Dallas, Texas, October 15, 1991- NetFRAME Systems, Inc. today introduced
NetFRAME MultiSpan. MultiSpan is the industry's first LAN software that
supports multiple redundant connections between a network server and
standard Ethernet and token-ring LANs. Customers can now take advantage of
redundant LAN connections to eliminate single points of failure in their
network. MultiSpan also allows network traffic to be dynamically
distributed across up to eight LANs concurrently, thereby achieving up to
eight times the performance of conventional server designs. NetFRAME
MultiSpan is the first and only software of its kind available for
standard PC LAN customers and can result in more efficient enterprise
class LANs with reduced server downtime and higher data transfer
capacity.

"Our customers are looking to tap the full power and reliability of
NetFRAME computers in their large corporate-wide networks," said Enzo
Torresi, president and CEO of NetFRAME Systems, Inc. "MultiSpan is an
important element of our strategy to extend NetFRAME fault tolerance into
the LAN itself. This innovation exemplifies our commitment to offering the
highest levels of fault tolerance and network performance."

Leading network product vendors including, Microsoft Corporation,
Ungermann-Bass, SynOptics and Kalpana are first to endorse NetFRAME's
approach to network fault tolerance with the MultiSpan solution.

"We believe NetFRAME has identified key customer issues regarding
reliability and performance of large corporate networks," said Mike
Murray, general manager of the Network Business Unit of Microsoft
Corporation. "Microsoft has tested NetFRAME MultiSpan in our campus
networking environment and we are excited about the important contribution
it will make to our customer base."

NetFRAME's exclusive MultiSpan software solves three network limitations
that customers are facing today -- the need for increased network uptime,
higher throughput connections and greater numbers of users.

MultiSpan Increases Network Uptime

Network failures can typically occur within the calling, bridge or routing
components of the LAN or the LAN connection circuitry of the server.
NetFRAME's MultiSpan software is designed to facilitate redundant LAN
configurations and connections so that single points of failure can be
minimized or eliminated. Should any one of the LAN connections to the
NetFRAME fail to operate properly, the user traffic is dynamically
rerouted to alternative LAN paths with no loss of data or end-user
functionality. In addition, should the failed LAN connection become
functional again, the NetFRAME will reactivate network traffic and
rebalance the load across all available LAN connections. The result is
higher levels of network uptime and user productivity.

MultiSpan Offers Higher Throughput

Rather than restricting all traffic to a single LAN connection, MultiSpan
allows the NetFRAME to be connected to multiple segments of the same
logical network in order to provide direct, efficient access to the
server. Previous approaches available on PC servers, restrict network
connections to a single LAN per server. By supporting multiple connections
to a single LAN, MultiSpan facilitates dramatically higher levels of
performance since total throughput can now be aggregated across eight
LANs. This improves server response time while still maintaining access to
the rest of the network for redundancy and company-wide connectivity.

Many of today's network applications take advantage of the NetBIOS protocol
for client/server communications, which supports a total of 254
application sessions per LAN. Because NetFRAME MultiSpan supports up to
eight LAN connections, NetBIOS support can now be expanded to an
unprecedented 2040 concurrent sessions. NetFRAME is the first and only LAN
Manager server family offering in excess of 254 sessions on a single
network. The result is that more users can access applications
concurrently and that more powerful application software can now be
written to share common corporate data.

Extends Applications Productivity

Many key network applications today take advantage of the NetBIOS protocol
for client/server communications, which is limited to 255 application
sessions per LAN. Because NetFRAME MultiSpan supports up to eight LAN
connections, NetBIOS support can be expanded to an unprecedented 2040
concurrent sessions. NetFRAME is the first and only LAN Manager server
family available with the ability to exceed 254 sessions on a single
network. The result is that more users can access applications
concurrently and that more powerful applications software can now be
written to share common data.

Innovation Within Standards

NetFRAME MultiSpan is fully compatible with standard Ethernet and
token-ring networks and is designed to support popular network protocols
and PC LAN operating software including Novell NetWare, Microsoft LAN
Manager, and OS/2. MultiSpan network fault tolerance will be tested and
certified with products from leading networking product vendors to assure
interoperability in even the most comprehensive multivendor environments.

Pricing & Availability

NetFRAME MultiSpan will be available for the OS/2 operating system
environment in November 1991. It is being certified for both Microsoft LAN
Manager and IBM LAN Server network operating systems. The software for
NetFRAME entry level models, the NF100ES and NF200, will support up to
three LAN connections at a list price of $3,995 (US). For the NF300 and
NF400 models, which support up to eight LAN connections, MultiSpan for
OS/2 will be priced at $7,995 (US). MultiSpan for NetWare will be
available for customer purchase in the first half of 1992.

NetFRAME Systems Inc
1545 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035
408-944-0600

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