sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sun/NC/north-carolina sunflash-Send requests, problems to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Third Party Announcements SunFLASH Vol 57 #9 September 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstracts 57.09.A New LUG Policy The Sun User Group has gone through some dramatic changes this year. This article describes the new policy for Local User Groups (LUGS). 57.09.B New Parallax Video Products for Sun Workstations 3 products designed for high-volume commercial applications of workstation-based real-time video Software applications developed on XVideo can now be deployed to end-users on PowerVideo and MultiVideo cards. 57.09.C Aurora adds RJ-45 connectivity to SBus Expansion Products With the RJ-45 telephone connector-style option, and standard DB-25 support, Aurora products allow end users and systems integrators to link peripherals to any SPARC system via existing unshielded twisted pair (UTP) or shielded twisted pair (STP) wiring, or both, unmodified. 57.09.D HPCwire's One-Year Anniversary Special: HPCwire is the only electronic publication dedicated to the High-Performance Computing industry. It is a for-fee service in which subscribers are sent a summary article bi-weekly. The full text of the summerized articles can be fetched by sending email with the article's id number to an email auto-respose service. 57.09.E Multi-protocol print servers Supports Berkeley (SunOS) or System V Unix (Solaris) printing environments without the need for host software or having to compile source on unsupported platforms. Fast: 60% to 800% faster than any other print server. Novell is also supported. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Details -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsgroups: comp.org.sug From: troll@sug.org (A. Newman) Subject: New LUG Policy Contact: John Mickevich Membership Director Org: Sun User Group Address: 1330 Beacon St. Suite 315 Brookline, MA 02146 Email: office@sug.org Phone: 617/232-0514 Fax: 617/232-1347 As you may know, the Sun User Group has gone through some dramatic changes this year. We have a new executive director, a new staff, and have made many changes in policy. We've nearly doubled the number of benefits available to our members, put _Readme_ on a bi-monthly schedule, and added a second annual conference. Our new members-only electronic mailing list has become THE place for Sun/SPARC user discussion, and later this year we'll be adding another CD to our award-winning line of software compilations. With the gears in motion for all of these projects, the time has come for us to turn our attention to the Local User Groups (LUGS). Local User Groups are one of the best ways for members of the Sun/SPARC community to get together and exchange information. The Sun User Group encourages the formation of LUGs and wishes to see them thrive. With that in mind, we are now establishing our new policy for official Local Sun User Groups. Over the past year or so, a few new LUGS have formed, a few have dissolved, and more than a few have changed directors. Information as to what SUG provides LUGS and vice-versa has gotten a little confused. Here now, is the new official LUG policy of the Sun User Group. Official Local Sun User Groups receive: *Member Referrals. Our new membership benefits package stresses the importance of LUGS and encourages members to contact us to find the official LUG in their area. We will refer LUGS to anyone who contacts us about them, whether they are members of SUG or not. *Vendor Referrals. Many vendors call us and ask about setting up presentations at LUGS. It is our policy not to give them LUG contact information. We'll have them send us the proposal, which we will then forward to the LUG. This prevents the LUG contact person from being deluged with requests, or worse yet, being placed on some kind of mailing list. *Contacts. Once a year, per the LUG's request, SUG will send a complete list of current SUG members in your area. The list will be available in different formats. Call SUG for more information *Two Copies of each issue of _Readme_. Readme is looking better than it ever has. It's now bi-monthly and is filled with technical articles and news from around the Sun/SPARC community. We send LUGS two copies; one to be passed around at meetings and the other for LUG archives. *Two Copies of each Conference Proceedings. The SUG Conference proceedings are known far and wide as some of the best sources for technical papers in the business. *Discount CD-Roms. When purchased in quantities of ten or more, SUG will sell our CD Rom libraries to official LUGS at a discount off the retail price. The CD's can then be resold by the LUG for fundraising efforts. SUG also makes our other products (t-shirts, proceedings, etc.) available at discount rates to LUGS. Please contact us for more information. *LUG