Forecasting a sharp rise in demand for bridging and network management products from financial markets, BICC Data Networks Ltd is to release two products aimed at the 40% of UK local area networks that the company confidently claims are in operation in the City of London. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire-based BICC Data claims its new Isolan 802.3 Bridge and Isoview Network Manager products are the first to bring about such an integration of different media, and says that the new releases will enable users to contain network information behind restricted access schemes far more efficiently. BICC says the 802.3 Bridge addresses the growing need for traffic to be kept within departments, and demands for improved security. The 802.3 Bridge, designed to the 802.1 bridge standard, features the Spanning Tree Algorithm with inter-bridge communication protocol to identify and eliminate communication loops, and create more resilient network paths; it provides two databases, one closed that denies access across the Bridge, and one open that allows free access to information. The Bridge has a look up capacity of 8,000 addresses, and is available in January for UKP6,000. BICC Data says the 802.3 Bridge is maximised when used with the Isoview Network Manager, and expects the majority of buyers to use both products for network monitoring, and fault and traffic management. The Network Manager offers centralised control over all aspects of the local network, and is able to monitor and analyse network resources from a single point of attachment on an IEEE 802.3 Ethernetwork. By functioning as a central database for networks, it can upload information to carry out routine work; BICC Data claims that it is the only 802.1 standard product able to offer such facilities. The menu-driven management system uses Microsoft Windows and runs on 80386-based AT-alikes; it will be priced at UKP7,100, though the company is offering an introductory price of UKP4,200 for the first six months of release. BICC Data claims the two products have met with success during their first application in the campus network at the University of Warwick.
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