IBM Corp. is fighting to keep its 3746 front-end processor as the IP-SNA gateway of choice for mainframe users.
Sources say IBM's Networking Hard-ware Division later this month will an-nounce a software and network interface card upgrade for the 3746 that can support more IP and SNA Token Ring users. IBM declined to comment on the announcement.
Ethernet has always been somewhat the bane of IBM Corp.'s existence, but Big Blue is finally coming around.
The company this week rolled out two low-cost Ethernet switches de-signed to help high-end users link workgroups to high-speed Gigabit Ethernet or ATM backbones.
IBM claims the devices will be as much as 50 percent less expensive than similar products offered by established Ethernet vendors such as Cisco, Nortel Networks and Extreme Networks.
Making the move from token ring to Ethernet? If so, go as far as you can, as fast as you can.
Bidding to regain market share lost to other server vendors, IBM Corp. this week outlined plans to bring mainframe-like throughput and high-end clustering capabilities to its Netfinity server line.