FORE Systems Introduces Industry's Most Advanced Directory-Enabled Networking Solution
New Software Agent Provides Policy-Based Network Management
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- FORE Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORE - news), a leading global supplier of advanced networking solutions, today announced the introduction of the Extensible Directory Services Agent (EDSA), representing the industry's most advanced implementation of Directory-Enabled Networking (DEN) to date. This breakthrough product is the cornerstone of FORE's Policy-Based Network Management (PBNM) solution.
The EDSA enables FORE's ESX(TM) family of Application Aware(TM) routing switches to be controlled by policies defined in a centralized directory. As a result, the EDSA dramatically simplifies management and enhances resource usage, creating a network infrastructure that supports the most demanding, mission-critical networked applications of today and tomorrow. This is FORE's Intelligent Infrastructure(TM).
''The rapid industry shift to an Internet-centric computing model for business applications makes the directory service the converged point of knowledge administration for the future of computing and networking,'' said Donal Byrne, senior vice prl pdent of corporate marketing at FORE Systems. ''With the launch of the EDSA, we continue our tradition of empowering our customers with leading-edge networking technology that brings them a competitive business advantage ahead of the rest of the industry.''
The EDSA, part of the award-winning ForeThought® internetworking software, brings unparalleled functionality and flexibility to PBNM with support fog Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP v2/v3), Netscape's Directory Server, Novell's NDS and the upcoming release of Microsoft's Active Directory. The EDSA approach also is compatible with the DEN standards initiative now under development. The EDSA architecture was uniquely developed to be directory and schema neutral, supporting a broad range of directory services and ensuring the EDSA can handle new schema and directory services from different vendors and standards efforts.
The FORE Advantage
The EDSA supports advanced features unique to FORE's DEN solution, including:
-- Hierarchical policy inheritance -- Policies can be applied at
different levels within the directory tree, causing all appropriate
objects beneath the applied level to inherit the specified policy.
This dramatically reduces the amount of time required to apply
policies across large networks.
-- Global policy defaulting and overriding -- A global default for a
policy can be set and enforced. While specific policy definitions
can override the default, the EDSA also supports a global enforce
policy that cannot be overridden by specific policies. Different
authorization levels are supported for the different types of policy
definitions. Users are authenticated with the directory before
policies can take effect, reducing complexity and time required to
apply policies across the network.
-- Object extensibility via auxiliary object classes -- Objects can be
easily extended as new requirements arise. Auxiliary objects can be
used within EDSA to extend the functionality of original objects
without redefining them, ensuring easy adaptability to new
requirements and developments in DEN.
-- Directory caching -- The EDSA supports the ability to cache
information from the directory and maintain the state locally,
minimizing the number of reads a switch performs. This also enhances
the overall scalability of FORE's solution and allows the switch to
continue operation if the directory goes off-line.
-- Directory resiliency -- The EDSA supports the ability to find an
alternative ctoectory server if the primary directory server fails.
-- Modular plug-in architecture -- Agent code for different applications
can be easily added or removed.
FORE's groundbreaking DEN solution already is being hailed by IT professionals. ''FORE's EDSA is a critical step in providing fully Application Aware solutions for mission-critical systems that provide such things as patient clinical information and enterprise resource planning,'' said Mark Amey, director of technical services for Health First, a Florida-based healthcare system that has reviewed the EDSA. ''Traditional networking solutions do not tie applications and network performance together. This makes providing a solution difficult at best. The combination of FORE's EDSA, ESX routing switches and ASX(TM) ATM switches provides the power to offer fully predictable, reliable and secure network services for these applications and their users, while maintaining exceptional levels of performance.''
ForeView Policy Console
Completing FORE's solution is the ForeView® Policy Console, a Java-based console developed for the ForeView network management platform. The console, which also can be a stand-alone tool, reads from and publishes information to the directory server via LDAP and displays the directory tree and associated objects. Through the EDSA's supported schema, the console shows all directory-enabled switches with associated inventory and status records. Application Class of Service (CoS) can be controlled through the console by specifying the appropriate priority level for an application and the domain of enforcement for the particular policy. The console provides consistency checking and conflict resolution for setting policies.
Industry-Leading Switches Employ Industry-Leading Intelligence
The ESX family of routing switches, the ESX-4800 and ESX-2400, combine multi-Gigabit routierfperformance with Application Aware switching capabilities that classify application flows and enforce a variety of policies at wire speed on any port. The switches use Microsoft Windows NT as an extensible network services platform with support for application agent or service agent plug-ins, including the EDSA. This approach represents a dramatic improvement over the alternative approach of policy management, which takes place via a policy translator that sits between the directory and the switch or router. That increases complexity and overall network operations cost. By providing direct communication between the switch and the network directory, the EDSA creates the industry's most advanced and complete DEN solution available today.
Health First's Amey agrees that FORE's EDSA will provide important network management benefits. ''The architecture will allow faster implementation and tighter integration of directory services than other DEN models we have reviewed,'' Amey said. ''FORE's solution is simply the most advanced and complete approach to DEN that we've seen.''
The EDSA and ForeView Policy Console come as standard parts of ForeThought and ForeView platforms, respectively. Both are available for ordering today.
About FORE Systems
FORE Systems is a leading global supplier of networking solutions based on an Intelligent Infrastructure designed to handle the networked applications of today and tomorroF.
FORE's Networks of Steel(TM) deliver the increased capacity, reduced complexity and unparalleled flexibility and scalability necessary to build networks that last. Thousands of enterprise and service provider customers worldwide have put FORE Systems' solutions at the heart of their networks.
For more information on FORE's Networks of Steel, call 888-404-0444 or visit the FORE Systems web site at www.fore.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to products, partners, customers, future growth and other matters. Please refer to the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by FORE Systems with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, 1998, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed by FORE Systems in August, 1998, and November, 1998, for a discussion of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.
All FORE Systems' editorial information and graphics can be found on NEWSdesk, the high-tech Internet Network at newsdesk.com
FORE Systems, ForeThought and ForeView are registered trademarks of FORE Systems, Inc. Application Aware, Intelligent Infrastructure, ASX, ESX and Networks of Steel are trademarks of FORE Systems, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE: FORE Systems, Inc. |
