NCR Corp’s NCR Comten in St Paul, Minnesota continues to outdo IBM in the communications processor field, and its latest offering on its 56X5 series of alternatives to IBM’s 3745 front-end is a new package designed to integrate Open Systems Interconnection applications with TCP/IP and SNA over a single network backbone. The company says that the Comten Open Systems Interconnection/ Communications Processor software makes it possible for open systems applications like file transfer and electronic mail to operate over wide area networks independent of mainframes on the network, saving users line costs, increasing the the efficiency of network routing and freeing the mainframe for applications processing. Without the software, Comten says, users need separate lines for their open systems and TCP/IP traffic and for SNA. It also reduces the need for single-purpose bridges, routers and ancillary processors – such as IBM’s 8232 LAN Channel Station and 3172 Interconnect Controller when alien open systems need to access IBM open systems or SNA applications. It enables Ethernetworks to be integrated into the network without the need for bridges and gateways, and provides access to IBM’s OSI/File Services, OSI/X400, Open Systems Message Exchnage, SNA/X400 Profs and SNA/DisOSS, Comten says. The software implements layers one to four of the seven layer open systems reference model, and will be available in the fourth quarter of this year at $7,000 upfront, plus $200 a month.
