CORBA may become industry's elixir Cabletron's new network management strategy keys on interoperability

Common Object Request Broker Architecture technology will play a key role in a new Web-based strategy from Cabletron Systems for the management of customer networks. By 1998, CORBA will be partly used for pure Java device management in solutions from Rochester, N.H.-based Cabletron.

"We're setting 1998 as the time frame for modifying our platforms to fit a [Telecommunications Management Network]-based world," said Joe Massey, Cabletron's director of platform development.

The strategy's goal is to provide customers with greater flexibility and cost-effectiveness, which is precisely what the use of the World Wide Web, CORBA and Java will allow, Massey said.

By integrating CORBA into the Spectrum management platform, "the number of applications available to our customers will dramatically rise," Massey said. "And by using Java and its write-once, deploy everywhere capabilities, customers can change versions of their software without having to shut down their systems.

CORBA will allow software developers writing applications for Spectrum and other Cabletron management software to write applications in Java, C++ or C. During 1998, CORBA will enhance Spectrum application programming interfaces (APIs), improve the platform's scalability, and open up new opportunities for custom applications, Massey said.

Cabletron will offer these enhancements to other management vendors in the interest of interoperability across multiple platforms. The new APIs will not require CORBA expertise and will allow application integration to be done within the Java, C++ and C language skill sets for enterprise and desktop environments.

Additional development of Spectrum APIs will be aimed at making implementation easier for software developers, much in the way predefined menus are provided for developing graphics-oriented applications for Windows. Cabletron will provide a set of reusable objects for software developers targeted at specific management functions such as distributing software or viewing topology. "Our goal is to give our customers the widest possible choice of applications," said Massey.

Cabletron is targeting the improved platform at the carrier, Internet service provider and enterprise markets. Service providers would offer these network management tools to their customers as a value-added service, said Massey.

"Cabletron is really the first major player to spell out the details for us," said Rick Villars, director of network architecture and management research at International Data Corp.

"Virtually every vendor has committed to CORBA as the foundation of Java object management," said Villars. "It makes sense to support it, but part of committing to the technology as a standard is to move toward it, which is what Cabletron's announcement signifies.

Within the carrier community, however, CORBA faces the same challenge that other technologies have faced: overcoming an installed base of technology that performs the same task, Villars said.

"The problem is that real users have invested time and money in the systems they have in place, and they don't want to throw them out, especially when they're doing their job," he said. "It's very likely that the first round of CORBA-based systems won't be able to match the functionality of the existing systems for a year to 18 months. The vast majority of those in the carrier world want to see CORBA, but they can't afford to see any performance problems. You're likely to see a gradual phase-in rather than a big rush to CORBA."

FRADs GIVE DATA TOP PRIORITY Alcatel Data Networks has added new features to its frame relay access devices (FRADs) that allow users to prioritize data types, enabling carriers to ensure levels of service on a frame relay network. The improved Quickfrad suite of FRADs prioritizes data before it is sent to the network so that proper network resources can be devoted to the most important data.

Marathon develops endurance Boxborough, Mass.-based Marathon Technologies has unveiled a fault-tolerant computing solution for Windows NT-based servers and clusters of servers. The Endurance 4000 product maintains server availability through a function that allows the redundant halves of the system to be located as far as 1.5 km apart, giving systems a better chance of survival in the event of a disaster.