Research Triangle Park, NC and Berkeley, Calif.- July 28, 1997 -Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced an agreement with StarQuestSoftware, Inc. to develop solutions that enable TCP/IP-based desktopclients to access remote DB2 databases on SNA-based hosts. Together,the companies will enhance the functionality of Cisco IOS=81 software toprovide end users with secure, direct access to DB2 databases via theirCisco routers, providing a high-speed platform for the data center.=20Cisco will become the first vendor to provide this functionality on arouter using industry standards.
Cisco and StarQuest will incorporate the functionality of StarQuest'ssoftware, StarPipes, into Cisco IOS software. StarPipes, whichimplements IBM's Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA)Level 3, provides a direct connection from desktops to IBM DB2databases using TCP/IP.
With the explosive growth of corporate intranets, enterprise networksare quickly migrating to TCP/IP. Cisco and StarQuest's solution willpreserve a corporation's investment in the data center by givingTCP/IP-based local-area networks (LANs) access to data on SNA-orientedhosts. The product will support any DRDA-enabled database and clientsoftware, including the StarSQL Pro ODBC driver from StarQuest.
"Maintaining access to the data center is a key requirement forenterprises that are migrating to corporate intranets," said SelbyWellman, senior vice president and general manager for Cisco'sInterWorks Business Unit. "Our joint development with StarQuest is onemore example of Cisco's plan to provide leading, end-to-end solutionsfor our data center customers. This remote access solution has becomea key component of our intranet strategy."
Field Trial of Software Reduces Expenses and IncreasesProductivity
Kaiser Permanente Information Technology Services recently evaluated apilot solution from Cisco and StarQuest to provide access from thedesktop to DB2. Kaiser Permanente's main goal was to streamline accessto data in the data center for end users who need information to makecritical decisions.
With this solution, Kaiser Permanente eliminated the cost ofpurchasing, deploying and maintaining several servers and software foraccessing the mainframe through the LAN.
Kaiser Permanente studies show that the pilot solution offered databaseaccess that is 30 to 40 percent faster than alternative solutions.=20Cisco and StarQuest's pilot solution was also scalable, showing almostno performance degradation when comparing transaction processing speedsfor 500 concurrent sessions to those attained for a single session.
"Together with StarQuest, Cisco has turned its router into a fullyintegrated database access platform that allows desktop users runningTCP/IP and ODBC from anywhere on the enterprise to have full access toDB2," said Manny Aguilera, Kaiser Permanente networking engineeringconsultant. "By leveraging this technology, we can create anenterprise-wide relational database access point for NorthernCalifornia. It's a very fast networking solution."
Cisco and StarQuest will make a formal product announcement inapproximately 60 days. This product will be used in conjunction withthe Cisco 7500 family of routers.
"Designers of advanced client/server and intranet applications benefitfrom the Cisco/StarQuest collaboration," said Paul Rampel, president ofStarQuest. "This solution encourages the deployment of desktopapplications that require the highest level of responsiveness andavailability that Cisco-based networks and IBM's DB2 have come torepresent to commercial users. It will allow network planners todecouple the decision to move to TCP/IP as the enterprise networkstandard while preserving the advantages of native SNA access on theIBM hosts."
About StarQuest
StarQuest Software, Inc., headquartered in Berkeley, California,provides a family of data communications software products forseamlessly connecting Windows and UNIX systems with IBM mainframe andmidrange computers. StarQuest leverages industry standards--namelyIBM's Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA) andMicrosoft's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)--to provide a family ofrobust, efficient and cost-effective connectivity products. StarQuestproducts are marketed directly by StarQuest and by StarQuest's domesticand international resellers. The company is privately held. News andinformation are available at http://www.starquest.com
