U.S. Robotics' New Eight And Sixteen Port Remote Access Products Address Midrange Access Needs With Powerful Feature Set

Business Wire, March 22, 1995

SKOKIE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 1995--The Corporate/Systems Division of U.S. Robotics Access Corp., a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics Corporation (NASDAQ: USRX), today announced two new remote LAN access products, the Total Control NETServer/8 and Total Control NETServer/16. Scheduled for shipment in April, 1995, the products integrate U.S. Robotics' powerful NETServer network access engine and V.34/V.Everything modem technology. The products mark a significant move for U.S. Robotics in the remote access arena, bringing the company's strength to a market segment it had not previously focused on.

"We believe that the timing for these products is right," said Todd Landry, U.S. Robotics LAN access product manager. "The remote access market, which is still in its early stages, is continuing to develop and grow."

"Unlike companies who focus solely on remote access, U.S. Robotics brings a breadth of expertise to these new products," added Landry. "Remote access is a market where our history as a wide area connectivity company is a clear strength. The most difficult piece of the remote access puzzle is the WAN connection; it's technology that can be complex and problematic. However, U.S. Robotics has mastered that piece of the puzzle; one of our core competencies is reliable connectivity to a variety of wide area networks."

The new products bring U.S. Robotics' strengths in providing high-end, complex communications solutions and cost-competitive, high-volume products together to create products offering powerful features at a very competitive cost.

NETServer Features, Management, Security and Support Surpass Competitive Offerings

Total Control NETServer/8 and Total Control NETServer/16 provide a rich feature set, with a variety of remote access options, including remote node access, terminal service and LAN-to-LAN routing. The products provide management, security and a variety of service and support options, advanced features not available in most competitive remote LAN access products.

Features

NETServer products provide the capability to handle dial-in IP and IPX sessions. Dial-in support includes PPP, SLIP, CSLIP and Telnet. The products allow IP and IPX clients access from DOS or Windows; in addition, the NETServer line provides compatibility with a variety of third party software, such as NETManage's Chameleon, Stampede's Remote Office Gold and Novell LAN Workplace. NETServer products will also support remote clients using Windows 95 or Windows NT.

Total Control NETServer/8 and Total Control

NETServer/16 also include dial-up LAN-to-LAN routing, for on-demand, transparent routing of IP and IPX packets. Additionally, all NETServer products provide inverse multiplexing capabilities with programmable load balancing, allowing dial-up routing channels to be aggregated as data flow increases.

Management

NETServer products share a common Windows-based management platform, for both local and remote manageability. All NETServer products, including the Total Control NETServer/8 and Total Control NETServer/16, are manageable through the local network, console port and via dial-up into the devices using either the Windows management software or Telnet. All NETServer products also include a Telnet command line interface. In addition, the products provide Flash ROM software upgradability, allowing feature upgrades and configuration changes to be administered from a central location.

Security and Filtering

Many security capabilities are integrated into the products -- most notably, filtering mechanisms that control packet and protocol filtering. The products' filtering capabilities even allow administrators to define what applications users may access when attached to the network. In addition, a standalone package, Total Control Security Server for Windows, stores user names, passwords and filtering profiles, providing a common user authentication server for all NETServer platforms. Through Total Control Security Server, customers also gain the ability to extract call accounting data, a feature not available in most midrange access products. This feature will be available in mid-1995. Total Control Security Server handles user authentication, filtering profiles and call accounting via the widely-used RADIUS protocol.

Support

U.S. Robotics offers a variety of support programs for its high-end products that it is extending to NETServer/8 and NETServer/16, including toll-free access to U.S. Robotics network technicians, advanced replacement programs, installation, training and 7x24 support.

Pricing

NETServer/8 and NETServer/16 include integrated ITU-T V.34 modem technology, for 28.8 Kbps data transmission, as well as U.S. Robotics' exclusive "V.Everything" capabilities. The NETServer/8, which integrates the NETServer feature set with eight V.34 modems, is list priced at $7995; the NETServer/16, with sixteen integrated modems, at $11,995. The products will be available initially in Ethernet versions, with Token Ring versions to follow later this year.