Redwood City, California-based Network Equipment Technologies Inc has launched its FrameXpress family of Frame Relay switches which offer facilities ranging from high-speed backbone switching to remote stand-alone access. The entry-level offering is the eight-slot 1000, intended as a feeder node into a private or public Frame Relay network, or as a low-end Frame Relay switching node. However, if a smaller location becomes a key switching site, Network Equipment says that the 1000 can be expanded to accommodate up to 24 directly connected devices or eight T1/E1 connections. Trunk-side connections to other FrameXpress nodes are said to operate at up to 2Mbps. A total of 48 Frame Relay connections can be supported with a claimed aggregate throughput of 30,000 frames per second. The mid-range product is the 2000, which is available in a 12- or 24-slot version. According to Network Equipment, this supports up to 128 Frame Relay connections with an aggregate throughput of up to 50,000 frames per second and, like the 1000, supports internal routing and bridging and non-Frame Relay traffic. The top end is represented by the 4000, aimed at backbone sites or as a Frame Relay hub site. The 4000 is said to support up to 256 Frame Relay connections, deliver a throughout of 250,000 frames per second, and be capable of trunking speeds at up to T3/E3 rates. The company adds that the range is ANSI- and CCITT-compliant and is manageable via SNMP or the Network Equipment NetOpen/5000 Network Management System. The range also accommodates the same data and internetworking modules as the company’s IDNX family of Communications Resource Managers. Also new is the FrameXpress Manager, a graphical management tool which is based on Hewlett-Packard Co’s HP OpenView Network Node Manager 3.2 for Sun Microsystems Inc workstations; and FrameXpress Accountant, a network usage measuring tool using the relational database in Network Equipment’s NetOpen/5000 network management system. Prices range from UKP7,300 for the entry-level configuration of the FrameXpress 1000, to UKP120,400 for the fully-configured 4000. The FrameXpress Manager and FrameXpress Accountant combination will cost from UKP9,100 to UKP21,300. All will be out worldwide in first quarter 1994.
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