![]()
Gate - The network ID of the gateway to the destination, which can be a server or third-party router. ![]()
Metric - The total metric, in decimal, of the route to the destination. Metrics specify the cost of reaching a destination in 200-millisecond units called ticks. They are used by VINES IP to select the least cost route to a destination. VINES IP selects the route with the lowest routing metric. If the destination is unreachable, the metric is 65535. ![]()
TTL - Displays the time-to-live timer, in 90-second units, for the routing table entry. This timer is used to remove routing table entries for networks that are unreachable. In the routing table of StreetTalk for Windows NT servers, this timer is usually 0xFFFF. ![]()
Flags - Indicates which flags are set for the routing table entry. These flags provide the internal routing software with descriptive information about the entry, such as whether the destination network is reachable. Each routing table entry has a 16-bit field that is used for setting flags. The value of this field depends on the specific bits that are set. The individual bits and their meanings are listed and described in Monitoring and Optimizing Servers.
The STCOMMS -t command performs a route trace between any two of the following types of servers:
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StreetTalk for Windows NT 8.0 and greater ![]()
Native VINES Note: You cannot trace a route between two StreetTalk for Windows NT 7.x servers or between a StreetTalk for Windows NT 7.x server and another Banyan server. In addition, if a StreetTalk for Windows NT 7.x server is in the route of a trace, the trace fails.
A route trace provides details about the intermediate data links and hops between these servers. When you enter STCOMMS -t, you are prompted to enter either the names or serial numbers of the source and destination servers. You can specify a mix of names and serial numbers. For example, you can specify the name of the source server and the serial number of the destination server. You can select a reverse trace to trace the route from the destination server to the source server.
Enter RETURN when you are finished entering the source and destination names or serial numbers and the results of the trace are displayed. You are prompted whether or not you also want a reverse trace.
To determine the route from the source server to the destination server, read each line from left to right. The name and serial number of the source server appears in the server field on the first line. The name and serial number of the destination server appears in the gate field on the last line. All the servers in between are intermediate hops between the source and destination.
If the source and destination servers are neighbors, just one line of information appears on the screen. If the trace was incomplete, the screen shows only part of the route between the source and destination.
The NAME and SERIAL NUMBER of each intermediate hop appears twice: once in the GATE field and the other in the SERVER field on the next line. The hop's appearance in the GATE field indicates that it is acting as a gateway (that is, next hop) for the server in the server field on the same line. The hop's appearance in the server field indicates that it uses the server in the gate field as the gateway to the destination server.
The METRIC field shows the total metric (that is, total cost in 200-millisecond units called ticks) from the server in the server field to the destination. This value is returned in decimal. The metric field on the first line shows the total metric for the route between the source server and the destination server. The metric fields on the subsequent lines show the total metric between each succeeding intermediate hop and the destination server.
The MEDIA field displays the type of connection between the servers in the server and gate fields. The type displays as a number. To see the type, use MNET or StreetTalk Explorer.
The ADDR field displays the physical address of the local server (the server specified in the SERVER field). This interface connects the local server to the server specified in the GATE field (the gateway server). In most cases, a LAN address appears.
For more information on neighbors and routes, refer to Managing Communications and Monitoring and Optimizing Servers.
For more information on StreetTalk for Windows NT network management statistics, see Monitoring and Optimizing Servers.