Cisco Systems Inc’s Access Business Unit has announced a suite of new central site and remote dial-up access products and services, some designed in-house and some bought in OEM, and all intended to provide scalable communications to the Internet and enterprise network. Taking aim at the central site for Internet Service Providers and enterprise networks, the company announced the AS5200 Mixed-Media Universal Access Server. It is claimed to provide complete scalability through the Cisco Internetwork Operating System software’s implementation of multi-chassis, multi-link Point-to-Point Protocol. The Cisco-Secure Server is claimed as the first, integrated AAA – authentication, authorisation and accounting – centralized security server that enables the network administrator to control network access, security and billing centrally. The product is the first in a planned new line of security server products. Cisco also announced five new personal computer dial-up offerings, and three products in the Cisco 200 ISDN telecommuter series. Both Cisco- Remote Plus and CiscoRemote Lite now support Windows95 and enable dial-up access from modems and through ISDN. In addition, CiscoRemote Plus Version 2.0 adds application support, including v2.0 of Netscape Communictions Corp’s Internet browser, and DataBeam Inc’s FarSite 3.0 for on-line collaboration, plus AirSoft Inc’s Powerburst remote node acceleration software. Telecommuters CiscoRemote Plus and CiscoRemote Lite each also offers three levels of security support. Cisco’s 200 series are remote node offerings designed to enable telecommuters to access corporate local network resources and the Internet. With the new 202, an extension of the Cisco 201, the desktop personal computer user can now access the enterprise local network or Internet using high-speed ISDN connections. The Cisco 202 also comes with a built-in NT1 device. Cisco 203 and 204 are now bundled with CiscoRemote Plus client software. The AS5200 is scheduled to ship in the second quarter, priced from $37,500; CiscoSecure Server is due this quarter, starting at $4,200 for 16 dial-in ports and ISDN sessions; CiscoRemote Plus and CiscoRemote Lite are set for next quarter; CiscoRemote Plus is $200 per user and CiscoRemote Lite is free with Cisco’s Access Server product; Cisco 201, 202, 203 and 204 are available immediately and are priced at $500, $550, $650 and $700 respectively.
