Tandem Computers Inc’s Santa Clara, California-headquartered UB Networks Inc has launched NetStorm Terminator, claimed to be the first automated management application in an intelligent hub. By combining policy and automated management capabilities, the offering automatically detects and eliminates network storms, says UB, and is the first of a class of embedded applications designed to use the company’s management system architecture, Access/EMPower, announced last October. In operation, NetStorm resides on each Access/EMPower-equipped hub, where it automatically detects and eliminates network packet storms. It works by mobilising Access/EMPower’s integrated application environment to control and analyse remote monitoring and agent hubs, while itself being controlled by ‘policies’ or ‘rules’ defined by the network administrator, says the company. Once specified, a policy can be distributed globally to all hubs selected to follow a prescribed behaviour. As a fully-automated offering, says UB, it can identify a problem and re-establish network integrity within seconds, as opposed to the two-to-four hours required by operators to isolate and eliminate problems, even if they have access to remote monitoring probes and system-based network management applications. Access/EMPower also provides the platform-like event management and port-to-Media Access Control mapping database services used by the NetStorm application. The product will ship in June. The price, including a bundled, nine-group embedded remote monitoring agent, will be ú1,250. Also available then will be a Access/EMPower management module with 8Mb of dynamic RAM and 512Kb of static RAM, bundled with NetStorm Terminator and an embedded remote monitoring agent delivered on a 1.8Mb PCMCIA FlashCard. It will list for ú6,660.
