ACC's New Tahoe Bridge/Router Makes No LAN an Island

Extensive Standards Compatibility and Enhanced Protocol Filtering Makes
Tahoe Ideal for Segmenting Local Area Networks in Internetworking
Environments

February 25, 1994 -- CUPERTINO, Calif.--Advanced Computer Communications
(ACC) today unveiled Tahoe, the latest addition to its line of network
bridge and router products. Tahoe is a two-port stand-alone bridge/router
designed to segment heavily loaded Ethernet networks to improve overall
network performance. What distinguishes Tahoe from other LAN bridge
products is its very high performance and sophisticated Semantic
Filtering. When used in conjunction with a LAN-to-WAN bridge/router, such
as ACC's Nile, Tahoe's packet filtering capability helps optimize data
throughput between a specific LAN and the rest of the enterprise.

Tahoe is a self-learning bridge and multiprotocol router that can be
installed in minutes. Once the bridge/router is powered up and the two
Ethernet segments are attached, Tahoe automatically learns the addresses
on each network segment by examining the header of each passing packet.
Tahoe then stores the information and forwards only those packets destined
for an address that is not on the local segment. Routing is activated
using simple commands issued from a terminal connected to Tahoe's console
port.

Tahoe is available in two configurations: bridging/IP routing and
bridging/multiprotocol routing. It can handle routing for all of the most
common internetworking protocols, including TCP/IP, IPX, AppleTalk,
DECnet, and XNS. It can transparently bridge (RFC 802.1d) a wide range of
protocols that can't be routed, such as DEC LAT, NetBIOS, Netbeui, and
VINES. Tahoe can be easily configured to support both routing and bridging
simultaneously. A MIB I/MIB II-compatible SNMP Client is included in every
Tahoe so it can be managed either locally or remotely.

Semantic Filtering

Tahoe's Semantic Filters selectively reduce local network traffic by
discarding packets that use protocols that are not required on the local
network segment. Tahoe's Semantic Filters can eliminate both bridged and
routed traffic packets from specific hosts, including broadcast and
multicast packets. Unlike other bridges that filter packets using only
source or destination MAC addresses, Tahoe filters packets using all the
protocol information in OSI Layer 3, drawing information from inside the
packet's datagram. This means Tahoe can filter Ethernet packets using a
wide range of criteria, including the network address (source or
destination), protocol ID, and port number.

"ACC is a wide-area networking company, so we look at local area networking
with an enterprise-wide perspective," said Gary Krall, Vice President of
Marketing for ACC. "That's why we've built in so much flexibility and
protocol filtering power into Tahoe. As IP packets and related
internetworking protocol traffic continues to proliferate on enterprise
networks, administrators have to find new ways to build firewalls for
those protocols on the local level. This makes Tahoe the next logical next
step in our commitment to providing our customers with a full range of
powerful, flexible, wide area networking equipment."

Field-Changeable Flexibility

Tahoe's LAN interface modules can be installed on-site. Ethernet modules
are available to support 10BaseT, thin Ethernet, or thick Ethernet, and
Tahoe can be used to interconnect two different Ethernet media types.
Tahoe is also equipped with Flash EPROM so code can be downloaded to Tahoe
from a central server, making field modifications extremely easy. Tahoe
also comes with 2 Mbytes of DRAM for code execution, and the memory
capacity can be expanded to 10 Mbytes of DRAM and 8 Mbytes of Flash using
ACC's standard memory modules. To deliver faster performance, Tahoe has an
on-board Motorola 68040, 33-MHz computing engine that can filter and
forward 64-byte IP packets at 14,880 pps.

Tahoe will begin production shipments in March 1994. Prices will range from
$3,450 to $3,9500 depending on configuration.

About ACC

ACC offers a variety of internetworking products designed for a wide range
of price/performance requirements. Products include Ring Access for
organizations that want to migrate their SNA traffic onto their Token Ring
backbone; the Tahoe combination multiprotocol local bridge and router; the
ACCes/4500 Enterprise Hub, a fault-tolerant, high-performance
bridge/router hub; the ACS4200, a high-performance multiprotocol
bridge/router; and the Nile, a remote, multiprotocol Ethernet and Token
Ring bridge/router.

Advanced Computer Communications develops and markets products that offer
corporate and institutional network managers the ability to interconnect
and manage local- and wide-area data networks and gain mainframe
connectivity. ACC is committed to supporting popular industry standard
protocols and providing products that are designed to adapt to changing
customer requirements at the lowest incremental cost. ACC's bridge/routers
and SNA protocol converters are sold through 90 leading international VARs
and OEMs serving corporate customers, educational institutions,
governments, and PTTs in 24 countries around the world.

Advanced Computer Communications is headquartered at 10261 Bubb Road,
Cupertino, CA 95014; telephone: (408) 864-0600; FAX: (408) 446-5234.

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