Santa Clara, California-based SynOptics Communications Corp has announced a new Simple Network Management Protocol-based bridge management application for controlling two generations of its bridges – the high speed Models 3323S and 3324S-ST, and the mid-range Models 3323 and 3324ST – across Ethernet networks. The product, Bridge Manager, runs on the Unix System V.2 and MS-DOS 4.0 versions of the company’s LattisNet Manager, which controls management of network hubs, and Synoptics claims the front-end is so friendly that it requires no knowledge of SNMP or Management Information Base – MIB – structure. The user interface is mouse-based, and interacts directly with the SNMP Management Information Base on each bridge to plot network throughput, change Spanning Tree parameters, re-load software and configuration files from a central location, and monitor bridges simultaneously to compare performance. Using a colour-coded network map to show which bridges are forwarding data and which are on standby mode, the product also displays the current status of the Spanning Tree. Users without SynOptics LattisNet Manager can also use the MS-DOS-based version of Bridge Manager running under Microsoft Corp’s Windows 3.0 to provide localised bridge management capabilities on a stand-alone basis. Bridge Manager is available immediately in the US, and costs UKP2,143 for the Unix-based version, with the MS-DOS configuration costing UKP1,628.
