RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina - March 18, 1996 - CiscoSystems, Inc. today announced a set of products that improve theperformance and management of enterprise networks that combine IBM's SystemNetwork Architecture (SNA) with other protocols. The products implementthe new CiscoBlue strategy for integrating SNA networks withhigh-performance, switched internetworks. Theproducts address customer needs in three areas: the data center, wide-areanetwork (WAN) connectivity and network management.
Data Center Enhancement
TN3270Server is a new application available on Cisco'sChannel Interface Processor(CIP), allowing TN3270 clients access to IBMmainframes. The software offloads 100 percent of the TCP/IP and TN3270cycles from the mainframe, improving performance of both the network andthe host system.Each channel-attached CIP card in a Cisco 7000 family router cansupport up to 8,000 TN3270 sessions. Several CIP cards can be deployed ina single Cisco 7000 family router, enabling tens of thousands ofsimultaneous sessions. Data center configuration options allow loadbalancing and redundancy of sessions across multiple CIP cards and/ormultiple Cisco routers, as well as access to multiple hosts.
The TN3270 application can coexist on a single CIP card with any orall of the other CIP applications: IP Datagram, TCP/IP Offload or CIP SNA.Both bus-and-tag and ESCON channel connections are supported.WAN Backbone
The Cisco IOS(tm) software is being enhanced to allow integratedIBM internetworks to take greater advantage of new switched backboneofferings of public networks. Enhancements include Advanced Peer-to-PeerNetworking (APPN) support for direct transport over Asynchronous TransferMode (ATM), Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) and IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN); Data Link Switching Plus (DLSw+)enhancements, including SNA dial-on-demand routing (DDR) and DLSw Lite; andBoundary Access Node (BAN) capability.
APPN enhancements include standards-compliant direct transport overATM using RFC 1483 and ISDN using RFC 1661. APPN will now also support thepoint-to-point protocol (PPP) and SMDS transport. These media additionsprovide further media flexibility and allow enterprise networks to takeadvantage of cost effective switched services.
SNA DDR automatically brings up ISDN lines or other switchedcircuits for SNA traffic and allows them to drop during idle periods. Itallows TCP transport pipes to be established only when there is data tosend. This capability reduces ISDN line costs while maximizingavailability and control of the central site resources required to supportlarge dial-in networks. It is particularly applicable for small branchoperations as a primary connection back to a data center or for transientconnections to other branch offices or retail locations.
DLSw Lite provides reliable transport for SNA traffic over FrameRelay networks, without requiring the overhead of TCP/IP. While minimizingoverhead, it still offers several key DLSw benefits such as broadcastreduction, dynamic searching and local acknowledgment.
BAN support in Cisco IOS software, an alternative to the BoundaryNetwork Node (BNN) Cisco has supported since early 1995, allows SNA devicesto connect directly to a front-end processor (FEP) over a Frame Relaynetwork with minimal configuration at the branch office router..Network Management
The CiscoWorks(tm)Blue suite of integrated network managementcapabilities, first disclosed in Q3 1995 with the announcement of NativeService Point, is enhanced with "Maps" and "SNA View." CiscoWorksBlue Maps permits customers to retrieve logical views of both SNA and IPnetworks that are dynamically updated. SNA View overlays the SNA logicalnetwork to include physical units (PUs) and (LUs). By correlating SNAresource names to router ports on Simplified Network Management Protocol(SNMP) platforms, a new level of management is realized. The networkadministrator can then more easily solve and identify problems in thenetwork or in the SNA environment, lowering costs and enhancing operationscenter productivity.
Product Availability
The TN3270 Server software is a separately licensed feature of theCIP card available for the Early Support Program in April 1996 andgenerally available in Q3 1996. DLSw Lite is available today. The newAPPN media, SNA DDR and BAN will be available by the end of the month.CiscoWorks Blue Maps shipments will begin this month. Remotesource-route bridging (RSRB), APPN and DLSw+ will be the first availableapplications. CiscoWorks Blue SNA View is also available in March. Mapsis a prerequisite product for SNA View.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is theleading global supplierof internetworking solutions,including routers, LAN and ATM switches,dial-up access servers and network management software. These products,integrated by the Cisco IOS software, linkgeographically dispersed LANs,WANs and IBM networks. Cisco news and product/service information areavailable at World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco Systems isheadquartered in San Jose, Calif.
Posted: Thu Jul 10 16:18:53 PDT 1997
