Axis Communications Inc has launched what it claims to be the first multiprotocol print server to be powered by a 32-bit RISC processor. According to the Danvers, Massachusetts company, the NPS 650 can be used simultaneously with TCP/IP, NetWare, LAN Manager and LAN Server networks, and uses the company’s ETRAX chip, a custom-developed 32-bit, 16 MIPS RISC central processing unit said to be the only single chip to incorporate both Token Ring and Ethernet logic. The firm says that it can handle throughput in excess of 2Mbps. The product comes with two parallel ports and one serial port as standard. Within TCP/IP environments, the 650 is said to support LPD, File Transfer Protocol, Reverse Telnet, and PROS, while within LAN Manager and LAN Server it uses the NetBEUI protocol. The product is Simple Network Management Protocol-compliant and is to be priced at $1,000, while a version without TCP/IP support is due to be launched this March, and that one will cost $800, Axis says.
