On the communications front, Prime has an X400 message handling application programming interface development kit for its 50 Series minis, with an end-user mail application for both 50 and EXL Series users on the way. It also plans to support the Fibre Distributed Data Interface for high-speed fibre optic local nets on both families. For the 50 Series, it has implemented Sun Microsystems’ Network File System for the 50 Series, enabling other NFS users to access files on the 50s over local and wide area nets, and has also adopted Apollo Computer Inc’s Network Computing System, claiming to be the first vendor to offer it within its proprietary operating system; NCS enables developers to build applications that share resources and services with dissimilar systems on a network. Its SNA offerings have been extended with the Prime/SNA LU6.2 implementation of IBM’s Advanced Program-to-Program Communications/Logical Unit 6.2 and Physical Unit 2.1. Network File System starts at $1,000, Network Computing System at $1,200, and LU 6.2 at $1,500, all out now.
