Simultaneously, Network Equipment Technologies announced new LAN/WAN Exchange enterprise router software which is to be sold both by the company and by IBM Corp. Used in Network Equipment’s IDNX product, it is designed to integrate local network, voice, video and facsimile traffic. LWX 1.02 introduces a new Remote Source Routing Fast transport claimed to optimise communications between IBM Token Ring local nets, and which is also claimed to bring many of the benefits associated with TCP/IP routing, such as resilience to link failure, traffic partitioning, and large topology support. This, the company says, is achieved without incurring the overhead of TCP/IP encapsulation: it uses a light-weight transport above IP which, according to the company, ensures sequential delivery of data and fast rerouting via the spanning tree algorithm. It says that source routing performance is improved using a fast switching technique that eliminates much of the unnecessary OSI Layer 3 protocol processing, and which is claimed to provide better bandwidth efficiency using a router header much smaller than that for TCP/IP. Other enhancements with v1.02 include support for Banyan Systems Inc Vines, DECnet Phase V, X.25 and Frame Relay support. Support for the Point-to-Point protocol has also been extended to DECnet, AppleTalk, NetWare IPX, XNS and transparent bridging in addition to IP. Out now, LWX 1.02 is UKP4,312 to UKP9,230 depending on configuration; upgrade terms for existing users depend on their support contract with the firm.
