Novell Inc was on hand at the Compaq launch to unveil the NE3200, described as the first 32-bit bus master Ethernet network adaptor built to the Extended Industry Standard Architecture specification. Jointly developed with Compaq Computer Corp, the adaptor was specifically designed to complement Novell’s NetWare 386 network operating system. It includes an on-board Intel Bus Master Interface Chip that gives the adaptor the ability to read and write directly between main memory and the adaptor card’s memory at high speed without requiring the services of the central processor, so reducing the number of processing cycles required of the CPU. The NE3200 is available this quarter at $1,300.
