ARTISOFT ANNOUNCES NEW LANTASTIC INTERCHANGE(TM) SOFTWARE 

 

        (TUCSON, AZ -- September 14, 1993) -- Artisoft, Inc. 

announced today that it has developed a new software product 

that provides bridging and routing capabilities for 

LANtastic(R) Local Area Network v5.0 users. The LANtastic 

Interchange software will link LANtastic networks that are 

running over dissimilar hardware, cabling and topologies -- 

including Ethernet, Arcnet and Token Ring. This new software, 

scheduled to begin shipping in fall 1993, will be priced at 

$199 per segment. 

 

        "This new software will offer an extended level of 

connectivity for our LANtastic network users. Not only can 

they segment their existing networks to reduce traffic and 

improve performance, but they can also link two separate 

networks into a single network to share information, 

peripherals and resources," commented Dave Hallmen, Vice 

President of Sales & Marketing for Artisoft. 

 

Bridges Networks

        The LANtastic Interchange software will enable network 

interconnectivity between dissimilar hardware and cable 

types, as well as all supported LANtastic network topologies 

including 2Mbps, Ethernet, Arcnet, Token Ring and the 

LANtastic Z(TM) network. For example, this connectivity can 

provide a growth path for users of Artisoft's original 2Mbps 

LANtastic network by allowing them to expand their existing 

network with Ethernet nodes. To achieve this bridging 

capability, users simply install the LANtastic Interchange 

software, a 2Mbps network adapter and an Ethernet network 

adapter on a designated network PC, which can be either a 

workstation or a server. This will enable the two dissimilar 

topologies to communicate on a single network.

 

        The LANtastic Interchange software also extends the 

LANtastic Z network from a two-user network to a fully 

functional node on the network -- either locally or 

remotely. Once connected, this node will have full access to 

all resources on the network. When used in conjunction with 

the LANtastic Interchange software, the dial-up capabilities 

of the LANtastic Z network will also allow users to achieve 

simple wide area networking between remote sites.

 

Routes Packets

        Using source and destination addresses to 

differentiate between networks, the LANtastic Interchange 

software will route data packets between networks, sending 

each packet to the appropriate network segment along the 

fastest and most efficient path, thus reducing network 

traffic and improving performance. 

 

        A Learning mode will add flexibility to network 

administration by allowing addresses to be grouped into 

different tables that can be edited. Administrators can add 

or remove node addresses from a table, save the table after 

edits, or remove all addresses in order to build a new 

table. Administrators can also assign a password to the 

table to provide a level of security and isolate nodes on 

the network to prevent them from forwarding packets. A 

Statistics feature will allow administrators to monitor 

network traffic by showing the number of packets sent, 

received and discarded.