Item    7595499                 93/05/18        11:51 
From:  CONRAD_GEIGER@NEXT.COM@INET#    Internet Gateway 
Subject: NetWatch - The First SNMP Network monitor for NEXTSTEP

News:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

        Errol Ginsberg
        Telephone: 310/456-6094

        Fax: 310/456-9715

        E-mail:info@ridgeback.com

                or zulu!info@uu4.psi.com



NetWatch - The First SNMP Network monitor for NEXTSTEP

San Francisco, CA - May 18, 1993.  Ridgeback Solutions is now shipping
NetWatch(TM), the first SNMP management solution for NEXTSTEP. NetWatch
enables a network administrator running NEXTSTEP to easily monitor any SNMP
MIB-I or MIB-II device, such as bridges, routers, hubs and workstations
running SNMP.

Good network management is essential to keeping LANs operating smoothly and
minimizing the time required for a network manager to find and fix problems.

NetWatch features

NetWatch runs on NEXTSTEP and provides support for setting up unlimited
topology maps with background graphics that may be linked in a hierarchical
and/or logical fashion. Alarms, each with its own poll time, user-defined
severity level and color may be set for any MIB-II variable thereby allowing
automatic monitoring of key network devices. NetWatch can send email, dial a
pager, flash the node alarming and run a user program as a result of an alarm
occurring. Alarms common to several devices may be set up simultaneously,
thereby easing configuration. All alarms are written to an alarm log and may
be viewed by the user in a format similar to the NeXT Mail application.

Judicious use of graphics in the alarm set up application greatly eases alarm
management. A global alarm view shows the alarm configuration and current
state for all alarms for all devices in one easy-to-read screen.

For each alarm occurrence, alarm details are written to a log with the IP
Address, Hostname, Time and Date. The user may use the Alarm Log to review,
acknowledge and delete alarms.

Thresholds may be set by the network manager to monitor these critical
parameters automatically and be alerted when there is a problem. By choosing
the threshold values carefully, the network manager can be alerted to
potential problems and fix them before the end-user is even aware that there
was a problem with the network.

Once a device is selected in a topology map, it may be queried  using the
Query Application to build queries of one or more of each group of variables
that makes up MIB-II. Each query may have it's own poll time allowing the user
to selectively request some groups of variables more frequently than others.
Each MIB query occurs in it's own window so that the user may selectively hide
some queries while viewing others.

The SNMP agent, AGeNT(TM) for NEXTSTEP and Sun OS 4.1

Ridgeback also provides SNMP agents, AGeNT, for NEXTSTEP and Sun OS 4.1. When
AGeNT is installed on workstations, the user may use NetWatch to easily
monitor and generate alarms based on Swap File Size, Free Disk Space, CPU
utilization, a Login or Logout on a user-specified workstation and a user-
specified process dying. The SNMP agent is a complete implementation of the
MIB-II specifications with extensive private extensions and makes  use of 
standards such as the Internet Protocol(IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP) and
the Simple Network Management Protocol(SNMP).

Partial Customer list for AGeNT and NetWatch

  Phibro Energy
  Department of Defense
  US Navy
  US West
  Fannie Mae
  Government of Alberta
  Several Universities

HP Openview(TM), IBM Netview 6000(TM), and SunNet(TM) Manager

AGeNT's private extensions have been successfully compiled and tested with
Hewlett Packard's Openview 3.0 Network Manager, IBM Netview 6000 and Sun's
SunNet Manager. Network Management applications such as Openview or SunNet
Manager and the Ridgeback Solutions SNMP agent allow network managers to
easily integrate computers running NEXTSTEP into their overall network
management framework.

Pricing and Availability

NetWatch is priced at $1995 and includes 10 SNMP agents for computers running
NEXTSTEP. Additional SNMP agents may be purchased separately. A discount
schedule is available for the purchase of 10 or more copies of AGeNT. NetWatch
and AGeNT for NEXTSTEP 68040 are available immediately. NetWatch and AGeNT for
NEXTSTEP/Intel will be available in June 1993.

Company Background

Ridgeback Solutions, founded in 1991 and based in Malibu, CA, specializes in
the development of network management and communications applications for UNIX
workstations. The company was founded by Errol Ginsberg, who was previously
vice president of engineering for Fibermux, a $60 Million manufacturer of LAN
concentrators and multiplexors. Ridgeback Solutions is privately held and
funded.

NetWatch and AGeNT are trademarks of Ridgeback Solutions. NeXT is a trademark
of NeXT Computer, Inc. All other brand names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.

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