Research Triangle Park, NC -- April 21, 1998 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. and StarQuest Software Inc. today announced the availability of Cisco Database Connection software, which provides end users at TCP/IP workstations secure, direct access to IBM DB2 databases using Systems Network Architecture (SNA) protocols. Cisco Database Connection provides a scalable, high-speed database access platform for the data center.
"Maintaining access to the data center is a key requirement for enterprises that are migrating to corporate intranets," said Selby Wellman, senior vice president and general manager for Cisco's InterWorks Business Unit. " Cisco Database Connection is part of Cisco's plan to provide complete end-to-end solutions for our data center customers."
Jointly developed with StarQuest, a leading provider of standards-based connectivity solutions, this technology uses IBM's Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA), which defines a standard messaging format to interface with a remote database over TCP/IP or SNA. Previously, either SNA network products at the workstation or proprietary host software were required to access IBM DB2. Cisco Database Connection converts TCP/IP data requests into SNA messages and forwards them to the appropriate host database.
Cisco becomes the first vendor to provide this functionality on a router using industry standards. Cisco Database Connection provides a lower-cost, end-to-end solution that includes the value-add network services provided by Cisco IOS® software. It also eliminates the added cost of implementing and managing a number of standalone servers and provides much higher throughput.
Migration to TCP/IP
With the explosive growth of corporate intranets, enterprise networks are quickly migrating to TCP/IP. Cisco Database Connection preserves a corporation's investment in the data center by giving TCP/IP-based local-area networks (LANs) access to SNA databases.
"The Cisco Database Connection allows network planners to uncouple the decision to move to TCP/IP as the enterprise network standard while preserving the advantages of native SNA access on the IBM hosts," said Paul Rampel, president of StarQuest. "This product encourages the deployment of desktop applications that require the highest level of responsiveness and availability that Cisco-based networks and IBM's DB2 have come to represent to commercial users."
Employer's Reinsurance Corporation Using Cisco Database Connection
Employer's Reinsurance Corporation (ERC), a subsidiary of General Electric, headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, is using the Cisco Database Connection to provide its users access to DB2 data from the desktop. An ERC study shows that the Cisco Database Connection delivered database access two to three times faster than alternative solutions. "The Cisco Database Connection has turned our routers into fully integrated database access platforms," said Henry Slack, ERC's chief technology officer. "By leveraging this technology, we can create an enterprise-wide relational database access point. It is a very fast networking solution."
About StarQuest
StarQuest Software, Inc., headquartered in Berkeley, California, provides a family of data communications software products for seamlessly connecting Windows and UNIX systems with IBM mainframe and midrange computers. StarQuest products are marketed directly by StarQuest and its domestic and international resellers. The company is privately held.
Cisco Systems
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