Cisco announces Frame Relay access products that lead industry in providing legacy protocol support; new family complements Cisco's highly successful 2500 series routers.SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 1995--Cisco Systems Inc., the leading global supplier of internetworking solutions, today solidified its leadership position in the evolving Frame Relay A high-speed packet switching protocol used in wide area networks (WANs). Providing a granular service of up to DS3 speed (45 Mbps), it has become popular for LAN to LAN connections across remote distances, and services are offered by most major carriers. access market by introducing a suite of Frame Relay access products that start at $1,595. This family offers the most sophisticated protocol support for internetworking legacy and client/server environments over Frame Relay. Unlike competing devices, Cisco's Frame Relay access products offer users a built-in migration path through the Cisco Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOS) software, enabling users to easily upgrade to the full functionality of a Cisco 2500 series Cisco 2500 series routers The Cisco 2500 series of routers are a series of 19" rack mount access routers typically used to connect ethernet or token ring networks via ISDN or leased serial connections (ie. Frame Relay, T1 etc). router. No dedicated Frame Relay Access Device (communications) Frame Relay Access Device - (FRAD) Hardware and software that turns packets from TCP, SNA, IPX, etc into frames that can be sent over a Frame Relay wide area network. (FRAD (Frame Relay Access Device or Frame Relay Assembler Disassembler) A communications device that formats outgoing data into the format required by a frame relay network. It strips the data back out at the other end. ) device currently on the market offers this level of scalability, investment protection or built-in migration path towards client/server computing. In addition, Cisco's new Frame Relay access products are managed by the same CiscoWorks software that is used to manage the company's full-featured Cisco routers, so that network managers can leverage existing Cisco expertise. Plus, by combining Cisco's Frame Relay access and router technology, user sites experience a lighter level of integration than is possible with a mixture of third-party products. "Since our earliest days as a co-founder of the Frame Relay Forum, Cisco has played an important role in advancing the implementation of Frame Relay technology," said Kevin Kennedy, division director in the company's Access Business Unit. "Today, Cisco has more Frame Relay access ports installed than any other manufacturer. Plus, Cisco has invested tens of millions of dollars in developing its IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) software feature set, offering more sophisticated support of IBM protocols than any vendor. "With today's introduction, Cisco now offers solutions to satisfy every price point and feature requirement, enabling companies to easily migrate from legacy systems to client/server-based LANs -- without sacrificing service, manageability or support." Based on Cisco's award-winning 2500 series of multiprotocol routers, Cisco's new Frame Relay access products are available in serial-only (CFRAD CFRAD Cisco Frame Relay Access Device ) and serial and local-area network access (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. FRAD) models. Ranging from a single, low-speed serial access device to a model that combines multiple serial access ports with LAN connectivity, this new product family provides branch banking and remote office environments that currently don't require the full suite of protocols and features of a Cisco 2500 series multiprotocol router with an ideal Frame Relay access alternative. Cisco also announced today a new series of integrated, multiprotocol routers, based on the 2500 series, to meet the next level of routing needs for branch banking and remote office environments. (See press release entitled, "Cisco Announces Fully Integrated Internetworking Solution for Legacy Systems and Client/Server Networks.") Meeting Branch Banking's Unique Needs One of the first environments to fully adopt Frame Relay is branch banking. A remote branch office, for instance, may operate an automatic teller machine See ATM. (ATM) using a serial bisynchronous connection. Additional teller consoles could be connected to an SDLC (Synchronous Data Link Control) The primary data link protocol used in IBM's SNA networks. It is a bit-oriented synchronous protocol that is a subset of the HDLC protocol. See SNA, DLC and Microsoft DLC. 1. serial concentrator, and an alarm device could be connected asynchronously. To meet these needs, branch banks don't always require the extensive LAN and wide-area network (WAN) support provided by a 2500 series multiprotocol router. Instead, they require multiple serial connections to be concentrated to a Frame Relay backbone, which is the new environment optimized for Cisco's CFRAD and LAN FRAD products. This profile could be repeated at hundreds of locations. Each Cisco access product is preconfigured Set up ahead of time. It implies that the device or software application has been modified to suit the customer or situation. See ghosting server. with software that combines Frame Relay WAN support with a specific set of protocols, enabling users to select the CFRAD or LAN FRAD product that features the protocols they need. For instance, they can purchase a CFRAD for IBM and asynchronous Refers to events that are not synchronized, or coordinated, in time. The following are considered asynchronous operations. The interval between transmitting A and B is not the same as between B and C. The ability to initiate a transmission at either end. legacy access or a LAN FRAD for IP and IPX (Internetwork Packet EXchange) The network layer protocol in the NetWare operating system. Similar to the IP layer in TCP/IP, it contains a network address and allows messages to be routed to a different network or subnet. routing. As needs require, users can upgrade these products to 2500 series routers to gain greater functionality. Cisco's CFRAD Products Cisco's new CFRAD products are serial-only Frame Relay access devices. The 2520CF and 2521CF access products come with three serial access ports, while the 2522CF and 2523CF are equipped with nine serial access ports and a single high-speed Frame Relay access port. Cisco's LAN FRAD Products Cisco's LAN FRAD models provide both serial access and LAN access to the Frame Relay WAN. Cisco's 2501LF and 2502LF access products come with a single low-speed serial access port and Cisco's 2520LF and 2521LF access products feature three serial access ports. Cisco's 2522LF and 2523LF access products are equipped with nine serial access ports. Pricing and Availability All Cisco CFRAD and LAN FRAD models are available worldwide starting in the first quarter of 1996. The CFRAD products range in price from $1,595 to $3,995 (U.S.), while Cisco's LAN FRAD products range in price from $2,195 to $4,695 (U.S.). Each CFRAD and LAN FRAD model comes bundled with Cisco 2500 series hardware and Cisco CFRAD or LAN FRAD software. About Cisco Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :CSCO CSCO Cisco Systems Incorporated (stock symbol) CSCO Chief Supply Chain Officer ) is the leading global supplier of enterprise networks, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers, and network management software. These products, integrated by the Cisco IOS software, link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks. Cisco Systems news and product/service information are available at World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco Systems is headquartered in San Jose. -0- Note to Editors: Cisco IOS is a trademark and Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems Inc. All other trademarks, registered or otherwise, are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Stirling & Cohan Inc. JoAnn Johnston, 415/513-0978 joann@sandcjj.batnet com |
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