IPxy

IPXY is a term used to describe software components that enable IPX/SPX network traffic to be transported over IP networks. IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange) and SPX (Sequenced Packet Exchange) are legacy network protocols once used by NetWare and various DOS-era applications. IPXY implementations act as a bridge or wrapper, allowing IPX-based applications to communicate in environments where IP is the dominant protocol. There is no single official standard for IPXY; multiple independent implementations have existed, typically offering a server component on the IP network and a corresponding client component on hosts running IPX software.

Historically, IPXY emerged to preserve compatibility for legacy IPX-dependent software during the transition from IPX/SPX to TCP/IP in the 1990s and early 2000s. In practice, IPXY tools are most commonly encountered in retro-computing and hobbyist networking scenarios, such as connecting older DOS or Windows games that rely on IPX to modern networks or emulation environments.

Technical overview: IPXY wrappers capture IPX datagrams or SPX sessions and encapsulate them within IP packets (often using UDP as the transport), carrying enough header information to reconstruct the original IPX addressing on the receiving end. The recipient unwraps the IPX data and passes it to the local IPX stack. Implementations may vary in transport choice (UDP or TCP), error handling, and address translation, and they generally require coordinated configuration on both ends of the link.

Limitations and status: IPXY solutions introduce additional overhead and can face compatibility challenges with newer networking features, firewalls, and NAT. Today, IPXY is largely of historical and niche interest, valued by enthusiasts maintaining or reviving legacy IPX-based software and games. See also IPX/SPX, NetWare, and DOSBox-based retro networking.