Intel Fills Fast Ethernet Gap

Debuts low-cost switching hub for workgroups

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By Kate Maddox
Issue date: March 25, 1996

Intel has filled a hole in its Fast Ethernet product line by introducing a low-cost switching hub for workgroups. The Intel Express Switching Hub, priced at $4,995, delivers 100 Mbps of bandwidth to every desktop in a workgroup and can handle hundreds of clients.

"If [Intel] wants to be a 100-Mbps leader, this gives them the workgroup solution," says Esmeralda Silva, an analy st at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. Vendors such as Bay Networks, Cabletron, Cisco, and 3Com also offer competing products, but Silva says Intel is offering the lowest-cost solution.

Intel, which already delivers adapters and stackable hubs for the 100-Mbps environment, says the latest addition to its product line gives users an end-to-end hub and switching solution, from the desktop to the server.

"Intel has been one of the vendors that have attempted to drive migration from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps," says Silva.

However, she adds, having high- speed adapters and stackable hubs may not be enough to give Intel the edge. "It's only now that you're starting to see some applications drive the need for additional bandwidth," Silva says, pointing to imaging and modeling applications, as well as downloading files from the Internet.

Adds SNMP Support
With the switching hub announcement, Intel also says it will deliver a Windows-based simpl e network management protocol network management application in the second quarter. It's also offering a new package of one Express Stackable Hub and 10 EtherExpressPRO/100 Adapters for $2,995, with a promotional price through April 30 of $2,495.

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