Spider Systems Ltd, the Edinburgh, Scotland networking products company has launched two new bridges to complement its high-end remote SpiderBridge R285. Replacing the R180 is the R185, a remote bridge for transparent connection between two remote Ethernet segments. It is being aimed at sites requiring throughput of up to 128Kbps, and offers X.21, V.24 and V.35 wide area network interfaces. The company is claiming that the new product gives twice the performance of its predecessor for the same price. The L485 – which supersedes the L480 – is a managed local bridge designed to segment or interconnect adjacent Ethernet segments. Improved performance is claimed through the partitioning of traffic, while the product offers a choice of Ethernet interfaces. Also, it has a removable PROM pack for upgrading. Both bridges are Simple Network Management Protocol-compliant, and can be managed from SpiderManager – the company’s network management system – or other SNMP-based stations. They are available immediately, and the R185 costs UKP2,000 while the L485 is UKP2,500.
