Despite no-shows DEC and Case, show gets plaudits for waving flag for networking

The Networks Exhibition descended on Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre this year, allowing exhibitors even more room to demonstrate our range of leading networking connectivity products developed to meet customers’ needs, and cram their expensive stands with just about anything that had ever passed out of their warehouses bearing the company’s name. The exhibitors obviously thought the trip to the NEC was worth the effort, with a number stressing that it was the only show where networking takes centre stage. Some saw the show as easily the most important in the calendar, particulary with respect to business-to-business selling, but a number of observers point to an overall lull in computer exhibitions that undermined US trade shows in the early 1980s. It was apparent that many had stands simply to ensure that malicious industry gossip wasn’t directed at them, although the likes of DEC, which pulled out of the show at the last minute, clearly thought otherwise. The organisers expect around 10,000 people to attend this year’s show, DP systems computer management and network managers each accounting for around a quarter of visitors, a number of whom did hold influence in the purchase of networking equipment. Others liked the thought of a day out of the office and, of course, the National Centre’s highly competitive bar prices.

Case has new kit but sits Networks out

One company increasingly doubtful of Networks’ value is Dowty Group’s Case Communications, which chose to make a number of announcements on the eve of Networks, rather than attend the exhibition. Case’s 6000 Series local area networking system now includes the 6350 Oslan gateway and Mac connection; the ICL gateway allows up to 32 simultaneous sessions into Oslan hosts, while Case’s Macintosh facility enables Macs to access Series 6000 local area networks. With Case’s 6540 and 6541 Ethernet cards, Macs can connect to the Series 6000 at 10Mbps. The company is confident that connection to ICL hardware will allow it to tap new markets, particularly in the public sector. And as from October the company’s Series 6000 will support file transfer from PS/2s to ICL hosts. Another significant strategic move will see the company release Token Ring products, including a product for LAN Manager, by the end of the year. The company will also announce a facsimile switch and new modems later before the year is out and, further afield, high speed backbone local networks at 100Mbps and above, broadband technology products, and X400 and electronic data interchange facilities. Looking to triple international revenue to around UKP100m by 1992/3, the company says it is now ready for expansion in continental Europe and will set up operating companies in West German and Spain this year; the Pacific Rim is also high on the agenda, in particular a Japanese subsidiary. Integration of local and wide area networks will now be central to Case’s networking strategies. The company says it is responding to two networking trends that it feels will result in de facto standards in coming years; these are FDDI 100Mbps backbones, as the result of pressure from the computer industry, and metropolitan area networks as demanded by data communications users. Case also announced a contract worth UKP4m over five years from the Scottish Health Service for the construction of a private packet switched data network linking the country’s Health Boards. An initial installation in Tayside and Forth Valley is based on the Series 8000 X25 kit.

Pirelli Focom targets 100Mbps FDDI

Pirelli Focom Ltd of Leeds, West Yorkshire announced a range of new products at the NEC, the most significant marking a move into Fibre Distributed Data Interface, FDDI; the company has a range of bridges, Suminet 3500, manufactured by Japan’s Sumitomo Corp, for connecting local nets onto a 100Mbps fibre backbone networks. Pirelli Focom says it is the only company to offer the bridges in Europe, and will follow them with more FDDI products. The

new releases, available next quarter, are UKP15,000 each: users need two for connection. Pirelli Focom’s other new products are a line of multiport transceivers; twisted pair repeaters for 802.3 Ethernet networks; a 16-channel fibre optic multiplexer; and a structured wiring system.

And some of the best of the rest

Retix Systems Ltd unveiled RetixMail X400 electronic mail, which includes connection for Unix users, and file transfer, access and management, FTAM, products, including server and client software for Unix, and MS-DOS client software. The X400 OpenServer message handling product for Unix also includes an application programming interface. Meanwhile, at GEC Plessey Telecommunications Data Systems Unit’s stand, the company’s new modems were never likely to overshadow the uncertainty hanging over the company as a result of the less than harmonious relations between its two parents. Newbury, Berkshire-based Able Computer Communications Ltd used Networks ’89 to launch the Advance/16 Ethernet server, claiming it to be the first 16 port Ethernet server to support LAT and TCP/IP protocols simultaneously. Each of the 16 devices can establish up to four active TCP/IP or LAT sessions, while Ethernet connections can support DEC, IBM and Unix users. Over at British Telecommunications Plc’s giant two-tier stand, the company announced an improved managed data network service, PSS Plus, to be used on newly created capacity on the company’s public data network, PSS. British Telecom, which says it will spend UKP21.5m installing more packet-switching capacity, will operate a flat annual sum on the network: annual rentals are UKP2,600, UKP4,200 and UKP12,000 per line for data rates of 2,400, 9,600 and 48,000bps respectively. A relatively small number of overseas firms made their way to Birmingham for Networks ’89, although Alcatel Businss Systems Ltd used the opportunity to launch its 8940 processor, which allows IBM mainframes to communicate with TCP/IP networks. Alcatel is also promising IBM-to-Open Systems connections in a few months. The 8490, developed jointly with Intel, provides file and mail transfer and virtual terminal functions, and Alcatel provides software that allows DEC terminals to access IBM 3270 applications. Other highlights included Madge Networks Ltd, with two new Smart Ring Nodes for Token Ring networks; Hoskyns’ appointment as a value added reseller for Banyan Systems Inc’s Vines Virtual Networking System; and Network Designers Ltd with an X400 electronic mail system for personal computer local area network users, through an OEM deal with Net-Tel Computer Systems. – Andy Evagora