Competitive Automation Releases JOIN Server 4.1 Upgrade to Leading IP Address Management Software.

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1997--

Improves DHCP, DDNS Functionality, Security

Competitive Automation has released a new version of JOIN, its renowned software for IP address management. JOIN Server Release 4.1 consists of two integrated IP management components for Unix servers, JOIN DHCP and JOIN DDNS, and provides improved functionality, security, and license management.

JOIN DHCP enables network administrators to centralize the configuration of clients in a heterogeneous network, ranging from a small LAN to an enterprise network with thousands of clients. When enabled for dynamic DNS, JOIN DHCP can notify any DNS server capable of supporting updates when an IP address/name combination has changed.

JOIN Server 4.1 also includes an updated license manager, with improved security features. Used together, the two components in JOIN Server 4.1 communicate via encrypted transactions to guarantee authenticated, secure updates to IP address information.

Other changes include an upgrade to release 2.3.7 of the Berkeley-DB, which manages name and configuration information.

Laird McCulloch, president of Competitive Automation, Menlo Park, California, said, "The rampant growth of the Internet and TCP/IP-based intranets has been accompanied by tremendous increases in network administration overhead. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol has automated the tedious manual work of assigning IP addresses and configuring devices, and dynamic DNS makes the process even more efficient and less error-prone."

Using DHCP alone, system administrators have been required to keep logs for DNS updates. Dynamically updating the name of the device with the IP address assigned to it is perhaps the most necessary of DHCP add-ons, McCulloch explained. DNS servers perform important name-to-IP address resolution, allowing users to remember the "name" of the computer they want to connect to, rather than the network address.

Competitive Automation was the first company to deliver a commercial product based on the DHCP standard, and has been shipping DHCP clients since 1993 and servers since 1994. JOIN software supports the networks of many leading companies, such as the New York Times, 3Com, Texas Instruments, and others.

In a series of technology partnerships stretching back four years, Competitive Automation's DHCP software has also been licensed for implementation to Digital Equipment Corp., SunSoft, RDI Computer, Takaoka Electric, and other companies. In addition, Competitive Automation customizes its software for companies whose requirements exceed the functions specified by the DHCP standard. Today, JOIN operates in environments with more than 100,000 nodes, proving its scalability, reliability, availability and quality of service.

JOIN Server Release 4.1 is available now, for Solaris 2.4 (and later) on the Sparc platform, HPUX 10, and Digital UNIX 4.0B. Price starts at $1,700 per server. The JOIN Server supports all known DHCP clients including Microsoft Windows (95 and NT), Mac OS, SunOS, HP-UX and AIX. In addition, Competitive Automation provides a GUI network management package that stands on its own, and which operates in HP-UX, SunOS/Solaris, and Digital UNIX environments.

Founded in 1992, Competitive Automation is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The company specializes in technology that simplifies TCP/IP network administration, particularly in the areas of address and directory management using DHCP, DNS, LDAP and other standards-based approaches. -0- JOIN is a registered trademark of Competitive Automation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and Competitive Automation disavows any interest in them.

CONTACT: David Belleville

415-321-4006

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