Harmondsworth, Middlesex-based Xyplex Europe has announced a new bridge-router module for its Network 9000 intra-networking hub, and its previous hub family, the MAXserver 4000/5000. Dubbed the 6800, it is a self-loading, two-port unit with one port internal to the hub communications bus, and one port external to a wide area network connection. It supports Open Shortest Path First, EGP, and RIP for communications on networks using TCP/IP, IPX, DECnet and AppleTalk protocols, while the company claims that easy software upgrades are possible through an integrated memory board interface: this, the company says, enables network managers to add features and new protocols as they arrive. Indeed Xyplex says that it is to offer an upgrade enabling the 6800 to operate as an X25 gateway, combining the features of an asynchronous terminal server and X25 packet assembler-disassembler, in mid-1993. It is compatible with SNMP MIB I, MIB II, as well as Xyplex’s own MIB extensions, and is to cost around UKP3,000. Also launched is a smaller version, the Network 9000-3. It offers up to 48 10Base-T or server ports, and supports an integrated bridge-router. It is being particularly pitched at workgroups with no on-site computing personnel to maintain it: it can be configured, monitored and reset (including its power supplies) from a remote location. Since all modules include an asynchronous management port with full modem control, the company also says that if a wide area network link fails, the hub can be reached via dial-up modem. The list price is UKP1,700.
