At the same time, Lucent and Novell announced the signing of a software license agreement that will bundle and integrate Novell Directory Services (NDS) with management software for Lucent`s high-capacity Cajun P550 Switch, a Layer 2 switching, Layer 3 routing Ethernet platform. This capability will be delivered by Lucent in the first half of 1999 as an enhanced policy management application.
As active members of the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF), Lucent and Novell will collaborate to develop solutions based on the Common Information Model (CIM) and the Directory-Enabled Networks (DEN) specifications in order to expedite the acceptance and implementation of these open standards throughout the industry.
"Directory-enabled networking brings applications and devices together in a way that simplifies network management, and allows customers to set priorities for their network applications based on business needs," said Karyn Mashima, vice president of enterprise networks at Lucent.
"Novell Directory Services, with its open platform support of Windows NT, UNIX and NetWare environments, is a good foundation for this. Using Novell and Lucent`s combined technology and expertise, users can reduce costs and improve network performance through the implementation of standards-based, policy network management capabilities."
Lucent and Novell are both committed to supporting industry standards that give customers the ability to build and manage heterogeneous networks. As a result of the agreement, the two companies will collaborate on new standards proposals, specifically regarding DEN interoperability.
The DEN specification is a standard approach to defining schema for integrating network equipment, such as switches and routers, with a directory service. The two companies are further demonstrating their commitment to industry standards by agreeing to use the industry standard lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) for interfacing Novell Directory Services with Lucent`s products.
"Lucent is demonstrating its characteristic leadership in the networking industry by recognising the value of the directory and acting to incorporate the leading directory service, NDS, into its enterprise product line," said Novell SA managing director Richard Beytagh.
"Businesses everywhere are deploying directory-enabled networks to improve network manageability and performance while lowering network costs. Together, Novell and Lucent will deliver these benefits through the integration of the directory and the physical network infrastructure before any other vendors."
Using the intelligence of NDS, administrators can set policies to guarantee consistent performance of the network for the applications, users or data that are most critical to the success of their company`s business. For example, to ensure that network resources are used for the most productive activity possible, priority bandwidth can be allocated to individual users, organisations, such as a company`s call center, or to a mission-critical application, such as a financial transaction program.
Network administrators will be able to offer their internal customers guaranteed access to critical network resources through allocations based on corporate policy; and end users will see improved, high-quality network performance with consistent, prioritised access to key applications.
Lucent`s support for these policies will be provided initially by the company`s Cajun P550 Gigabit Routing Switch. A member of Lucent`s Cajun Campus family of end-to-end local area network switching solutions, the fault-tolerant P550 is a 10/100/1000 megabits per second Ethernet backbone switch that supports the requirements of the next wave of networking: more bandwidth, elimination of bottlenecks, better manageability and dependable multimedia support.
This policy-based functionality is also scheduled to be available for the other members of Lucent`s Cajun Campus product line, plus additional offerings in the company`s data networking enterprise portfolio, over the next 12-18 months.
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