Cabletron offers downsized switch hub

Abstract

Vendors demonstrating new LAN switching gear at the upcoming NetWorld+Interop 96 show will include: 1. Cabletron Systems Inc., with its 14-slot MultiMedia Access Center-Plus data center switching hub, 2. Compaq Computer Corp., with its Netelligent 5606 six-port 100M bit/sec Ethernet workgroup switch, 3. Xylan Corp., with frame relay support for its OmniSwitch and PizzaSwitch LAN devices, and 4. Acacia Networks Inc., with its new 12-port 10M/100M bit/sec Ethernet switch.

Headnote

Compaq updates Netelligent line; Xylan adds frame relay, Acacia rolls out new wares.

Atlanta

LAN switching is hot -- especially here, where dozens of vendors will show off their new gear

at the upcoming NetWorld+Interop 96 trade show.

Among these vendors will be Cabletron Systems, Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., Xylan Corp. and Acacia Net

works, Inc., all of which rolled out new switches and enhancements last week.

Cabletron unveiled a little brother to its 14-slot Multi Media Access Center (MMAC)-Plus data center switching hub that provides customers with a wiring closet chassis for about half the price.

The six-slot chassis provides up to 5G bit/sec of aggregate bandwidth and supports as many as 216 Ethernet, 72 Fast Ethernet, 18 FDDI, 48 ATM or 144 token-ring switched connections. The Access chassis accepts

all existing boards designed for the MMAC-Plus, as well as future products such as the planned Cell Transfer Matrix ATM backplane and Gigabit Ethernet

modules, set to be announced at Interop.

Previously, Cabletron customers looking to deploy high-end switching capabilities were forced to buy the top-of-the-line MMAC

Plus for about $14,024 -- a hard price to swallow for the wiring closet. But Cabletron's Access switch lets customers tap into those same high-end features for a more palatable $6,690.

The scaled-down version of the MMAC-Plus will compete against similar products such as Cisco System, Inc.'s Catalyst 5000 and 3Com Corp.'s LANplex 6012.

Access, along with Cabletron's new three-port FDDI SmartSwitch module, will be available this fall. Pricing for the FDDI module is $19,995.

Compaq to show off Netelligent

Compaq will use Interop to show off the newest members of its Netelligent family. The Netelligent 5606 is a six-port 100M bit/sec Ethernet workgroup switch that supports IP and IPX routing, virtual LANs and Remote Monitoring capabilities. Previously, Compaq only offered an unmanaged 100Base-T switch.

Also, as expected, Compaq rolled out its Netelligent 8500 Communications Platform router for small or remote offices. The router, based on Cisco's Internetwork Operating

System routing software, can be used to interconnect LANs over wide-area links such as leased lines, frame relay and X.25 services.

The router has three PCI expansion slots that allow customers to add LAN and WAN interfaces -- such as Ethernet, See Switching, page 27

token ring, FDDI and ISDN -- as the network grows. Compaq also rolled out new software designed to manage the router.

Pricing for the router starts at $2,767, and the 100Base-T switch is priced at $5,567. The Netelligent 5606 and the Netelligent 8500 Communications Platform router will be available next month.

Xylan adds frame relay support

In related news, Xylan announced frame relay support for its OmniSwitch and PizzaSwitch LAN devices. The new two-, four- and eight-port serial interface modules allow as many as 64 frame relay ports in an OmniSwitch chassis and eight frame relay interfaces in the smaller PizzaSwitch device.

The frame relay module -- Xylan's first WAN interface for its switching LAN

gear -- allows customers to connect regional offices to a corporate headquarters. In addition, frame relay allows users to extend virtual LANs across the entire enterprise, according to Douglas Hill, vice president of corporate communications.

The two-port wide-area serial module is priced at $5,500, the four-port model is priced at $7,000 and the eight-port version is priced at $9,500. All products will

be available by December.

And finally. . . Acacia

Not to be left out, Acacia rolled out its new 12-port 10M/100M bit/sec Ethernet switch.

The NovaSwitch 12000LX, which can be stacked up to four units high, has a switching capacity of 1.9G bit/sec. NovaSwitch is priced at $9,995 and will be available in December.

Acacia also rolled out NovaWeb Manager, which allows customers to manage the switch from a Web browser. It is priced at $295 and is available now. Cabletron: [phone]; Compaq: [phone]; Xylan: (818) 8803500;Acacia: [phone].