Bay Networks IP Services Enhance Integration of SNA Networks.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 1997--

-- New Router Enhancements Strengthen Bay Networks' Adaptive Networking Strategy with Simplified SNA/IP Network Integration --

Bay Networks,(R) Inc. (NYSE:BAY) today announced a suite of new SNA router enhancements that provide a reliable and highly available connectivity solution for enterprise customers supporting mission-critical IBM applications. As part of the IP Services cornerstone in Bay Networks' Adaptive Networking strategy, these new capabilities ease the integration of IBM mainframe infrastructures within the IP optimized networks of tomorrow.

Available today with Bay Networks Routing Services (BayRS(TM)) products, Bay Networks' expanded router functionality provides greater flexibility for IBM network users integrating SNA and IP network environments. These enhanced features extend Bay Networks' Data Link Switching (DLSw) implementation with support for DLSw Version 2 which enables a single router to scale to support larger networks; multiple PU Type 1 devices to prevent SNA session timeouts; and DLSw Backup Peers for increased network availability. In addition, the company is delivering enhanced link connections with X.25/Qualified Link Level Control (QLLC) for the reliable transport of SNA devices connected to X.25 networks; increased scalability for Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC) environments; plus extended Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC) 3270 support to ensure connectivity between mainframes and remote devices, such as a bank's automated teller machines.

"As more SNA users migrate their legacy applications to Internet Protocol-based environments to deliver more network services and support additional growth, they increasingly require higher levels of network scalability and availability as well as high-performance connectivity," said Marc Bernstein, senior product manager for IBM protocols at Bay Networks. "By enhancing our comprehensive range of SNA internetworking capabilities with value-added features and functionality, Bay Networks offers customers more expanded options and flexibility in integrating their SNA/SDLC and IP traffic. These new IBM-related router enhancements also reinforce Bay Networks' strategy to enable a flexible and cost-effective integration of SNA-based legacy applications within an IP backbone."

Bay Networks' extended SNA router capabilities are an IP services cornerstone proof point in the company's Adaptive Networking strategy. As an IP integration service, this allows users to maximize the value of their existing network infrastructure to deliver more high-level, IP-optimized solutions with less network complexity.

New DLSw Capabilities Ensure Network Scalability and Availability

DLSw provides a reliable method for transporting SNA and NetBIOS traffic across an IP network. Bay Networks has extended its DLSw implementation to provide users with more network scalability and availability. Specifically, the company has added support for DLSw Version 2 -- the next-generation implementation focused on increasing network scalability. By establishing a TCP/IP session between routers only when required, DLSw Version 2 enables a single router to support a greater number of sessions typical of large SNA networks. Bay Networks also supports a single, full duplex TCP/IP connection for DLSw rather than two half duplex sessions, thereby reducing the amount of time required to establish a TCP connection.

Bay Networks also has extended its DLSw functionality to support PU Type 1 (PU1) devices which are SDLC-attached controllers such as IBM 5294 and 5394 devices. This new functionality increases network availability by giving network managers the ability to locally acknowledge packets and prevent SNA session time outs. Also, this enhancement supports virtual multidrop which allows multiple PU1 devices, whether on the same or on different routers, to connect to the AS/400 using a single SDLC line. Since fewer synchronous connections are required at the central site, customers benefit with significant savings in AS/400 and router hardware.

Further enhancing network availability, Bay Networks routers also enable users to define a backup DLSw peer to be used when the destination router and/or interface is unavailable. By initiating a new DLSw session with a designated backup router, network managers can ensure the delivery of information to remote SNA equipment, increasing mission-critical network availability.

In addition, the company is providing scalability on all versions of DLSw by enabling fully independent DLSw operation on every slot. This allows more granular control over which router slots communicate to each remote site. Up to ten processors on a single Backbone Concentrator Node (BCN(R)) router can independently support DLSw, effectively increasing DLSw performance by a factor of ten.

More Network Connectivity

With this announcement, Bay Networks is also delivering increased connectivity support for SNA devices migrating to IP environments. Providing reliable transport for SNA devices connecting to X.25 networks, Bay Networks has enhanced its DLSw support for Qualified Link Level Control (QLLC). This enables QLLC-attached devices to connect to a non-X.25 backbone and non-QLLC devices to connect to an X.25 backbone, which lowers the cost and simplifies the migration to multiprotocol backbones.

In a related enhancement, Bay Networks has added Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC) 3270 support over TCP/IP on the Advanced Remote Node (ARN(TM)) expansion boards to transmit data between mainframes and remote devices. Playing an important role in both financial and retail network environments, BSC support enables legacy devices, such as automatic teller machines, to communicate over a consolidated IP backbone. This allows customers to reduce network costs by eliminating low-speed BSC links between their remote sites and corporate data centers.

As the first router vendor to support SDLC links via DS-0A support, Bay Networks also ensures network scalability with DS-0A connections to the Backbone Node (BN(R)) router. DS-0A is an industry standard governing frame formats for speeds of less than 56 Kbps on a multichannel T1 (MC-T1) connection. Bay Networks' implementation supports SDLC mainframe traffic at speeds of 19.2 Kbps and 9.6 Kbps. This enables customers to migrate from the Front End Processor to the BN router, while reducing maintenance and software charges in the mainframe environment. Wide area backbone traffic can use DLSw, Frame Relay, BNN or Frame Relay BAN. Significant cost savings can be realized when customers terminate their SDLC traffic at a regional office or at a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) for transport across a Frame Relay network rather than using dedicated SDLC links.

Availability

The new Bay Networks IBM enhancements are available immediately in Version 11.02 of the company's BayRS operating system.

About Bay Networks

Bay Networks, Inc. (NYSE:BAY) is a leader in the worldwide networking market, providing a complete line of products that serve corporate enterprises, service providers and telecommunications carriers. The company offers frame and ATM switches, routers, shared media, remote and Internet access solutions, IP services and network management applications, all integrated by Bay Networks' Adaptive Networking strategy. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Bay Networks markets its products and services around the world, providing 7x24 support coverage. For additional information visit the company's World Wide Web site at http://www.baynetworks.com or call 800-8-BAYNET.

This release, other than historical financial information, may consist of forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. For instance, factors which could cause results to differ from future events include the rate of adoption of new technology, competitive pricing actions and marketing programs, among others. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Bay Networks with the S.E.C., specifically the most recent reports on forms 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

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Bay Networks, BCN, and BN are registered trademarks and ARN and BayRS are trademarks of Bay Networks, Inc. Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

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Laura Fischman

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