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Adding remote LAN access ports to keep pace with the growing ranks of telecommuters and remote offices has become a routine for network managers. But while many products promise scalability, our tests reveal that most suffer marked performance degradation as the number of simultaneous users is ramped up.
Of the products we tested, the Shiva Corp. LANRover/E Plus and Microcom, Inc. LANexpress performed best. When we simulated access by one, four and eight simultaneous users, the Shiva and Microcom devices maintained throughput levels required of remote access applications. These devices also garnered high marks for ease of use, security, support tools and overall flexibility.
The other products we reviewed -- Attachmate Corp.'s RLN Turnkey Server and Rockwell Network Systems' NetHopper NH-5 -- each exhibited moments of performance glory but could not provide the consistent throughput of the Shiva and Microcom devices.
We chose our review subjects from the products selected for The Short List in Network World 's remote access Buyer's Guide (Nov. 14, 1994, page 66). However, two of The Short List products, Telebit Corp.'s NetBlazer and 3Com Corp.'s AccessBuilder, do not interoperate with U.S. Robotics, Inc. modems in our testing facility. We will, therefore, examine them in a future review.
All these products allow remote users to function as remote nodes, using the same protocols as if they were locally attached. In contrast, remote control users exchange only screen images and keystrokes with a net-attached host. This approach makes the connection faster for programs that aren't graphics-intensive.
All the units we tested support multiple levels of security. User IDs and passwords may be defined on the remote access server, and the units pass the user to the logon screen of the network, providing another security level.
Attachmate's RLN Turnkey Server extends security with an encryption feature. The firm also offers an RSA encryption device, which fits on the parallel port of the remote computer. If used, each calling computer must have the device installed in order to connect with the server.
Ease of use is another important feature we tested. Microcom's LANexpress includes a full graphical interface that allows users to run electronic mail and other applications with a click of an icon button. The other product also offer Windows interfaces, but they...