Data Products Explode At Interop (Inter@ctive Week)
From Inter@ctive Week for April 27, 1998 by Kathleen Cholewka
The stage is set for networking attractions of all shapes and sizes at
the Networld+Interop show to be held this week in Las Vegas.
Virtual private networking -- the technology that enables secure data
connections over the Net -- is coming of age, as many companies bring
out new developments this go-around.
For example, networking hardware giant Ascend Communications Inc.
(www.ascend.com) plans to announce its MultiVPN strategy, designed to
allow service providers to offer a broader range of virtual private
network (VPN) services.
VP Remote Networking includes Internet-based VPNs while VP Trunking lets
end users optimize the use of their bandwidth in times of congestion and
helps guarantee service level agreements (SLAs). VIP Routing uses
Ascend's IP Navigator to extend private Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
over the wide area network to form an extension of the private network.
Ascend also plans to announce a Customer Network Management gateway,
which enables a real-time, two-directional view of VPNs and generates
SLA reports.
New products from Bay Networks Inc. (www.baynetworks.com) are expected
to include the Accelar routing switch. But Bay also will introduce a
low-end extranet switch, the ES1000, geared toward branch and small
offices, along with extranet switch software version 1.5, which adds
easier management and value-added features to extranet services. What's
more, the company's Directory-Enabled Provisioning Management software
for VPNs and extranets will debut.
Additionally, Bay says it will announce Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and
higher-density Token Ring switching modules for its frame and cell-based
modular enterprise platforms.
Outsourcing will play a part in some product announcements. For example,
General Datacom Corp. (www.gdc.com) plans to unveil low-end access
products meant to be sold or leased by service providers to their
customers. Its AT1000 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) access
termination unit enables service providers to offer ATM services all the
way to the customer premises. Its product will help providers establish
a fail-safe interface with end-user equipment at the customer site in
order to ensure control over traffic shaping, monitoring or testing ATM
services. Pricing starts at $6,300.
Also, GDC is releasing three multiservice access concentrator boxes: the
MAC100 ATM access box, with T1, Ethernet and serial interfaces; the
MAC200, a data-only frame relay access device; and the MAC300, which
features voice via a four-port analog module and standard compression up
to 12-to-1. Each MAC features IP and Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX)
routing. Pricing ranges from $1,800 for the MAC200 to $4,600 for the
MAC100.
In other announcements, management software will get a face-lift from
some vendors. The focus will be on end users' taking the reins in
managing and provisioning their network services. Sync Research
(www.sync. com) is expected to announce Release 7 of its management
software for its enterprise frame relay access devices and routers. The
software will allow network administrators to designate a source and
destination route for backup lines in case of network failures.
NetScout Systems Inc. (www. netscout.com) plans to add an applications
flow management system, which includes AppScout, a Web-based system that
monitors and reports on application usage in real-time.
Quallaby Corp. (www.quallaby. com) will show a customer-defined services
management system. Its Proviso Service Level Agreement management
product lets service providers customize their SLAs and lets customers
handle their own ordering of services.
Some heavyweights in hardware will also strut new stuff at the show. For
example, Avici Systems Inc. of Chelmsford, Mass., in which Northern
Telecom Inc. holds a 20 percent stake, will release a terabit switch
router (TSR). The switch package, capable of operating at 6 terabits per
second, will be in beta tests later this year. It will compete with
products from Argon Networks Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and NetCore
Systems Inc.
Also on hand will be the MegaSwitch MS7500HD from Nbase Communications
Inc. (www.nbase.com), including interfaces to ATM, Ethernet, Fast
Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and Integrated Services Digital Network
interfaces.
IP telephony vendors will have news, too. Vienna Systems Inc. (www.
viennasys.com) has come out with two thin-client devices that will
enable IP telephone calls over cable or IP networks. The IPCourrier is
an Ethernet phone, which acts like a private branch exchange phone but
attaches to an Ethernet local area network. The IPShuttle lets end users
with regular analog phones connect to a cable network. Both network
phones cost $600 and should ship in June.
Finally, Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) systems will vie for attention.
Adtran Inc. plans to introduce frame access products to connect to xDSL
modems. Redback Networks Inc. will demonstrate systems designed to
simplify the management of xDSL services. And Interspeed Inc. plans to
unveil its data networking products for xDSL-based services. |
