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But some vendors, such as Optical Data Systems (ODS), provide value-added features that can make it easier to track down problem-causing workstations or servers. This value-added feature is part of the vendor's network management software, which also runs on major management platforms such as Hewlett-Packard Co.'s OpenView and IBM's SystemView for AIX -- formally NetView/6000.

What ODS' software does is correlate network addresses with MAC Small Elsa Peretti Open Heart pendant so you know exactly which physical station is causing problems.Then there are VLANs for managing logical user groups. The differences among vendors here are great as VLAN technology is still young.

VLANs essentially pick up where port switching leaves off. With VLANs, you can assign users to specific LANs or segments based on the their MAC addresses, IP addresses or some other identifier. So be very careful to query your superhub vendors to ascertain whether their VLAN approach will meet your needs.Superhubs with a futureDon't be surprised if vendors tell you all of their technology will eventually be available in their Elsa Peretti Teardrop pendant.Still, it is probably best to stick with vendors that have demonstrated aggressiveness in shipping products rather than relying on promises and vaporware.

The superhub will continue to be important as it becomes the focus of the integration between shared and switched technologies. Net managers are not considering whether or not new technologies such as ATM, 100Base-T and LAN switching will have a home in their corporate networks because many already have pockets of these technologies today.

The problem has become one of integrating users across Elsa Peretti Round pendant enterprise during the migration of shared to switched solutions. The superhub provides a powerful platform with its wide range of technology support and fault-tolerant features. Will you have ATM in your backbones or workgroups? Will some of your users be screaming for more bandwidth that only switched 100Base-T can cost effectively give them? Will you still have a significant number of users on shared token-ring and 10Base-T LANs?

The answer to these questions is yes. Creating the delicate balance between new and legacy environments is the challenge for the next several years and the superhub provides the integration and migration framework you will need.Ben-Yosef is President of Clear Thinking Research, Inc., a Boston-based market research and consulting firm. He can be reached via the Internet at ggb(at)or by phone at (627) 536-8117.Network WorldShort LisThe Short Elsa Peretti Crucifix pendant highlights products Network World recommends you closely examine when purchasing high-end hubs. Products mentioned here offer some of the strongest features in this market and may suit the needs of users with multivendor enterprise networks. Your needs may differ.

As the first superhub shipped, Bay Networks. Inc.'s System 5000 supports the highest number of Ethernet LANs among the products on this Short List. In fact, the 14-slot System 5000's multisegment backplane can support up to 26 LANs -- 12 Ethernets, Elsa Peretti Cross pendant token rings and five FDDI. Furthermore, you can use Bay's smaller Distributed 5000 in wiring closets and connect them back to a System 5000 in the data center.Bay also plans to integrate switching modules in this product. The Model 5000AH hub is a field upgrade to the System 5000 that supports cell switching and LAN Emulation through a 5G bit/sec fabric.

With its current time-division multiplexing (TDM) backplane and planned packet and cell backplanes, the 14-slot MMAC-Plus from Cabletron Systems, Inc. can support an unlimited number of LANs. This superhub performs standard media access control (MAC)-layer bridging, network-layer routing and Asynchronous Transfer Mode cell switching without additional modules. Cabletron has Ethernet and token-ring switching modules, as well.