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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maverick who wrote (1092)	2/3/1998 2:28:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Infonet's VPN uses ASND MAX 4004 and TNT Product Leaders: VPN Services Sending Files to Faraway Places-for Far Less Infonet's Virtual Enterprise VPN service cuts the cost of connecting remote offices and telecommuters It's a familiar problem for companies with far-flung remote offices. Leased lines are way too expensive, while dial-up is way too slow. But Infonet Services Corp. says it has the answer. The carrier says its Virtual Enterprise ISDN VPN can deliver up to 4 Mbit/s per site for roughly two-thirds the price of a meshed T1 network. And the provider addresses convenience as well as cost: The network signals end-users when they have files waiting rather than forcing them to dial in and check. What's more, Infonet (El Segundo, Calif.) is selling access in 47 countries and takes care of ordering, setup, and CPE configuration and maintenance in all of them. It even breaks out bills in detail so net managers can track traffic patterns. Sounds great. But Virtual Enterprise makes economic sense only when used less than four hours a day. A Two-Way Street Here's how it all ties together. End-users dial into the closest Infonet POP (point of presence), and a 4004 or TNT WAN switch from Ascend Communications Inc. (Alameda, Calif.) sets up the call over Infonet's global IP backbone. The receiving switch uses the ISDN D channel to signal a router at the remote site, telling it to dial in and pick up a file. The router does just that; it also tells the recipient that a download is waiting (see the figure). According to Infonet, the entire process doesn't take any longer than establishing a dial-up call. Virtual Enterprise sets up and tears down connections on demand. In addition, bandwidth can be temporarily increased for large file transfers. The switches communicate constantly using Multilink PPP (point-to-point protocol). When one of them detects traffic that exceeds a predefined threshold, it signals the receiving router to aggregate more ISDN B channels over the link to the remote site. Since the service uses ISDN PRI (primary-rate interfaces) to reach the VPN backbone, it's possible to synchronize enough B channels to deliver 4 Mbit/s. Infonet also indicates that end-users don't have to have ISDN connections to dial into the service-a boon for telecommuters. It's possible to dial in and send files over an analog line (at whatever speed the modem will allow). To pull down files, though, end-users must be on an ISDN link.

To: Maverick who wrote (1092)	2/3/1998 2:31:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Infonet, part II Keeping it Private Infonet hasn't neglected security. It uses Radius (remote authentication dial-in user service) to authenticate remote users when they dial in. And the provider also can break out bills in detail, sorting calls by access code, date and time, originating location, and hourly usage charge. Bills are available in hard copy or via e-mail or FTP (file transfer protocol) at a secure Web site. Virtual Enterprise costs $150 a month per site. Hourly charges range from $3 within the U.S. to $11 for any region in Infonet's net. For a picture illustrating the VPN service, please click data.com