Speed's the thing for prepress and other publishing professionals who routinely move large files across a network. RUN (800-478-6929 or 201-529-4600), whose RunShare file-transfer software and hardware already beats the Finder at multimegabyte file transfers through efficient bandwidth use, is providing even more speed increases, in version 2.0 of this software. Expected by the time you read this, the new software will also be supported in upgrades to existing hardware products and future PCI-based cards.
RunShare 2.0 (2 users, $399; 5 users, $749; 25 users, $2,499) adds printing acceleration and Fast Ethernet optimization to the file-transfer acceleration provided in version 1.0, and it improves acceleration for some file-oriented tasks as well. According to RUN, the new software speeds printing to AppleShare-based print servers by 200 to 400 percent. RUN also claims a 300-percent speed improvement over the Finder, on average, for Open and Save operations from within QuarkXPress (in addition to, as in version 1.0, from within Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Macromind FreeHand). The company says speed improvements in file transfers are similar to those with RunShare 1.0 on Ethernet networks -- 300 to 400 percent faster than without RunShare -- and even better on Fast Ethernet networks -- about 500 percent faster than without RunShare.
To support the software upgrade, Run is upgrading the RunShare EAB (Ethernet Accelerator Board) and the RunShare GSA (Graphics Server Accelerator) NuBus Ethernet cards, each of which has a processor that relieves the Mac of certain file-transfer tasks. Each card includes a network driver tuned to work with RunShare 2.0, and the software itself is embedded in the GSA hardware. The GSA ($1,499; $1,999 with 5-user license) speeds Mac servers, whereas the $1,099 EAB is designed for Macintosh workstations.
RUN's first PCI-based card, due in early 1996, will be a 10/100 Fast Ethernet card. The new package will include a five-pack of RunShare software and a network driver tuned to work with RunShare. Unlike the GSA and EAB, the card itself will not contain acceleration hardware.
