FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 16, 1991 Media Contact: Joe Waldygo, P.R. Manager Voice:602-690-3215 Fax:602-293-8065 ARTISOFT ANNOUNCES NEW PEER-HUB 10BASE-T HUB/CONCENTRATOR Allows Interconnectivity Between Artisoft's 10Base-T and Thin Coax Ethernet Adapters. tm TUCSON, Ariz.--Artisoft today announced its new Peer-Hub 10Base-T hub/concentrator which provides a complete 10Base-T hub connection within a PC, XT, AT or EISA computer (ISA mode only). Scheduled to ship in September 1991 at $399, the Peer-Hub concentrator will work with any 10Base-T network including Artisoft's LANtastic local area network, Novell's NetWare or Microsoft's LAN Manager. According to Artisoft President and CEO Jack Schoof, "Our Peer-Hub product finally brings the promise of 10Base-T's ease-of-installation, management and flexibility to every network at a great price." The Peer-Hub concentrator has five external 10Base-T ports using modular RJ45, 8-wire, telephone-style connectors and measures only 5 x 5 inches, allowing it to fit in any half- card IBM-PC (ISA) slot. Special purpose internal connectors were designed onto the Peer-Hub concentrator which allow it to connect with Artisoft's AE-3(tm) three-in-one (10Base-T, thin and thick coax) Ethernet adapter and the new AE-1/T(tm) 10Base-T Ethernet adapter without using any of its five external ports. One of the Peer-Hub concentrator's most unique and exciting features is its ability to interconnect and support Artisoft's industry-standard 10Base-T and thin coax Ethernet adapters on the same network. This mixed cabling is made possible by utilizing the special internal connectors on the Peer-Hub concentrator and AE-3 Ethernet adapter and linking them together with a ribbon cable which is supplied with the Peer-Hub concentrator. This allows the Peer-Hub concentrator to simultaneously support a star topology through its five external 10Base-T ports and a bus topology using thin coax thorough the AE-3 Ethernet adapter and the network adapters attached to it. This capability creates a multitude of possibilities for combining cabling strategies and topologies. Multiple Peer-Hub concentrators may be linked together by another internal connector to form larger hubs. The maximum number of Peer-Hub concentrators supported on one network is four. They can be located in one computer or distributed in any combination. This allows users or resellers to cost effectively add five 10Base-T ports at a time. The Peer-Hub concentrator is equipped with on-board EEPROM intelligence that can remember its network configuration for up to 10 years. Each port has a 16 character port name, a four-character physical location, and a four-character wiring location as well as an active/inactive switch. A reseller can easily pre-configure the Peer-Hub concentrator, take it to the customer's site and install it quickly and easily. If power is lost and restored, the Peer-Hub concentrator reconfigures the host PC using the information stored in the EEPROM. Managers can easily keep track of their networks by using the names and the physical and wiring locations stored in the Peer-Hub concentrator. Peer-Hub network management software allows the user to view the status of all ports and to activate or disable ports on a port-by-port basis. Alarms and audit trails come standard with the Peer-Hub software. While being viewed, if the status of a port changes, the software uses sound to alert the manager of a problem such as a critical server's link going down. A status change may also be audited to disk for later review. Peer-Hub concentrators can be controlled from non-host PCs using remote control LAN software such as The Network Eye(tm) LAN utility also by Artisoft. Artisoft offers a full product line of low-cost, award- winning software and hardware for local area network communications. For more information about the Artisoft product line, contact Artisoft, Inc., Artisoft Plaza, 575 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85704. Telephone 602-293-6363. Fax 602-293-8065.