Introduction to Data Communications
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Traditionally (in the olden days - 1990), the Network Card Device Driver and NOS' Data Link layer were generated as 1 software program specific to the computer it was generated on.

As an example, with Novell 3.11 and earlier, a special program was run, called WSGen (workstation generator), which would generate a Workstation Shell. The Workstation Shell would be a software program running as a TSR which would be a combination of the Network Card Device Driver and Novell's IPX protocol. The Workstation Shell was specific to the computer that it was generated on and could not be used on another computer. This meant that every PC in a network would have its Workstation Shell recompiled with every new version of Novell! In a small network this would not be a problem, but in large networks (100+ PCs), this becomes a logistic nightmare!

Another problem emerged, the Workstation Shells directly controlled the network card and were specific to only one NOS. This meant that only one NOS protocol could be run, in Novell's case IPX. Interconnecting Networks became a major problem.

Still another problem arose in trying to run more than 1 network card in a computer (This is done typically in bridges, routers and servers). The Workstation Shells did not have the provision to allow the NOS Protocol to "bind" to more than one Network Card easily.

The NIDS and ODI Network Card Driver specifications were implemented to address the following specific areas:

• Provide a standard separate interface between the Network Card Device Driver and Data Link Layer.
• Allow more than one NOS Protocol to access the Network Card Device Driver.
• Allow the NOS to "bind" to more than one Network Card Device Driver.

Introduction to Data Communications
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