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Novell Announces Support for IP Multicast Standard Novell Joins IP Multicast Initiative and Offers Multicast-Enabled TCP/IP Networld + Interop, Las Vegas -- May 6, 1997 -- As part of its commitment to open Internet standards, Novell, Inc. today announced support for the IP Multicast standard in Novell's NetWare™ 3.1, 4.x and IntranetWare™ networking platform. IP Multicast technology helps preserve network bandwidth by providing an efficient one-to-many solution for Internet applications, video and audio conferencing, and "push" technologies. With this update to its TCP/IP stack, which is now available via download over the Internet, software developers can be confident that multicast applications written for Novell networks interoperate with other IP Multicast-enabled software. Also today, Novell announced its executive membership in the industry consortium IP Multicast Initiative (IPMI). Novell is working actively with more than 50 companies supporting the IPMI to ensure compatibility and interoperability for IP Multicast. Some of the members include Bay Networks, Cabletron, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, and 3COM. "Support for IPMI underscores Novell's commitment to providing the most advanced networking technology available," said Anthony Antonuccio, vice president of product planning and management. "With IntranetWare's support of IPMI, Novell is in position to provide customers with intranet and Internet solutions that are easier to manage, cost effective, and that require less bandwidth." IP Multicast applications send one copy of the information to a group address, which is delivered only to the workstations that have requested delivery. Without multicasting, the same information is either carried over the network multiple times, one time for each recipient, or broadcast to all users on the network -- consuming unnecessary bandwidth and processing power of computers on the network. "IP Multicast will prevent networks from bogging down under the load of providing simultaneous delivery of information like multimedia data streams," said Scott Hale, president of Pacific Networking Systems in Portland, Oregon. "Novell's support for IP Multicast will help me as a reseller offer standards based solutions on top of Novell's already solid platform. I can help my customers use some of the new applications and new information services without sacrificing their bandwidth." Benefits of IP Multicast Currently, many of the widely used Internet applications, such as E-mail and Web browsers, operate between one sender and a single receiver. Many emerging applications are based on a single sender transmitting to a group of receivers simultaneously. These applications will help increase a company's ability to collaborate and communicate more effectively, leveraging more value from network investments. Examples of these applications are the transmission of corporate messages to employees, video and audio conferencing for remote meetings and telecommuting, replicating databases and web site information, live transmission of multimedia training, collaborative computing, transmission over networks of live TV or radio news and entertainment programs and "push" technologies like PointCast. IP Multicast has several advantages over existing unicast and broadcast transmissions. Unicast transmissions require a computer to send a copy of data multiple times, which increases network traffic. In a broadcast transmission, all devices on the network must determine if the message is addressed to them. With IP Multicast, computers register as part of a multicast group, which then receives only those packets destined for that group of registered computers. This technology saves network and server resources by limiting packets on the wire and by eliminating the need for all workstations and servers to interpret addresses. Because of these benefits, IP Multicast is a cost-effective alternative for increasing LAN/ WAN traffic capacity for one-to-many applications. Novell's support of IP Multicast will enable organizations to take advantage of multicast applications and minimize their impact on network performance. Pricing and availability IP Multicast is available today for download as part of Novell's TCP/IP stack at no cost and can be accessed on the World Wide Web by performing a search for TCPN03.EXE at http://support.novell.com. TCPN03.EXE is an NLM that works with NetWare 3.1, 4.x and IntranetWare. Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet/intranet and small-business markets, as well as the network computing industry's most comprehensive education and technical support programs. Information about Novell and its complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com. Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc., IntranetWare is a trademark of Novell, Inc. All other company or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Press Contact:
Chris Rader |
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