Banyan unveils Windows NT product, new version of Vines

Recognizing the acceptance of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT in the government market Banyan Systems Inc. last week introduced a Windows NT version of its distributed directory services technology along with a new version of its Banyan VINES network operating system.

The directory services product StreetTalk for Windows NT allows administrators to assign simple names for users gateways printers or applications on the network and store them in a distributed database. StreetTalk names then are used to establish connections to resources. Users need to log in only once to gain access to all resources and Windows NT and VINES servers can be managed remotely.

"NT has been widely accepted as a desktop and network application server in the government " said Rik Andrews corporate product engineer and product manager at Banyan. "One of the areas NT has proved difficult is on the networking side. Everyone agrees it's a great desktop and application server but no one is building large complex NT networks. This will allow them to roll out NT as an application server and file and print server."

In addition Banyan announced VINES 7.0 a new release that runs on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The most significant improvements for government users Andrews said include support for file names longer than eight characters and the elimination of a server key that plugs into the back of a VINES server to track licensing. This has been replaced with software that is "easier from the standpoint of deployment installation and also maintenance " he said. "This is important for our government customers because so many of them have sites overseas."

Both StreetTalk for Windows NT and VINES 7.0 will be offered through the General Services Administration schedule. StreetTalk for Windows NT will be available this month and VINES 7.0 will be shipping in October.The latest announcements should be of interest to Banyan's installed base in the government which also is installing Windows NT.

"The federal government remains the sole vertical stronghold of Banyan VINES " said Greg Cline director of network integration and management research at market research firm Business Research Group. While no "new networks are going in for Banyan VINES the existing customers may continue to buy VINES because it does a good job and it's the installed base. But new networks are Windows NT."