Banyan Systems Inc of Westboro, Massachusetts announced support for Centram’s TOPS networking product at Comdex in Atlanta this week. Banyan used the link from Centram at Comdex/Spring to demonstrate a connection between Apple Macintoshes and IBM Personalikes running on Banyan’s Vines virtual networking system. A personal computer running both TOPS and Banyan software can act a bridge between the two networks, giving both Macintoshes and IBM Personalikes transparent access to files stored on a Banyan file server. The bridge personal computer can also do local processing at the same time. When a Macintosh user sees the directories available on the Banyan server, they appear as familar Mac icons. Similarly, Mac files appear in MS-DOS format to a Personalike user. The Vines/TOPS link is done over AppleTalk or compatible network cabling. Priced at $149, TOPS for the Macintosh provides the network software on disk. TOPS for the Personalike, priced at $389, includes TOPS software plus an expansion card that links the computer to a nine-pin AppleTalk connector. Vines integrates various communications technologies, including local and wide-area networks, mini and mainframe links. Banyan also sells multi-function servers that run the Vines network operating system as well as providing internetwork support for different local nets. Vines prices start at $1,895.
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