What Is Appletalk Protocol?

AppleTalk is an obsolete networking system for Apple Computers.

AppleTalk was a networking system designed by Apple Inc. for its Macintosh computers. The system has now been dropped in favor of TCP/IP. It ceased to be supported by Apple in 2009.

Components

Like most systems for networking, AppleTalk included layers of protocols in a stack. The layers in the Appletalk stack were Data Link (EtherTalk Link Access Protocol, LocalTalk Link Access Protocol, TokenTalk Link Access Protocol); Network (Datagram Delivery Protocol); Transport (AppleTalk Transaction Protocol, AppleTalk Echo Protocol); and Session (Zone Information Protocol, AppleTalk Session Protocol, AppleTalk Data Stream Protocol).

Physical Connections

The physical layer of AppleTalk (below the data link layer) was handled by a series of drivers that interfaced with whichever physical medium system was chosen. These included LocalTalk, Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI.

Features

Ahead of its time, Appletalk included network discovery and dynamic addressing features. These were implemented by the AppleTalk address resolution protocol (AARP) and the Name Binding Protocol (NBP).

References

• Protocols: Apple Talk Protocols