LAN2LAN/MPR 3.21 bundles remote routing

*LAN2LAN/MPR 3.21 bundles remote routing. (Newport Systems Solutions Inc's software router) (PC Week Netweek) (Brief Article)
PC Week August 29, 1994 v11 n34 pN18(1)
PC Week August 29, 1994 v11 n34 pN18(1)

LAN2LAN/MPR 3.21 bundles remote routing. (Newport Systems
Solutions Inc's software router) (PC Week Netweek) (Brief
Article)

by Blakeley, Michael

Full Text
Newport Systems Solutions Inc.'s remote-office version of its
LAN2LAN/MPR software router began shipping last month. Version 3.21
of the $1,990 software, which can run as a DOS application or as a
NetWare 3.x Network Loadable Module, supports up to two WAN
connections and four LAN interfaces.

Newport also sells an enterprise router version, which supports up to
six WAN cards in one PC. Both versions run in any PC, on top of either
DOS or NetWare, letting branch offices migrate from a
file-server-cum-router approach to a dedicated-device approach.

Newport's router offers WAN compression without taking up CPU cycles.
Each WAN card has a 286 chip to manage compression and link protocols.
The latest version of Newport's WAN card includes Stac Electronics'
compression software.

The router's documentation touts the ability to compress WAN traffic by
4-to-1 or more. Caveat emptor: PC Week Labs found that typical LAN
traffic could be compressed by about 2-to-1, using standard techniques.
Don't count on fourfold savings until you've done your own tests.

With or without compression, Newport's router software squeezes every
drop out of the PC. During tests with Alantec Inc.'s PowerBits packet
generator and scripts developed by Scott Bradner of Harvard University,
LAN2LAN/MPR proved its ability to route full 56K-bps-to-Ethernet
bandwidth. We tested the router software in Advanced Logic Research
Inc. and AST Research Inc. 66MHz 486DX2 PCs with 4M bytes of RAM and
3Com Corp.'s EtherLink III NICs.

LAN2LAN/MPR supports PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), HDLC (High-Level
Data Link Control), frame relay, and X.25 lines, and can route IP and IPX.
The DOS version also provides MAC-layer bridging, while the NLM version
supports AppleTalk.

The router will run on a 386SX or better with 4M bytes of RAM. We first
installed the software, then the WAN card. An Ethernet NIC is also
needed -- Newport supports 3Com's 3C509 or 3C579 EtherLink III,
Standard Microsystems Corp.'s EtherCard Plus Elite 16, and Eagle
Technology NE2000 compatibles.

After installing the software, we configured the router via a
menu-based console system. Newport also provides IPX-based
remote-administration utilities and supports SNMP Management
Information Base-II for IP-based management.

Newport Systems Solutions, of Newport, Calif., is at (714) 752-1511.

Type: Software Review
Evaluation

Company: Newport Systems Solutions, Inc.

Product: LAN2LAN/Multiprotocol Router 3.21 (Network software)

Topic: Evaluation
Network software
Routing

Record# 16 226 322