Network Plug and Play

The promise of getting new office equipment and simply plugging it into a network port has been documented for years. But have you ever seen it work? You need the LAN administrator to build a directory record for the device, notify all users of its existence, load device driver in user's desk top environments, assign security codes, and so on.

Wouldn't it be great if the Getting Started manual for your new multi-function office machine simply read, "Position the unit in a convenient location and plug the power cord into the power outlet. Plug the LAN cable in to the LAN access port. Turn on the power switch."

You guessed it, Salutation Architecture can do this for you.

Salutation Behind the Scenes

1. When turned on, the multi-function device uses the Salutation Exchange SLM-ID protocol sequence to locate the other Salutation enabled devices on the network. This is also a signal to the Salutation enabled LAN Administration software that a new device has entered the network.

2. The LAN Administration software issues a Query Capabilities protocol sequence to the newly attached device. In response, our new multi-function device returns a series of Functional Unit Description Records detailing the Print, Document Storage and Fax capabilities it contains. As part of this exchange, the device specifies its 'public' security code.

3. The LAN Administration software then builds directory records associated with the new device and its functionality. (This has been demonstrated for the Novell Directory Service using existing NDS APIs.)

4. The LAN Administration software determines the location of device drivers for the new device. (They may be maintained in a LAN accessable database, in archival storage, on a Web or FTP server or maintained in storage on the device itself.) Once located, the LAN Administration software readies them for delivery to requesting users.

5. Users locate the new equipment either through traditional directory queries, or Salutation queries. For example, users may request a device having special characteristics using the Salutation APIs exposed in the Salutation Port-of-Entry (see Salutation News in this issue). If our new device matches the requirements specified by the user's request, it will respond positively. In a more traditional manner, the user may use directory queries to determine the availability of our new device. In either case, the user's system recognizes that this device is new and searches the local, then LAN environment for the appropriate device driver.

6. Again, using the Salutation Port-of-Entry contained in the desk top environment, the user communicates with the device through a Salutation Service request using a secure transmission based on the device's public key.