The first offering from Tandem Computers Inc’s newly re-baptised Ungermann-Bass Inc – it now goes under the name UB Networks Inc – is a new family of hubs, desktop adaptors and protocols stacks, the Access/Workgroup Series. The Santa Clara, California-based outfit says that its new range is aimed at the typical workgroup environment, with less than 40 users, little or no on-site networking expertise, and remote management. The company first announced its plans to go for the low end market last August. Key elements of the series include The Access/Stax 16. This hub is intended for departmental 10Base-T Ethernet networks, with each hub equipped with 16 10Base-T ports; up to 10 of these hubs can be stacked together. It will be available next month for $1,300. The Access/Stax 24 is another Ethernet stackable hub, which in this case offers 24 ports and is stackable up to five units. According to UB Networks, this offering adds features such as load balancing and segmentation. It is available now in managed and unmanaged versions, and lists for $2,000. Access/TRax is UB Networks’s Token Ring stackable hub. Features are said to include error elimination, beacon avoidance and jitter bypass. Each unit supports 22 ports for connecting devices, plus ring-in/ring-out for ring expansion, says the company. It is shipping now for $3,800. MicroHub is a low port density 10Base-T repeater hub, offered in two models: one with nine RJ-45 ports and one with one BNC bayonet port for thin coax connections to an existing Ethernet local network. An uplink switch enables the MicroHub to connect to other 10Base-T hubs and concentrators, says UB Networks. It will list for $525 and is available immediately. The company will also be offering a range of SNA Adaptors for the series, including Ethernet and Token Ring adaptor boards. These will be shipping in July, priced from $130 for Ethernet and $300 for Token Ring. Also to be launched is MasterLAN FT, a dual-port Ethernet adaptor aimed at providing non-stop access for networking to the desktop. It features a primary connection plus a back-up connection to protect from link, port, hub or backbone failure. The automatic switching to the back-up device is transparent to the user. This will be available next month for $220. And finally TCP Pro is an implementation of the full TCP, IP, UDP, ARP, ICMP and SNMP protocol stack. According to UB Networks, this will offer a complete peer-to-peer and client-server communications implementation for local network and wide area network communications. It is shipping now for $300.
