MENLO PARK, Calif., June 21, 1993 -- Cisco Systems has unveiled a newversion of its CiscoWorks router management application suite that willsignificantly enhance the customer's ability to automate and centralizeadministration tasks in large, dispersed internetworks.

CiscoWorks 2.0, to be available in first quarter 1994, will dramaticallyincrease the degree to which router management can be handled remotely andautomatically, reducing dependence on costly staff resources.

"CiscoWorks 2.0 addresses our customers' need to cost-effectivelymanage rapidly expanding internetworks," said Heidi Iacurto, Cisco productmarketing manager. "It lets users pool their network experts in a few keysites. The result is a simpler network to manage and lower total networkownership cost."

Centralized Router Software Administration

In the past, maintaining accurate records of various router softwareversions was tedious, time-consuming and costly. CiscoWorks software nowpermits the distribution--via simple point-and-click menus--of new orupdated software from a central location on the network directly into theCisco routers' Flash memory. The application also displays the imagecurrently installed in each router, provides a directory of all images, andensures that only correct software images are loaded.

Global Commands for Large Networks

Routine tasks that were handled manually with small networks becomeunmanageable with hundreds of nodes. CiscoWorks' global command capabilityenables an administrator to set up groups of routers (for example, allaccess routers or all routers in a given time zone) to which commonconfiguration changes or software updates can be applied. Frequently usedcommands, such as enable passwords, SNMP community strings and accesslists, are specifically called out in the CiscoWorks menu.

Automated versions of global commands can be used to triggerperformance of routine administrative tasks during off-peak hours (forexample, running configuration file management at 1:00 a.m.), savingdaytime network bandwidth for real-time activity.

Automated, Centralized Installation

When networks grew gradually, installing new routers presented noproblem. But today's typical user may be adding a hundred routers at once,even installing a thousand-node network from scratch. CiscoWorksapplications will send network addresses and configurations to new routersfrom a central site, eliminating the need for an expert to personallyinstall the remote router or have the unit shipped to headquarters forconfiguration. For serially connected routers, users need only enter theirname, specify the nearest router and relevant serial interface, andcreate a configuration file. Future plans call for the same functionalityover SMDS, frame relay, X.25 and ISDN links.

Pricing/Availability

Available first quarter 1994, CiscoWorks 2.0 is priced at $9,995.Upgrades from CiscoWorks 1.0 are $4,000, or free to customers enrolled inCisco's software maintenance program.

Currently, CiscoWorks runs on the SunNet Manager network managementplatform. In the future, Cisco intends to port CiscoWorks to other popularnetwork management platforms, including HP OpenView and the IBMNetView/6000.