Concord delivers Network Health - Router/Switch; Provides industry's first automated performance analysis and reporting solution for internetworking devices.

MARLBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 1996-- Concord Communications, Inc., today announced a new performance analysis and reporting application for routers and switches. Network Health - Router/Switch will monitor the performance of internetworking devices across an enterprise network, quickly identifying devices having difficulty supporting the network load.

By automatically providing detailed information concerning anomalies and trends affecting the performance of these devices, Network Health - Router/Switch will allow network managers to stay ahead of issues that may result in decreased service levels to end users. It will also allow telecommunications and Internet service providers who currently use Concord's Network Health - Frame Relay and Network Health - LAN/WAN to manage the access devices that they maintain for end users.

With the delivery of Network Health - Router/Switch, Concord continues to extend the ability of its Network Health family to provide an integrated assessment of the state of the enterprise internetwork. Incorporating Network Health's unique SmartScan automated data collection and analysis technology, Network Health - Router/Switch configures itself to the network environment and retrieves, stores, and analyzes data from the network's switches and routers. The analysis is then presented via a series of graphical reports that illustrate and identify key issues and trends affecting network performance.

"Network Health - Router/Switch is the next step in our goal of providing meaningful information on the health of the entire information infrastructure, from the physical layer up to the performance of the applications layer," said Kevin Conklin, vice president of marketing at Concord Communications. "Our customers are enthusiastic about Concord extending the Network Health paradigm, because time and again, it has saved them valuable time and money in supporting their organizations' business objectives."

"The performance of routers and switches frequently is the best indicator of performance in the enterprise network as a whole," said Tim Wilson, senior consultant at Decisys Inc., a network consulting firm based in Sterling, Va. "Network Health - Router/Switch is an important step forward in Concord's effort to provide a comprehensive view of enterprise network performance."

Network Health - Router/Switch

Network Health - Router/Switch allows network managers to get a concise view of an entire router or switch network, easily identify problem areas, and then drill down to obtain comprehensive information on potential trouble spots. Specifically, Network Health - Router/Switch analyzes trends concerning the following parameters:

-- CPU utilization -- Buffer space management -- Packet discards -- Volume by protocol

Network Health - Router/Switch provides Concord's automated At-A-Glance report that plots critical parameters over time on a single page. By comparing the information to a baseline analysis, network managers can quickly correlate events such as increased packet loss and CPU utilization to an increase in network volume.

"We were looking for a vendor who not only provides a comprehensive, robust tool today, but who is also highly innovative and willing to work with us on future requirements," said Dave Brown, director of network services at The New York Times. "The introduction of Network Health - Router/Switch demonstrates how Concord is building a methodology of data collection and viewing that allows us to more effectively manage our network."

Network Health Performance Boost

Enhancements to the core technology of the Network Health family have resulted in increased speed in report generation. With these improvements, reports are generated ten times faster than previous versions of Network Health. This allows network managers to manage enterprise networks with drastically reduced hardware and equipment costs. The performance enhancements extend across the entire Network Health family of applications.

Pricing and Availability

Network Health - Router/Switch software ships on a CD-ROM starting at $9,995. The product will be demonstrated at Networld+Interop in Atlanta. Availability is slated for late September.

The initial release of Network Health - Router/Switch supports routers produced by Bay Networks and Cisco Systems as well as an initial set of selected switches. As with other members of the Network Health family, Network Health - Router/Switch uses Concord's powerful MIB translation technology to support deployment of new technologies and internetworking devices as networks expand.

In addition to running on an HP-UX workstation with HP-UX 9.04, 9.05 or 9.07, Network Health - Router/Switch runs on a Sun SPARCstation with either Solaris 1.1.2 (SunOS 4.1.4), Solaris 2.4 (SunOS 5.4), or Solaris 2.5 (SunOS 5.5).

About Concord Communications

Concord Communications, Inc., is the leading supplier of automated network reporting and performance analysis tools that provide customers with the information they need to effectively plan and manage the growth of their enterprise networks. Fortune 1000 companies turn to Concord each morning to assess the health of their enterprise-wide networks. Concord is a privately held company with headquarters in Marlboro, Massachusetts. -0-

Note to Editors: Concord and the Concord logo are registered trademarks and Network Health and SmartScan are trademarks of Concord Communications, Inc. All other brands and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

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