Bay still on high-speed track
By Ben Heskett
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
April 17, 1998, 12:30 p.m. PT
URL: news.com
Despite a tepid embrace of Bay Networks' initial efforts into new high-speed markets, the
company will roll out plans to continue targeting networking equipment for this sector at the
upcoming Networld+Interop trade show in Las Vegas and beyond.
The company, fresh off the announcement of poor earnings for the
quarter, will seek to take the next steps in support of gigabit-speed
Ethernet technology by tackling new segments and updating existing
offerings, according to sources.
Among the items on the table at the networking industry's largest annual
gathering will be a new Accelar workgroup switch
1050 that will be targeted at departmental needs,
sources said. Along with the new box, Bay will
announce support for a variety of software features,
such as advanced routing extensions and IP multicast
technology across the Accelar line, they added.
Later this year, Bay also plans to add gigabit-speed links to its BCN line of routing devices and
System 5000 "all-in-one"-style back-end system.
A Bay spokeswoman refused to comment on upcoming announcements.
The rollouts come as executives from Bay admit that initial adoption of Accelar products has not
been up to expectations so far, leading in part to a downturn in the company's financial fortunes.
With finalization of a standard for Gigabit Ethernet on its way, however, analysts remain bullish on
the prospects for the market.
Gigabit Ethernet offers higher speeds for what is the dominant technology for connecting PCs to
servers on a network. With the advent of this technology, the company will be able to move
beyond current market niches to tackle high-end networking needs, according to most industry
pundits.
On the ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) side of Bay's business, the firm will add higher
densities to the Centillion line of equipment and incorporate a new multiprotocol routing "engine"
for the System 5000 BH, a model that includes Centillion technology.
Separately, the firm will formally announce a new gateway on Monday that provides an IP
(Internet protocol)-based bridge between voice and data networks. The new Voice Gateway
4000, which was disclosed to CNET's NEWS.COM earlier this month, hopes to take advantage
of current interest in voice-over-IP technology.
The new gateway takes advantage of software technology Bay gained from an equity investment in
NetSpeak. It will ship immediately with prices starting at $1,500 per port. Density for the gateway
starts at 24 ports and extends to 96 ports.
The 4000 represents Bay's first product in the voice-over-IP market. The company's 5399 remote
access concentrator will also soon add voice as well as fax-over-IP capabilities.
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