InformationWeek

November 10, 1997

Cheaper Access

RASCom's NT-based remote-access server combines WAN access and LAN routing

ASCom Inc. will announce this week support for Microsoft's Routing and Remote Access Service, formerly known as Steelhead, in its line of Windows NT-based remote-access servers. The aim is to cut costs by building an NT-based remote-access server that provides both WAN access and LAN routing capabilities.

Most networking equipment vendors are starting to integrate WAN and LAN capabilities into single devices. But those are built on proprietary systems. "This is the first time you see routing move off the router and on to a generic platform," says Steven Taylor, president of Distributed Networking Associates, a consulting firm in Greensboro, N.C.

By building on a commodity platform and using standard components, RASCom will be able to get new capabilities to market faster and at lower prices, Taylor says. Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line local-access te chnology is a similar example: "All you do is replace the PCI-based cards integrated in the server rather than having to build in ADSL from scratch," he says.

Applied Systems, a software developer in University Park, Ill., already uses RASCom's remote-access servers to let its 75 programmers around the country access the corporate network. The company plans to add the new capabilities so it can provide routing and remote-access capabilities to a branch office in Tuscaloosa, Ala. "It is one less router required, one less piece of Cisco equipment I have to buy," says Tim Sander, a senior technical adviser at Applied Systems.

Using NT-based remote-access servers also means Applied Systems won't have to train administrators on new systems, Sander says. "We have a lot of NT expertise already on staff," he adds.

And because the routing protocols are built i nto the server, "you don't have to manage two different boxes and pay for the maintenance of two boxes," says Mark Galvin, CEO of RASCom, in Salem, N.H. "It makes a very nice single communications box for the remote office."

RASCom offers Microsoft's Routing and Remote Access Service on its three servers: the RAServer 2000 for small and midsize businesses; the RAServer 2500 for large companies; and the RAServer 2900 for carriers. Prices range from $9,000 to $175,500.

In addition, RASCom is rolling out ISPack, a remote-access server for Internet service providers. It includes third-party software, such as a utility from Imagen Communications for billing and charge-back accounting, and a remote-management tool from Funk Software Inc. The ISPack comes loaded on the RAServer 2000 and adds $4,000 to the list price.

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