Directory. Once a year SUG publishes the LUG contact directory in _Readme_. All official LUGS are listed. *Quarterly LUG packet. Filled with press releases, News from SUG headquarters and other important information. *Use of the official SUG logo. We've recently had the SUG logo trademarked and official LUGS are welcome to use it for all LUG business. Qualifications for Official Local Sun User Groups: *Ten current members of the Sun User Group. That's it. Once a year the LUG director will receive a notice indicating that it's time to renew the LUG's official status. The LUG then sends us the names, SUG membership numbers and expiration dates of ten LUG members who are also SUG members. We even include a form. Our goal is to make this as easy as possible for the LUGs. If you are currently the director of a LUG, or are considering starting one in your area, contact SUG. We'll send you the new LUG policy package which includes the new official LUG registration form, a complete listing of LUG benefits, and SUG promotional materials. We are sending this package to all LUGS that we are currently aware of, but if you don't see it within the next week or so, give us a call. The deadline for registering LUGS under the new policy is October 15, 1993. Until that date we will still give LUG information based on our current list. The relatioship between the Sun User Group and the Local User Groups should be a strong one. It is our hope that this new policy will encourage the formation of new LUGS and will help existing LUGS. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call us at 617/232-0514 or at office@sug.org via email. Thank You, John Mickevich Membership Director Sun User Group ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE SUN USER GROUP "For Everything Under the Sun" 1330 Beacon St. 617/232-0514 Voice Suite 315 617/232-1347 Fax Brookline, MA 02146 office@sug.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Parallax Video Products for Sun Workstations From: alice@parallax.com Org: Parallax Graphics, Inc. Address: 2500 Condensa Street Santa Clara, CA 95051 Phone: 408-727-2220 Fax: 408-980-5139 Parallax Graphics Cracks Commercial Video Market Three New Video Products Announced for Sun Workstations ------------------------------------------------------- On July 19th, Parallax introduced three new products designed for high-volume commercial applications of workstation-based real-time video. Software applications developed on XVideo can now be deployed to end-users on PowerVideo and MultiVideo cards. With their excellent price/ performance value and single SBus slot form factor, PowerVideo and MultiVideo are ideal for distributing XVideo applications around the office at a lower cost-per-seat. The Parallax Video Development Environment is sold separately for developers who wish to write custom applications for the two new hardware products. PowerVideo -- High Quality Where Performance is Essential --------------------------------------------------------- PowerVideo is ideal for high-quality multimedia applications where performance is essential. Using fast hardware-based JPEG compression/ decompression technology and an accelerated 32-bit multi-depth frame buffer, PowerVideo provides exceptional 24-bit quality for analog and digital real-time video applications on Sun workstations. High quality image and video storage and retrieval also benefit from PowerVideo performance -- all accomplished with minimum CPU utilization in a single SBus slot. PowerVideo supports NTSC, PAL and SECAM video formats. PowerVideo can be used with software developed for XVideo, third party software applications or VideoTool. Applications for PowerVideo include video conferencing, multimedia authoring, computer-based training, scientific visualization, simulation and medical imaging. MultiVideo -- New Affordability for 24-Bit Color Quality -------------------------------------------------------- MultiVideo brings new affordability to high quality video. For NTSC, PAL and SECAM video inputs, MultiVideo combines 24-bit color, full motion video and a true-color frame buffer in a single-slot. VideoTool simplifies controlling video windows and video devices, and saving video stills to disk. MultiVideo can also be combined with software developed for XVideo (without compression), including third party software applications, for high quality results. MultiVideo applications include high quality video display and frame capture, and target markets include CNN-in-a-window, financial trading, surveillance and monitoring, and defense command and control. Video Development Environment -- For Custom Applications -------------------------------------------------------- The Parallax Video Development Environment for PowerVideo and MultiVideo includes a comprehensive set of tools for developers. Using expertise from over four generations of video products, the kit