Beame & Whiteside Software Ships New BOOT PROM Chips

Business Wire, Feb 14, 1995

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 1995--At Networks Expo '95 this week, Beame & Whiteside Software of Raleigh, North Carolina, announced that this week the company begins shipping BW-BOOTP, a new line of TCP/IP BOOT PROMs.

Introduced at Comdex last November, the new BW-BOOTP chips are compatible with virtually all of the most common Ethernet and Token-Ring adapters on the market. By providing basic TCP/IP connectivity to the adapter, BW-BOOTP makes it possible for network managers to create a secure network configuration for diskless workstations and networked PCs. These new BOOT PROMs come with their own server software or will operate with any BOOTP system. BW-BOOTP is also optimal for use with the new Windows-based BOOTP server support added to Beame & Whiteside's BW-Connect NFS v3.2 for DOS & Windows, which began shipping in December.

BW-BOOTP is a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM) chip that includes its own subset of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) embedded as firmware. By installing BW-BOOTP on a network adapter, workstations can be initialized across the network rather than from a local floppy drive or hard disk. The advantage to network administrators is that it centralizes network administration, allowing managers to create and maintain a single set of configuration parameters at a centrally located server. It also enhances network security. By initializing access using diskless workstations equipped with BOOT PROMs, end users can't inadvertently introduce computer viruses from disk drives at their workstations or load unauthorized software on the network. They also cannot copy sensitive data or applications off the network.

Beame & Whiteside's BW-BOOTP supports more than 90 percent of the network adapters on the market, including NE2000 and NE1000 adapters, 3Com, Intel, Racal Interlan, and others. BW-BOOTP will also interoperate with networking software from a variety of vendors, including FTP, Novell, Sun, and Beame & Whiteside. BW-BOOTP comes with its own BOOTP server software that operates over Winsock or NetWare.

Like all BOOT PROMs, BW-BOOTP initializes network workstations across the network by coordinating the exchange of configuration information. When it is powered up, the network adapter in the diskless workstation sends a BOOTP request to the boot server using its unique MAC address to identify itself. The server, in turn, verifies the MAC and returns a valid IP address. At that point, the BOOTP server uses the TFTP protocol to download an operating system boot image to activate the workstation.

BW-BOOTP comes with a BOOT PROM chip that can be installed in the network adapter, BW-BOOTP server software, and configuration software that allows the network administrator to create multiple boot images at the server. BPSHELL is a DOS-based application that lets you create, restore, and maintain RAM disk images and BOOTP configuration files and create network passwords. BPUTIL is a utilities program that lets you view and patch BOOTP information such as network name, network address, serial numbers, and other configuration data. BPMENU lets the user choose a RAM disk image to be downloaded, create a logon screen for the network client, set default configurations, and perform other functions to create the interface. BPROML downloads and executes new or third-party ROM code from the network server.

BW-BOOTP will also interoperate with the BOOTP server added to version 3.2 of BW-Connect NFS for DOS & Windows. The BOOTP software in BW-Connect NFS works in conjunction with BW-Connect's TFTP server to configure diskless workstations across the network. The new BOOTP capability in the BW-Connect software allows the network manager to designate a secure Windows workstation as a central BOOTP server capable of configuring hundreds of diskless workstations.

BW-BOOTP begins shipping this week for $79 per workstation, with substantial quantity discounts available. BW-Connect for DOS & Windows v3.2, which includes BOOTP server support is $349 ($245 for the BW-Connect TCP).

Beame & Whiteside Software is located at 706 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27603-1655; telephone: (919) 831-8989; FAX: (919) 831-8990, or via Internet at sales@bws.com.

CONTACT: Woolf Media Relations

Tom Woolf, 415/508-1554