WAN Management System          Wide Area Network Control
OS/2 Controls Your WAN
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
If LANs are complex, WANs (Wide Area Networks) are even more so.
And setting up and controlling them has always been a heavy-duty
exercise in frustration. XcelleNet says they've conquered the
WAN beast with OS/2 and the XcelleNet WAN Management System
(XWMS). The company says it's a comprehensive set of advanced
network management and diagnostic tools designed to manage a
nationwide WAN consisting of hundreds or even thousands of PCs
connected together through the public dial-up telephone network.
 
In beta test for over a year, ExcelleNet says XWMS is already
being used by several fast-food franchises and convenience store
chains, a national retail drugstore chain, a leading travel
service company, a major grocery store chain, and several major
industrial corporations. The company says the package is ideal
for any type of business with widespread operations needing
intermittent communications with remote sites. XWNS is
specifically designed for WANs with 50 or more locations.
 
XWNS consists of three main software modules: Network Manager,
X/Node, and X/Cluster. The heart of the system is Network
Manager, which runs under OS/2 PM on a 80386-based PC. Network
Manager is a complete configuration and management system that
provides network security, automatic session scheduling and
management, error-detection and correction, data compression,
electronic software distribution, an online network activity
database, and a full complement of diagnostic tools. Network
Manager lets you use a simple graphics interface to set up
communications tasks and define network parameters.
 
After you define remote PCs and schedule work stations, the
X/Node server module initiates the communications session at the
time you've picked, and steps through the events. It's a 90K
bytes module that runs on both the master server and on remote
systems running OS/2, DOS, Xenix, or VMS.
 
And if you need more network power, load leveling, and system
redundancy, you can link multiple Network Managers together
using the X/Cluster module. If one of the Network Managers
fails, X/Cluster shifts that Server's responsibilities to the
other Network Managers on the LAN.
 
Finally, working with the main XWMS modules, there's the X/Shell
Editor, which lets you network administrators create graphical
screens and then send them to remote PCs on the network. X/Shell
features include electronic distribution, multiple shells and
users for each location, a library of pre-defined icons and art,
support for in-house and third-party applications, and password
security.
 
Price: Network Manager with X/Cluster, $11,995 to $16,995
depending upon configuration; X/Node, $219 per workstation;
X/Shell Editor, $1295 plus $49 per workstation.
 
Contact: XcelleNet, Inc., 1800 Century Blvd., Suite 700, Atlanta,
GA 30345, (404) 982-9900, FAX (404) 320-7465.
 
                              --- Stan Miastkowski
 
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