Following the launch of its first Advanced Peer to Peer Networking Network Node kit, 3Com has added a Frame Relay interface, enabling users to do away with dedicated Synchronous Data Link Control connections. The Santa Clara, California-based company says that by using Frame Relay connections, users can cut up to 40% off their wide area network costs. The implementation will be available as a software upgrade for 3Com’s NetBuilder routers from next month, costing $4,000. Simultaneously, the company announced it is planning to ship an implementation of the proposed Data Link Switching standard, based on Request for Comment 1434 – as a software release: this, the company says, will be offered as a dual implementation with its existing support for Logical Link Control 2. The company says this will be available by the end of the year; there is no word on pricing. For the future, 3Com has formally committed itself to supporting enhancements to Advanced Peer-to-Peer Network and says it will support legacy Systems Network Architecture through a native Dependent Logical Unit Requester which it says will enable legacy Systems Network Architecture traffic to be used over Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networks without modification. This software release – again for the NetBuilder II – will also include support for Instruction Processor, Internet Packet Exhange, bridging and Logical Link Control 2 and is due to ship during the second half of the year, the company says. 3Com adds that ultimately, the NetBuilder II will support Asynchronous Transfer Mode as the enabling technology for IBM Corp’s Broadband Network Services.
