Network General Announces ATM Sniffer Analyzer; Network Management Tool Enables Total Visibility into Production ATM Networks

Business Wire, Sept 18, 1995

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1995--Network General Corporation (NASDAQ:NETG), a leading network fault and performance management solutions provider, today announced the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Sniffer Analyzer, a network management tool that monitors and analyzes 155 MB/s ATM networks.

This is the first product of its kind designed specifically for customers who need the tools to monitor and analyze production ATM networks.

"As ATM evolves into the networking standard for high-speed broadband services, networking management tools are needed to support these complex networks," said Peter Evans, senior research associate in the Meteorology and Physical Oceanography department at the University of Miami. "We appreciate knowing that Network General is one step ahead of any ATM networking problems. With its monitoring and maintenance products, Network General provides customers the safety of knowing that it will provide a fully tested fault and performance management solution for production ATM networks."

"ATM technology is revolutionizing the way companies process internal data and resources to better communicate with customers, streamline their business and ultimately increase their profitability," said Les Denend, president and CEO of Network General. "With the ATM Sniffer Analyzer, we provide visibility into a wide variety of problems in high-speed ATM networks, enabling network managers to find the problem, whether it be in the switch, protocol stack, file server or application. This allows faster pinpointing of causes and rapid problem resolution."

About ATM

ATM is a broadband transmission technology that enables users to transfer data, voice and video over the same network infrastructure, ultimately expanding their networking capabilities and reducing networking cost. ATM also enables users to send large amounts of information, support multi-media applications, transmit images efficiently and inexpensively and connect local area networks (LANs) to wide area networks (WANs) using the same switching architecture.

Network General ATM Sniffer Analyzer Benefits

ATM Sniffer Analyzer supports high-bandwidth applications that require on-time transport, such as voice and video, as well as standard LAN client/server applications. Because ATM transmits huge amounts of data efficiently, certain information-rich industries such as health care, manufacturing, insurance, banking and on-line training organizations garner immediate benefits. Transporting graphical images including X-ray, CAD/CAM/CAE, print and multimedia training applications all add value to the business process, reduce transmission cost and greatly enhance the availability of vital information. Network General ATM products will provide open industry support with leading ATM vendors such as FORE Systems and ZeitNet. Network General also participates in industry standards bodies such as the ATM Monitoring Group (AMON) and the ATM Forum.

Network General ATM Sniffer Analyzer Features

The ATM Sniffer Analyzer connects to OC-3c, STS-3c, DS-3 and E-3 ATM networks, important high speed optical, switched, digital, coaxial, national and international standards. It detects ATM network paths, circuits and addresses automatically in Discovery Mode to simplify the filtering and capturing of data. It provides decodes for more than 200 ATM, internetwork and LAN protocols. The ATM Sniffer Analyzer interprets all seven OSI layers and three ATM sub-layers in full English text.

Pricing and Availability

The ATM Sniffer Analyzer will be available in December 1995, with the same user interface and functionality as all of Network General's Sniffer products. The board, software and interface pod are priced at $27,000. The traffic generator is available for $3,000 and the portable PC platform is $10,000. Distributed Sniffer System support for ATM will be available in 1H 1996.

About Network General

Founded in 1986, Network General Corporation (NASDAQ:NETG) is a worldwide leader in providing fault and performance management solutions for enterprise networks. Drawing upon its extensive experience in complex heterogeneous network environments, the company offers a suite of technologies, products and services designed to provide total network visibility for network equipment vendors, field service organizations and corporate IS managers. The company's Sniffer network analyzer is recognized as the de facto standard within this industry. Network General's products are sold through direct sales and reseller organizations in the U.S. and throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe. Network General supports the Certified Network Expert (CNX) program, an industry-wide certification program recognizing qualified expert network analyzers.

Worldwide headquarters are located at 4200 Bohannon Drive, Menlo Park, California, 94025. URL: http://www.ngc.com; Telephone: (415) 473-2000, or (800) SNIFFER (764-3337). -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: Network General and Sniffer are registered trademarks of Network General. All other registered and unregistered trademarks above are the sole property of their respective owners. All specifications may be changed without notice.