3Com Unveils Industry's First Comprehensive Strategy for Building High Availability Networks.ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1998-- Company Tackles Network Downtime The time during which a computer is not functioning due to hardware, operating system or application program failure. with Solutions to Boost Network Resiliency, Redundancy and Manageability At the NetWorld+Interop conference here, 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS COMS 3Com Corporation (stock symbol) COMS Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist COMS Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems COMS City of Manchester Stadium (UK) ) today introduced the industry's first enterprise-wide strategy for High Availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. Networks, providing businesses with unsurpassed network reliability from desktop to server, from the local area network (LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. ) to the wide area network (WAN). This strategy arrives at a time when businesses are expanding deployment of network-reliant applications upon which their operations, revenue and customer service depend, including new voice/video/data converged applications. 3Com's strategy goes well beyond high availability solutions from other vendors, who mainly focus on reliability features for servers or individual networking products. The 3Com(R) strategy provides the industry's only complete system for total network availability incorporating: -- Resiliency: ultra-reliability of networking devices -- Redundancy: advanced technology augments device resiliency to create redundant network topologies -- Manageability: the network manager's window into network and application availability. Rounding out 3Com's complete solution are professional customer services for designing and managing network availability. "As customers prepare their network infrastructures to run critical applications such as electronic commerce and Voice-over-IP, so-called four-9s reliability becomes as hard a requirement for data networks as it has historically been for telephone networks," said Ron Sege, senior vice president, 3Com Enterprise Systems. "With today's High Today's High The intra-day high trading price. Notes: In other words, this is the highest price that a stock traded at during the course of the day. More often than not this is higher than the closing price. See also: Today's Low Availability Networks announcement, 3Com becomes the first networking vendor to articulate a complete end-to-end approach to delivering on this requirement. It comprehensively ties all elements of the network infrastructure together in a standards-based fashion." Unveils Complete Strategy, Plus New Solutions 3Com's strategy prescribes high availability solutions for all areas of the network: Data Center: 3Com's High Availability Networks begin in the data center and are anchored by the CoreBuilder(tm) family of chassis-based switches, including the recently introduced CoreBuilder 9000 which boasts unmatched reliability and fault tolerance See fault tolerant. (architecture) fault tolerance - 1. The ability of a system or component to continue normal operation despite the presence of hardware or software faults. This often involves some degree of redundancy. 2. . 3Com is further boosting the resiliency of its data center solutions with the addition of DynamicAccess(R) software support providing Load Balancing The fine tuning of a computer system, network or disk subsystem in order to more evenly distribute the data and/or processing across available resources. For example, in clustering, load balancing might distribute the incoming transactions evenly to all servers, or it might redirect them for 3Com's server NICs. Building and Campus Backbone: 3Com addresses these critical points of communications traffic aggregation with a full range of network redundancy techniques, including Resilient Links, Spanning Tree, PNNI (Private Network-to-Network Interface) A routing protocol used between ATM switches in an ATM network. It lets the switches inform each other about network topology so they can make appropriate forwarding decisions. and Layer 3 routing protocols to direct traffic around failed switches or routers. Today, 3Com is complementing these technologies with new solutions that provide usable redundancy, for increased total throughput, and sub-second failover. Building and campus backbone networks are also complemented by the resiliency built into SuperStack(R) II stackable switches and hubs for workgroup-level high availability. WAN Access: In the critical interface between the LAN and WAN, 3Com insures continuous connectivity through comprehensive WAN backup services as well as the ability to load balance traffic across links to separate points-of presence (POPs.) All 3Com WAN access products, including the NETBuilder(R), PathBuilder(tm) and Total Control(tm) families, are highly resilient to failure with support for redundant power supplies, hot swappable See hot swap. interfaces, dynamic software upgrades, and environment monitors and controls. Network Management: The foundation for high availability, 3Com's comprehensive Transcend(R), InfoVista and Traffix(tm) Manager applications enable real-time traffic analysis, identifying and base-lining mission-critical applications, and Service Level Agreement reporting for network performance and availability. Today, 3Com is announcing a new DynamicAccess feature, Application Response Time Monitoring. Service and Support: 3Com also offers comprehensive service and support, from its Strategic Network Solutions proactive design and project management services to its highly responsive Guardian and Express post-sales support with 24x7 operation and Web-based remote troubleshooting capabilities. In this announcement, 3Com is also introducing new hardware and software that complement existing high availability solutions: Link Aggregation See port aggregation. -- 3Com currently ships Link Aggregation technology -- also known as trunking -- in its SuperStack II and CoreBuilder families of enhanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 switches, allowing multiple active connections between 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet switches, providing both link resiliency and load sharing Distributing the workload between two or more computers. See load balancing. for high-bandwidth connections. 