The Ungermann-Bass Inc subsidiary of Tandem Computers Inc has been adding to its Token Ring range, with the launch of a concentrator, the Network Early Warning System, and a new combined bridge-router. The new Concentrator – the ASM420 – for use with the San Jose company’s Access/One hub, is claimed to provide the largest number of ports per hub available: it has 24 ports per concentrator (22 station ports plus ring-in and ring-out ports) which gives a maximum of 220 ports in up to 10 rings, per Access/One hub. The product also features Beacon Avoidance, which is claimed to test ports trying to gain access to the ring automatically to ensure they are operating at the same speed: should there be speed differences, the port is prevented from inserting into the ring. Per-port re-timing, designed to reduce jitter by retiming the Token Ring signal as it leaves the port, has also been included. The new Network Early Warning System is available as a firmware upgrade on the company’s Token Ring concentrators. Ungermann-Bass is calling it a Tier 3 option, since it is the third phase of a modular approach to adding management functionality designed to enable users to buy only those features they need. Residing on the company’s Tier 2 daughter board, it provides three areas of functionality: Resource Activity Monitoring enables users to set thresholds and gauges; Critical Resource Monitoring informs network managers if user-selected critical resources become disconnected from the hub, and the Intruder Guard feature enables administrators to specify one valid address for each port, so if a device without a valid address connects to the port, an alarm is sent to the administrator and the device is automatically disconnected. The Early Warning System operates both with the new ASM420 concentrator and with the 12-port ASM410. Finally, the company has announced the Access/Plus Multiport Token Ring Bridge-Router, which features two 4Mbps/16Mbps Token Ring ports and one Ethernet connection on a single-slot machine. Supporting the IEEE 802.5 and IBM Token Ring standards, it is based on dual Intel Corp 80960 RISC processors and uses the company’s high speed PlusBUS switching backplane. This enables transfers between Token Ring ports on the ASM5530 and other RISC-based internetworking products including other Ungermann-Bass bridge-routers, and its Virtual Network Architecture-based DragonSwitch module. The product is SNMP-based, supports IBM’s LAN Network Manager for integration into NetView-based management systems, and has software stored in Flash EPROM enabling remote downloading of new software releases. It supports Source Route Bridging between Token Ring ports on the same board, or with Token Ring ports on another ASM5530 across the PlusBUS, with translational bridging with Ethernet and FDDI includes IP, Novell IPX and IBM DLC. The products will be out in September, but Ungermann-Bass says it is still trying to decide make up its mind how much they should cost.
