Last month saw rivals 3Com Corp and Bay Networks Inc launching High Performance Routing support for their router products. Santa Clara, California-based 3Com has released version 9.0 of its Netbuilder software for SNA networks – shipping from today- offering features such as High Performance Routing in its multiprotocol router; prioritization that will enable DLSw Data Link Switching networks to apportion bandwidth between NetBIOS and SNA traffic and Boundary Access Node for easier Frame Relay connections to SNA front-end processors. Similarly, Bay Networks has bolstered its IBM networking environment offerings with enhanced support for Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking with, High Performance Routing for all of its routers and additional DLSw capabilities for the prioritization of data traffic. Bay’s announcement arrived with the launch of increased remote access capabilities for network connection, through the product range of Xylogics, which it acquired last year for $330m (CI No 2,744). Bay’s range now includes the Xylogics Nautica line alongside Bay’s Access Node and Access Node Hub offerings. Extensions to the Nautica series – the Clam and Marlin – include a Clam voice board to enable users to send facsimile and voice over the same line; integration of NT1 in the Clam series to enable direct ISDN connection; ISDN Primary Rate Interface support for Marlin and interconnection to Bay’s routers via Multilink Point-to-Point. The IBM enhancements are available this month free for users of Bay’s software suite. The Clam with voice board costs $1,400 while the Marlin with Primary Rate Interface is priced at $7,300 for a 30-channel configuration. In addition to its increased SNA features, 3Com also announced the shipment of its NetBuilder Remote Office 52x series of routers. The Token Ring 523, for SNA boundary routing, costs $3,300, while the 527 multiprotocol router is $4,300.
