Research Triangle Park, NC - December 16, 1997 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today introduced a new release of its network management applications for mixed Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and Internet Protocol (IP) environments that offer enhanced scalability and security as well as an improved Web interface. The new releases of CiscoWorks Blue Maps and SNA View offer network operators easy access to the information needed to improve service levels and increase network availability.
With the recent growth of the Internet and intranets, networks that carry both SNA and IP are growing in popularity. The CiscoWorks Blue family of network management applications are designed to address the increasingly complex demands placed on these multiprotocol networks.
Enhancements to CiscoWorks Blue Maps
CiscoWorks Blue Maps provides dynamic views or maps of combined SNA and IP networks. Scalability and performance enhancements have been added to Release 1.2 that enable more efficient management of dispersed, integrated networks.
Enhancements such as Data Link Switching Plus (DLSw+) Key Routers View allow users to obtain network views that center on key routers that they select. Peers of the key routers are aggregated and shown on the map as one icon. This feature allows Maps to easily represent DLSw+ networks with hundreds of remote routers.
Another enhancement, DLSw+ polling, speeds accurate status propagation by polling multiple routers concurrently. It also reduces Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traffic by polling only key routers and allowing separate polling intervals for those key routers.
A new event notification feature ensures that network operators are informed immediately of important events in the SNA network, even if they are not currently viewing DLSw+ or Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking (APPN) Maps screens. Another new event notification feature includes a standalone APPN poller, which generates event notifications without requiring that the graphical user interface be active.
The Web browser view of the Maps application has been enhanced so that Web pages are easier to read and navigate. With Maps, network operators can customize Web pages of information regarding network status and availability. Maps is simple to learn and is a cost-effective management tool, because both SNA devices and multiprotocol devices can be managed from a single console.
Enhancements to CiscoWorks Blue SNA View
CiscoWorks Blue SNA View provides an end-to-end snapshot of the network, from Physical Unit (PU) to the mainframe computer, as it appears at any given time. By retrieving vital mainframe information, SNA View adds PU and Logical Unit (LU) information to the graphical maps created by CiscoWorks Blue Maps.
A scalability enhancement to SNA View enables more efficient management of networks with tens of thousands of SNA resources. Filters have been enhanced to provide more administrative control over which resources are discovered and monitored. Network operators benefit from this feature, because a more simplified view ensures that they are focusing on key resources.
New security enhancements to SNA View have been added. Now, network operators have greater flexibility to define security controls. For example, network operators can choose to allow any user to issue commands, allow only Resource Access Control Facility (RACF) or Advanced Communications Function (ACF)/2 authorized users to issue commands or disallow all commands from workstation users. The mainframe administrator can also disable all direct MVS and virtual telecommunications access method (VTAM) commands by not starting the applicable subtask.
Lastly, SNA View has enhanced serviceability, because it allows internal tracing of mainframe SNA View task and subtasks. SNA View will also automatically switch to a backup virtual sequential access method (VSAM) database in the event that writing to the primary VSAM database fails, eliminating the possibility of losing important data.
"The latest releases of CiscoWorks Blue Maps and SNA View address the important network management issues of scalability, security, performance and ease of use," said Lori Bush, product line manager for Cisco's InterWorks Business Unit. "The enhancements to these two applications give network operators the edge they need to deliver the network availability and services levels their clients demand."
Year 2000 Compliance
Both Cisco WorksBlue Maps and SNA View are year 2000 compliant. For additional information on Year 2000 compliance, visit Cisco's Web Year 2000 Compliance web site.
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