Rochester, N.H. - Cabletron Systems, Inc.'s recent decision to add network modeling and analysis technology to its Spectrum management platform is intended to buttress the product's ability to monitor distributed applications.
Cabletron announced it will partner with Optimal Network Corp., of Palo Alto, Calif., to add Optimal's Application Expert technology to Spectrum. The deal is underwritten by a $2 million minority stake in Optimal by Cabletron.
Application Expert will enable Spectrum users to troubleshoot and analyze the network impact of distributed applications. Applications such as SAP R/3, Lotus Development Corp.'s cc:Mail, PeopleSoft and those written in Java, are completely dependent on the network's reliability and security, Cabletron said.
The Optimal technology will help users design network infrastructures optimized for delivering the quality of service these types of applications require, Cabletron said.
"We see a natural fit for us," said Spectrum user Bryan Ruhf, consolidated network operations center manager for the state of Michigan. "With the complexity and size and continued downsizing of state government, these tools will be essential for our success."
Under the arrangement, Optimal will integrate its Optimal Networks Tool Kit with Spectrum to provide network administrators with multidimensional views of network traffic, as well as logical network interconnectivity and topological views. The tool kit allows administrators to perform "what if" scenarios on network designs and reconfigurations to determine the impact on application performance.
The Optimal applications also will leverage information in Spectrum's Distrbuted Data Manager repository of accumulated network data to categorize network behavior according to protocol, application type or topology.
Cabletron has partnerships with some of Optimal's competitors in the network design and simulation market, including Make Systems, Inc. and CACI Products Co., said Jeff Ghannam, senior development manager for Spectrum applications at Cabletron. But Cabletron chose to invest in Optimal because the others required labor-intensive manual setup, Ghannam said.
Cabletron will offer Optimal's applications through its professional services organizations to help design networks tailored for distributed applications.
Cabletron: (603) 332-9400
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