IBM Corp has announced details of its first multiprotocol router in an attempt to meet the challenge of companies such as Wellfleet Communications Inc and Cisco Systems Inc. The new series of routers will be based on the RISC-based RS/6000 and should begin shipping early next year. The announcement has been met by disapointment by some analysts: while IBM plans to supports a wide range of network protocols and most of its SNA portfolio,PU4 support is conspicuous by its absence. Physical Unit 4 defines the connection type of a front end communications processor such as the IBM 3745. The move from dumb terminals to local network-attached personal computers has simplified the front-end processor’s task and some people have argued that a router with PU4 emulation could replace front-ends. They have gone further and said that IBM is attempting to protect its lucrative 3745 business by deliberately leaving PU4 out of its routers. The company counters that it makes no sense to move a large and complex subsystem onto a network router – the company’s strategic route is for peer-to-peer networking based on PU2.1. Moreover PU4 is simply too complex cram into a router. This is a view echoed by Anura Garuge – lead consultant with Bolt, Beranek & Newman Inc, who describes the idea as overkill. Presumably this is not a view shared by Cisco Systems which has announced plans to do precisely this. IBM’s new box is likely to support Novell Inc’s IPX and SPX protocols in its first release, plus NetBIOS, and TCP/IP. Subsequently, the company hopes to incorporate DECnet, XNS and AppleTalk protocols. The company did not say how it plans to route SNA traffic, but encapsulation within the IP protocol seems a likely option.
