Bay Networks Inc, the third largest data communications company, has signed separate agreements with Netscape Communications Corp, Novell Inc, and Microsoft Corp, in a move to add directory services support to its switches and routers. The agreements define policy-enabled networking capabilities and use the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol to integrate with Microsoft’s Directory Services, Novell’s NDS Directory Services, and Netscape’s implementation of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol in the Netscape Directory Services Software. Bay says the agreements are central to the adaptive networking strategy it announced in May (CI No 3,160), the strategy devised to make IP networking its central business focus, and also an effort to turn the company’s fortunes around. The technology will enable network mangers to assign users and applications individual levels of importance on IP-based networks. On oversubscribed networks, critical applications could be set to work at optimum speed. The use of directory services enables the allocation of individual priorities to be made from a single server, and set across the whole network. The Netscape agreement has been declared, with the other two due to be announced next week. Bay also plans to make further agreements in the next few months with major database and internet application developers, so that these companies can also develop the ability to tune their applications to take the right level of service off a network.
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