3Com is now leading the effort to develop a standards-based solution in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 802.3ad Link Aggregation working group, with a final standard anticipated in mid-year 1999 and standards-based products to follow. Multi-Point Link Aggregation (MPLA MPLA Mountain Plains Library Association MPLA Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Portugese) MPLA Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor MPLA Movimento Popular para a Libertação de Angola ) -- Taking the proposed IEEE 802.3ad standard one step further, 3Com today introduced MPLA, which dramatically increases the capacity of connections and availability for high-speed Ethernet-based campus LANs. MPLA extends Link Aggregation -- a point-to-point-only technology -- to offer dual-homed resiliency similar to that provided by FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) Often pronounced "fiddy," it was a LAN and MAN access method that had its heyday in the mid-1990s. FDDI was an ANSI standard token passing network that transmitted 100 Mbps over optical fiber up to 10 kilometers. , but with the added benefit of load sharing. MPLA will first be supported on the CoreBuilder 9400 Gigabit Ethernet An Ethernet standard that transmits at 1 Gbps. Used mostly to connect high-end workstations and servers as well as for network backbones, Gigabit Ethernet transmits full duplex from point to point using switches and half duplex in a shared environment (CSMA/CD) using a hub. switch in 1HCY HCY Homocysteine 99 and on the CoreBuilder 9000 enterprise switch in 2HCY99. CoreBuilder 9400 Gigabit Ethernet Switch -- The newest addition to 3Com's complete line of Gigabit Ethernet networking solutions, the 24-port CoreBuilder 9400 switch extends 3Com's lead in Gigabit Ethernet price/performance and employs multiple active resiliency features to ensure the integrity of data in mission-critical campus or building backbones, under extreme conditions. In addition to hardware resiliency features such as hot-swappable fans and redundant integrated power options, the CoreBuilder 9400 supports three central methods of fault tolerance: resilient links, link aggregation and multi-point link aggregation (MPLA). Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) is a non-proprietary redundancy protocol described in RFC 3768 designed to increase the availability of the default gateway servicing hosts on the same subnet. (VRRP (Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol) A protocol for switching to a backup router in the case of failure. Two or more routers are set up with VRRP, and one is elected the "master. ) -- To further enhance network redundancy and resiliency, 3Com announced it has extended support for VRRP (RFC (Request For Comments) A document that describes the specifications for a recommended technology. Although the word "request" is in the title, if the specification is ratified, it becomes a standards document. 2338) to the CoreBuilder 3500 Layer 3 switch, the PathBuilder S500 series platform and the CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise switch. Currently supported on 3Com's NETBuilder family of routers, VRRP provides a standards-based mechanism for instant failover and automatic reconfiguration in the event of router failure, as well as load sharing capabilities for improved network performance. Application Response Time Monitoring -- To help IT and network managers track uptime and performance in key network resources, 3Com is adding application response time monitoring capabilities to its DynamicAccess software suite. This network and system management function gathers RMON (Remote MONitoring) Enhancements to the management information base (MIB) structure used by the simple network management protocol (SNMP). In 1991, RMON added comprehensive network monitoring capabilities. , RMON2 and application-specific data at client and server network interfaces and aggregates the data to present a comprehensive picture of networked application usage and performance. It includes: server usage and health, device availability, and application-by-application analysis of network response time vs. application response time. Availability for solutions included in today's announcement: Fast EtherLink(R) Server NIC (1) (Network Interface Card) See network adapter. See also InterNIC. (2) (New Internet Computer) An earlier Linux-based computer from The New Internet Computer Company (NICC), Palo Alto, CA. with DynamicAccess Load Balancing Software Available Q4CY98 CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch Available now CoreBuilder 9400 Gigabit Ethernet Switch Available Q1CY99 Multi-Point Link Aggregation - CoreBuilder 9400 Available 1HCY99 Multi-Point Link Aggregation - CoreBuilder 9000 Available 2HCY99 VRRP support - NETBuilder Routers Available now VRRP support - PathBuilder S500 Available now VRRP support - CoreBuilder 3500 Available Q1CY99 VRRP support - CoreBuilder 9000 Available Q2CY99 DynamicAccess Response Time Monitoring Application Available 1HCY99 The CoreBuilder 9400 is priced at $29,995 for a base chassis with 12 fixed 1000Base-SX ports. Optional short-haul SX GBICs are priced at $495 and long-haul GBICs are $1,495. VRRP and Multi-Point Link Aggregation are covered in the base price of the systems that offer these features. Pricing for Load Balancing Server NICs and the DynamicAccess Response Time Monitoring application will be announced upon availability. About 3Com 3Com Corporation enables individuals and organizations worldwide to communicate and share information and resources at anytime from anywhere. As one of the world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video communications technology Noun 1. communications technology - the activity of designing and constructing and maintaining communication systems engineering, technology - the practical application of science to commerce or industry , 3Com has delivered networking solutions to more than 200 million customers worldwide. The company provides large enterprises, small and medium enterprises, carriers and network service providers, and consumers comprehensive, innovative information access products and system solutions for building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide area networks. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at http://www.3com.com or the press site at http://www.3com.com/pressbox. 3Com, EtherLink, SuperStack, NETBuilder, Transcend, and DynamicAccess are registered trademarks, CoreBuilder, Total Control, PathBuilder, and Traffix are trademarks and Guardian and Express are service marks of 3Com Corporation. |
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