Chipcom Corp has been working with Menlo Park-based Cisco Systems Inc and has come up with a wide area network router module for its ONline hub which can be switched from a remote workstation. The ONline Ethernet Router is integrated with Chipcom’s ONline System Concentrator and users can switch the router electronically from a workstation between any of three network channels over the hub’s backplane. The TriChannel Architecture supports three concurrent Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI networks. The module is available in three versions, an Ethernet-to-Ethernet version, Ethernet-to-Serial for wide-area network connections and Ethernet-to-Serial for X25 and Frame Relay. All incorporate Cisco’s multiprotocol wide and local network routing technology, and transparent bridging software with DEC and IEEE 802.1 spanning tree protocol. Users can install up to three ONline Ethernet Router Modules in one concentrator, creating redundant links between ONline channels or remote ONline sites and increasing reliability. Multiple paths can also be used to balance network loads during peak periods, reducing the chance of network failures. Networks can also be completely isolated, by creating up to three parallel backbones in a single concentrator and a super-network made up of a Cisco external multiport router connected to the ONline Module in remote ONline System Concentrators can be created. Concentrators can be up to three miles away via multimode fibre, or across a continent via an E1 or other serial connection. All the main local net and routing protocols are supported. No prices.
