Raleigh, North Carolina-based Netlink Inc is offering a Frame Relay Access Node or FRAN, a product claimed to significantly improve the performance of SNA transport over Frame Relay networks. Netlink says that FRAN uses industry standards to transport SNA data from SNA/SDLC devices directly to a bridge-router or front-end processor attached to the Frame Relay network, eliminating the need for proprietary Frame Relay assembler-disassembler products. The Frame Relay Access Node converts SNA/SDLC data to a native Frame Relay interface and passes traffic over the Frame Relay network directly to the bridge-router or front end to which it is logically connected, says the company. The industry standards used by FRAN are: the Internet Engineering Task Force Requests For Comment 1294 and 1490 (a recent revision of 1294) which define Multiprotocol Interconnect Over Frame Relay standards and outline how the FRAN will interoperate with leading bridge-routers like those from Cisco Systems Inc and Wellfleet Communications Corp; and the Frame Relay Forum Protocol Encapsulation Over Frame Relay Implementation Agreements which define how routed SNA information will traverse a Frame Relay network and outline how IBM products will attach to those networks. The Netlink FRAN will be available in first quarter 1994 and will connect to any bridge-router that supports the RFC 1294/1490 protocols. Support for direct attachment to the IBM 37XX front-end over a Frame Relay network will be offered by Netlink after IBM makes generally available its SNA Boundary Support capability for Network Control Program, currently only an IBM Statement of Direction. Pricing for the FRAN, based on model and configuration is from $4,000 for a base Model One unit, and $17,500 for a fully configured and expandable Model Four.
