Epilogue's SNMP and RMON Provides Foundation for UB Networks' Distributed Embedded Management Architecture.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 1995--At ComNet this week, Epilogue Technology Corporation will be showing network developers the next generation of SNMP and RMON network management technology based on a distributed embedded sub-agent architecture.

Using Epilogue's Envoy SNMP and Ambassador Plus RMON source code, it's now possible to create RMON sub agents that distribute network management responsibilities among devices scattered around the network. This not only means more efficient SNMP data handling, but it opens the way to add RMON support to switched network environments, such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks. One of the first companies to deploy the distributed Envoy and Ambassador Plus management architectures is UB Networks, which recently introduced its Access/EMPower Management System Architecture with distributed embedded management.

"With ATM moving into the realm of switched virtual networks, the days of being able to physically connect a probe or an analyzer to a hard-wired network are a thing of the past," said David Preston, Vice President and General Manager of Epilogue Technology. "Recognizing this trend, we designed our Envoy SNMP and Ambassador Plus RMON source code products as modular solutions, so our OEM customers could deploy as much or as little of their functionality as necessary. It's this modular design that makes it easy to deploy SNMP and RMON in individual devices, whether it's embedding in a hub or in a chip. UB Networks is the first of our customers to take the lead in this arena with the introduction of its Access/EMPower embedded management architecture. For the first time, customers have an intelligent, distributed solution to network management that's extensible to the switch marketplace."

UB Networks' Access/EMPower includes a Management System Architecture that incorporates many of the key features of a network management platform, such as event management, an event database, and management applications, all integrated into the hub device. Using a real-time, multitasking, micro-kernel operating system, Access/EMPower has direct access to network data as well as the control points used for automated network reconfiguration and optimization. The embedded application in the Access/EMPower hub system can process massive amounts of SNMP and RMON data in real-time, correcting network faults on-the-fly and enhancing network performance.

"Epilogue Technology's hierarchical SNMP and RMON architectures have been instrumental in allowing us to usher in this next generation in network management," Morita added. "Using Epilogue's Envoy and Ambassador Plus products, we have been able to decentralize network management in our new Access/EMPower system, distributing SNMP and RMON processing among embedded applications. This divide-and-conquer approach allows us to offer UB Networks' customers a scalable, self-tuning, switched network management architecture."

"With UB Networks leading the way, other vendors are beginning to understand the power of embedded distributed network management, it opens up a new realm of possibilities in network management," added Russell Dietz, Vice President of Systems Development for Technically Elite Concepts (TEC), a Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based company specializing in RMON solutions. "Offloading SNMP and RMON responsibilities to local sub agents is the first step in automating network management. The next logical step is to speed up SNMP and RMON processing by integrating sub agents in firmware. We will see a number of chip manufacturers integrating low-level network management processes in silicon in the months ahead."

According to Dietz, deploying local sub agents to handle routine SNMP and RMON tasks not only helps automate network management but marks the first step toward self-repairing computer networks. Current RMON applications, for example, are "point-and-shoot" applications that can monitor a number of segments but can't correlate the information. An extensible database can be used to store the data provided by RMON sub agents. Then, using an application like TEC's Network Professor, both historical and real-time data can be assimilated and a model created to predict network performance.

The hierarchical SNMP design in Envoy allows vendors to create "smart" embedded management systems, such as those deployed in Access/EMPower. Envoy makes it possible to localize SNMP intelligence in the sub-agents which minimizes SNMP overhead on the network since routine management processes are handled locally. Compartmentalizing SNMP processes using sub agents also means that a wide variety of network transport services can be used for inter-process communications (e.g. UDP support offered in Epilogue's Attach ) and proprietary IPCs in real-time operating systems, such as those used to support Access/EMPower. This means OEMs can create distributed SNMP solutions using interchangeable, localized sub-agents that can communicate with a master agent across any network. For example, individual feature cards can be outfitted with relevant portions of a management MIB that are implemented as sub-agents. End users can then dynamically configure devices such as hubs by simply adding or changing feature cards.

Epilogue Technology Corporation is located at 11116 Desert Classic Lane, N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87111-7512; telephone: [phone]; FAX: [phone].

CONTACT: Woolf Media Relations Inc.

Tom Woolf, 415/508-1554