CPQ/NETWORKING article #1 (note BOLD section)
5/31/97 ComputerWorld Phil. (Pg. Unavail. Online)
1997 WL 9098253
Computerworld Philippines
Copyright 1997 ComputerWorld Philippines
Saturday, May 31, 1997
Network vendors work to ease Internet bottlenecks
By Melba-Jean M. Valdez
CW PHILIPPINES SENIOR WRITER
MAUI, Hawaii -- Six US-based networking vendors told Asian
journalists here that their R&D activities will focus on solutions
that bypass bottlenecks on the Internet.
Vendors present at the semi-annual conference were Attachmate
Corporation, ChatCom, Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation's
Networking Products Division (NPD), Patton Electronics Company,
RightFAX, Inc., and Sourcecom Corporation.
Jim Fowler, communications director at Patton Electronics Co., a
manufacturer of data communications equipment, said more and more
Internet access products are pouring into the market, and that
increasingly, corporate networks will resemble the Internet.
"The Internet is going to be a very large portion of people's time
and interest in developing products," said Fowler. "But our
biggest challenge is coming out with solutions that will fix the
choke points on the Internet."
Enzo Signore, director for international business development at
Sourcecom, told Computerworld that today's vast and rapidly
growing information content is not easily accessible to remote
corporate and home users. He added that legacy analog and other
technologies have typically limited a single user to a single
service per "connection," such as access to the Internet or a
corporate database. Signore said that Sourcecom will continuously
develop solutions that will transcend today's analog and ISDN
content bottlenecks to deliver secure, scaleable broadband
networks.
TOO MANY SOLUTIONS
The vendors also said a major challenge this year is to reduce
confusion among users brought about by a multiplicity of
networking standards, and to help them decide which solutions best
fits their environments.
"There are too much solutions and not enough information on how to
apply these solutions," said John V. Lillywhite, director for
marketing at ChatCom, Inc. ChatCom, Inc. is a manufacturer of
highly managed consolidated server products. "I wish the world
would slow down a little bit. We have turned into our own worst
enemy by demanding faster and faster speeds that we don't have
enough time anymore to relax."
Rick Finley, field marketing manager for the Asia Pacific region
at Attachmate Australasia Pty. Ltd. told Computerworld
Philippines that most users today are inundated with standards
and technology. "The sad thing is, many of them do not know which
migration path to take," said Finley.
Finley added that for many, this year will be a time for pilot
projects and a year of Windows NT decisions. Next year will be a
year of hardware and software purchases and upgrades, he said.
Attachmate is a supplier of enterprise information access software
and services.
CONVERGENCE
Network vendors were also enthusiastic about the convergence of
telephony, computing, and networking.
"I don't think ATM will be the end destination," said David M.
Schmertz, business development manager for the networking products
division at Compaq Computer Corporation. "What is more exciting is
the merging of data and telecommunications. And we are the company
to facilitate that."
David T. Armistead, international sales manager at RightFax, said
that networks, over time, will converge with phone lines.
"Telephony and networking will completely converge as one," said
Armistead. This convergence, he added, will be a big opportunity
for his company, a developer of fax server solutions.
PRODUCTS
The vendors also used the forum to introduce products that they
will make available in Asia this year.
For instance, Attachmate introduced EXTRA! HostView Server and
EXTRA! Objects.
David Callahan, vice president of International Sales at
Attachmate, said EXTRA! HostView Server allows organizations
exploring either Java or ActiveX distributed applications to
deliver mainframe host access to end-users over local- or wide-
area networks.
EXTRA! Objects supports Microsoft's Active Platform strategy by
exposing EXTRA!'s component objects as ActiveX controls. Callahan
said EXTRA! Objects can also be dragged and dropped as Active
Documents, allowing them to be easily integrated into the Active
Desktop or any ActiveX container such as Internet Explorer and
Office97 applications.
CONSOLIDATED SERVERS
ChatCom, meanwhile, introduced Consolidated Servers, which are
fully functional, completely independent PCs in a front-loading,
hot swappable enclosure.
"The application for ChatCom's Consolidated Servers exists in
medium and large companies that need hundreds of hot-pluggable,
scalable, and adaptable personal computers," said ChatCom's
Lillywhite. "What we've done is we've taken the motherboards in
PCs and put them in server modules."
Lillywhite said companies today are running different applications
on typical desktop PCs and end up not having enough room to
accommodate all desktops. "It comes to be a PC disease. So
Consolidated Servers is repackaged PC technology. Users can start
with one CPU and when they need to grow they just add more."
ChatCom also introduced Redundant Array of Inexpensive Network
Servers (RAINS), a concept Lillywhite said will be the future of
server computing. "RAINS extends the concept of RAID (Redundant
Array of Inexpensive Disks) to include servers," said Lillywhite.
He added that RAINS represents a convergence of RAID technology
with scaleable and modular, Intel-based microprocessor systems.
Lillywhite said the concept ensures data protection and
application availability.
ACCESS ROUTER
Patton Electronics unveiled an Internet access router that uses
fully programmable DSP (digital signal processor) modem
technology. Fowler said the Patton Model 2800 Programmable Access
Router allows a T1 or E1 line carrying up to 30 V.34 (33.6 kbps)
modem calls -- or up to 60 ISDN calls -- to be routed directly to
an Ethernet LAN or a second upstream T1/E1 line.
Potential Model 2800 customers are ISPs, corporations and
universities, Fowler said.
FAX SERVER
RightFAX introduced RightFAX NT Fax Server Software, Web Client,
and E-mail Gateway.
Armistead said RightFAX NT handles faxes extremely fast.
The RightFAX Web Client is an optional module allowing users to
manage their fax mailboxes through Web browsers such as Netscape
Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
The E-mail Gateway is also an optional module that combines the
power of RightFAX fax server technology with existing e-mail
applications. The gateway lets users send, receive, and track the
status of faxes through their E-mail mailbox in conjunction with
traditional RightFAX printer redirection.
Sourcecom, for its part, introduced Broadwave, a 2-year, 3-phase
strategy and line of platforms designed to meet the requirements
of Internet service providers and subscribers for broadband
services. "Broadwave will fundamentally reshape Internet and
corporate content access infrastructures," said Signore. Signore
added that Broadwave overcomes today's analog and ISDN content
bottlenecks to deliver secure, scaleable broadband networks.
---- INDEX REFERENCES ----
KEY WORDS: COMPUTER COMPONENTS; HAWAII; TELECOMMUNICATIONS; INTERNET AND WORLDWIDE WEB; COMPUTERS AND COMPUTING
NEWS SUBJECT: Internet (NET)
INDUSTRY: Computer Peripherals; Computers; Communications Technology; Telecommunications, All; Computer Makers (PRF CPR CMT TEL CPM)
REGION: Hawaii; Western U.S.; United States; North America; Pacific Rim (HI USW US NME PRM)
Word Count: 1033
5/31/97 COMPHILL (No Page)
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