Madge NV’s Madge Networks Ltd has added SmartCAU Plus, a fault-tolerant intelligent hub for Token Ring networks. The latest enhancement of SmartCAU since the addition of support for unshielded twisted pair cabling and SNMP network management which was announced last March, the product is intended to provide a migration path for Token Ring networks based on passive IBM-compatible Multistation Access Units, says the Chalfont St Giles company. Additional hardware features include LAM Lobe Attachment Module ports and trunk line support. The former can be used to connect SmartLAMs, IBM passive or active Lobe Attachment Modules, IBM-compatible Multistation Access Units or directly-attached stations, says the company. Trunk link support is available for both fibre optic and unshielded copper cabling via the optional Fibre Trunk Link and Unshielded Trunk Link modules. Fault-tolerant mechanisms include trunk fault isolation via the IEEE 802.5c standard dual reconfiguring ring method, hardware-based clock speed detection and beaconing recovery software running in the SmartCAU Plus. Madge also claims that the SmartCAU Plus’s casing takes up only two-thirds the space of the SmartCAU and fits into a standard 19 rack. Bundled free of charge with the product is TrueView CAU Manager v2.0, said to offer SNMP RMON-based traffic monitoring; this will enable network managers to locate bottlenecks and usage patterns, says the company. The software is claimed to be backwards-compatible with SmartCAU and existing SmartCAU users can obtain a software upgrade free from the company’s technical support department or via its bulletin board service. SmartCAU Plus is shipping now at $3,000; the Fibre Trunk Line module is out now for $1,200, with the Unshielded Trunk Line module due in April for $225.
