Cell Relay Archive

[pej@fc.hp.com (Phil Jensen)]

Nicholas Murray (n.murray@oscom.com.au) wrote:

: I recall seeing an article recently about a third party ATM adaptor for HP 
: 9000 Series machines. I am unable to find the article now and need to find out 
: the name and contact details of the manufacturer/supplier. Can anyone help?

: Any assistance would be much appreciated.

: Thanks

: Nicholas Murray

:       _--_|\     Nicholas Murray (n.murray@oscom.com.au)
:      /      \    OSCOM International Pty Ltd, Level 6, 390 St Kilda Road
:      \_.--._/    Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
:            v     Tel: +61 3 820 0022 Fax: +61 3 820 0133

Heres the press release about our ATM card:

     HP ANNOUNCES HIGH-SPEED ATM INTERFACE FOR WORKSTATIONS

      155 Mbps Interface First in a Family of Products that
  Provide ATM Network Connectivity For High-performance Systems

     PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 6, 1994  -- Hewlett-Packard Company
today announced the first in a line of network interface products
for connecting HP 9000 computers to high-speed Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) networks.  The high-performance and seamless
integration that ATM connectivity provides enables HP 9000
computers to support data-intensive applications and powerful
multimedia applications on the information superhighway.

     ATM is a switched networking technology that provides full,
guaranteed bandwidth to every user.  It supports
network-intensive applications, such as desktop
videoconferencing, imaging, collaborative computing, clustering
and video-on-demand.  In addition, ATM supports fixed-length,
53-byte cells.  Its small cell size makes ATM excellent for
transmitting video traffic simultaneously with voice and data.

     "Customers are looking to powerful computers connected to
powerful networks to support multimedia and data-intensive
applications,"  said Bernard Guidon, general manager of HP's
Workstation Systems Group.  "The combination of high-performance
HP 9000 workstations and high-speed ATM networking will provide
users with a huge leap forward in communications capabilities.
They will be able to seamlessly integrate an information utility
locally for workgroups and reach across oceans and enterprises."
High-performance Network Connectivity for the HP 9000 Workstation

     HP's ATM adapter for the HP 9000 Series 700 workstation
supports the 155-Mbps (OC3) standard over multimode fiber
networks and soon is expected to support UTP Category 5 copper
wire.

     HP's ATM adapter is an EISA adapter with software drivers
designed to optimize efficient use of the system and network
connection to maximize network speed and minimize system
overhead.  High performance and low overhead are required to meet
the demands of multimedia and data-intensive applications.

The First in a Family of ATM Adapters

     HP's ATM adapter for the Series 700 workstation is the first
in a line of ATM network interfaces for HP's world-class family
of HP 9000 servers and workstations.  ATM connectivity for the HP
9000 business server family is expected to follow shortly,
enabling HP's scaleable server line, combined with powerful ATM
networking, to further empower users to distribute applications.
ATM server connectivity supports users in off-loading expensive
mainframe applications and deploying flexible client/server
computing across an enterprise, as well as supporting the new
breed of emerging multimedia server applications.

     HP is committed to the management of enterprise networks and
will provide the necessary network management and control
elements -- as well as solutions in the critical areas of
performance monitoring and tuning -- for ATM networks under the
industry-leading HP OpenView platform.

Plans for a Family of ATM Products

     HP also is working on new switching technology that will be
the basis for its line of switching products, including frame
switching for Ethernet and 100VG switching hubs, and cell
switching for ATM campus and workgroup switches.  Frame switching
products that use this technology are scheduled to begin shipping
in mid-1995.  Following that, HP plans to develop its own ATM
campus/workgroup switches featuring the same plug-and-play ease
of use found in the industry-leading HP AdvanceStack product
line.

     HP also is committed to providing seamless integration of
its low-cost 100VG technology with ATM networks.  Because HP's
current VG hubs come with expansion slots that are ready to
accept ATM modules, they will be able to connect to HP's and
other vendor's  ATM campus switches in the future.

     In addition, HP recognizes the need to connect early ATM
campus networks to traditional internet WANs and plans to
demonstrate an ATM router module for the recently released
600-Series router in the near future.

     As users look at evolving their existing corporate network
to new high-speed architectures such as ATM, they often want help
in designing and implementing architectures efficiently.  HP's
Professional Services Organization provides consulting for all
phases of network planning and design, and a wide array of
training courses focused on new network architectures.

Network Interface Prices and Availability

     HP's ATM adapter for HP 9000 Series 700 workstations is
expected to ship in November.  Adapters for the HP 9000 business
servers are planned for the first quarter of 1995.

     The HP 9000 Series 700 ATM adapter is $1,995.  The full UNI
3.0 software and the UTP Category 5 support for the adapter is
expected to be available in early 1995.

     In addition to system network interfaces, HP is developing
ATM semiconductor components and ATM test equipment, and
participating in Gigabit testbeds worldwide to further expand its
capabilities in high-speed communications.  Because of the
importance of open-systems standards to supporting company goals
in building flexible IT infrastructures, HP will continue to
support ATM standards where they have been defined.  In addition,
HP is a key member of the ATM forum, taking an active role in
accelerating standards development.

     HP is the second-largest computer company in the United
States, with computer business revenues of $15.9 billion in its
1993 fiscal year.  HP also is the world's leading supplier of
UNIX system-based computers and the world's leading supplier of
RISC systems, based on revenue(1).

     Hewlett-Packard Company is an international manufacturer of
measurement and computation products and systems recognized for
excellence in quality and support.  The company's products and
services are used in industry, business, engineering, science,
medicine and education in approximately 110 countries.  HP has
97,900 employees and had revenue of $20.3 billion in its 1993
fiscal year.

                             #  #  #

NOTE TO EDITORS:  Sales information may be obtained by calling
1-800-637-7740.  Please do not use editor-contact or corporate
telephone numbers for sales information.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other
countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open(tm) Company
Limited.

X/Open is a trademark of X/Open Company Limited in the UK and
other countries.

(1)  No. 1 ranking in UNIX system-based-computer revenue is
according to Dataquest (Feb. 1994); No. 1 ranking in RISC systems
revenue is according to Andrew Allison's "Inside the New Computer
Industry" newsletter (January 1994).

RISC stands for reduced-instruction-set computing.

--
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Phil Jensen
HP Graphics Hardware Lab
Fort Collins Co
pej@hpfcpej.fc.hp.com
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