Newbridge Networks Inc has set out its product roadmap to combine its Vivid switched routing products with the LAN technologies it gained when it acquired UB Networks from Tandem Computer Corp at the end of last year(CI No 3,068). The first integrated product between the two companies is a Vivid Ridge card for the UB Networks GeoLAN/500 switching platform. According to the company, the new card is part of phase one of a two phase integration that is planned for its network offerings. The first phase also includes integrating the Geo family of products with the Vivid switched routing backbone via Ethernet, Fast Ethernet or FDDI uplinks. These interfaces are provided by the Vivid Yellow Ridge, Vivid Orange Ridge and Vivid Red Ridge edge devices, respectively. The second phase, available third quarter 1997, will integrate Ridge functionality into the GeoLAN/500, providing an integrated platform for shared media, Layer 2 switching or Layer 3 switching functionality. UB Networks’ NetDirector platform has been selected for the combined Vivid and UB Networks product set. The core components from the Vivid System Manager, including the Virtual Network Manager application and the Vivid element managers will be ported to the NetDirector platform by third quarter 1997. This integration includes the NetDirector@Web platform, providing a powerful management solution for all Vivid and GeoLAN products. The Vivid Route Server and UB Networks’ EMPower combine to offer policy-based management, auto- configuration and security to customers. In addition, Newbridge will provide a smooth migration path customers currently using the UB GeoSwitch to move them to the Vivid system over the next few months.