provides extensive capabilities to ease the integration of video into applications. Interface libraries, objects, and widgets are provided for Xlib, Xv, Xt and Xview and can be used either in OpenLook or Motif. APIs for video device control and JPEG digital movies are included, with Parallax's VideoTool and MovieTool packages, and a device driver for SunOS and Solaris. New Products Complement XVideo Product Line ------------------------------------------- Lee Caswell, Parallax director of marketing stated, "The new products complement our successful XVideo developer products and underscore the transformation that is taking place as workstation video migrates from isolated technical trials to mass market applications. Meanwhile, the XVideo product line with bundled development environment and full hardware options will continue to be the developer's choice for more complex video applications. Software developed on XVideo is 100% compatible with our new products, preserving customer's valuable software investment." XVideo remains the only vehicle for Sun developers to access two simultaneous video signals or to get professional quality analog video output from a Sun workstation with simultaneous video input. Special XVideo options support S-VHS (Y/C), RGB and YUV video formats, for superior quality. Hardware Designed for Broad Deployment -------------------------------------- PowerVideo and MultiVideo's single-slot design will fit in any SPARCstation, including the inexpensive new SPARC Classic and LX. The single-slot design will also leave space available for additional SBus cards, for added capabilities such as ATM networking. Pricing and Availability ------------------------ PowerVideo, MultiVideo and the Video Development Environment can be purchased immediately, with four week A.R.O. Hardware: PowerVideo is priced at $5,495; MultiVideo is priced at $2,995. Both hardware products are available four weeks A.R.O. Parallax hardware is backed by a 1 year limited warranty. An additional 12 month warranty can be purchased for $600. Volume discounts are available. Software: Software packages including server, driver and VideoTool for PowerVideo and MultiVideo are available immediately: The OpenWindows software package is priced at $495; The MIT X11R5 software package ships in October. The Video Development Environment is available immediately at a list price of $1,995. Free technical support is provided from 8 AM to 8 PM EST. A one year software subscription service for updates and releases is available for $300 at the time of purchase. # # # # # Parallax is the leading worldwide supplier of high quality video products for the Sun market. Parallax world headquarters is based in Santa Clara, California. A regional sales and support office is located in Reston, VA. European sales are serviced from the company's European headquarters in Wokingham, England. Parallax was founded in 1982 and is now part of the Dynatech Corporation, a Fortune 500 information technology company. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Aurora adds RJ-45 connectivity to SBus Expansion Products From: balasco@auratek.com (Alfred P. Balasco) Org: Aurora Technologies Inc. Contact: Al Balasco - Marcomm Mgr. Tel: 617 290-4800 x141 AURORA ADDS RJ-45 CONNECTIVITY TO SBUS EXPANSION PRODUCT FAMILY New option provides greater flexibility in SPARC LAN configurations Waltham, MA, August 31, 1993 -- Aurora Technologies added RJ-45 connectivity to its SBus terminal and communications server product families, the company announced today. The new option adds greater flexibility and convenience to connecting terminals, modems, printers, measurement instruments, or any serial device, to a host SPARC workstation by eliminating the need to add adapters or new wiring to an SBus-based, distributed computing solution. With the RJ-45 telephone connector-style option, and standard DB-25 support, Aurora products allow end users and systems integrators to link peripherals to any SPARC system via existing unshielded twisted pair (UTP) or shielded twisted pair (STP) wiring, or both, unmodified. The modularity of Aurora terminal and communications servers allows SPARC system LAN configurations with any combination of RJ-45 and DB-25 connectors in four port increments. RJ-45 connectivity is available at no charge on all Aurora SBus expansion products with four or more serial ports. Field upgrades are also available. Aurora President Dennis Daudelin said, "With the introduction of RJ-45 connectivity to our SBus terminal and communications server products, Aurora continues to meet the growing demands of users and integrators who are taking advantage of SPARC chip performance to standardize on the platform and build complex, business-wide configurations around it. We're committed to being the one-stop source for SPARC system expansion, and following on the heels of our recent announcements of RS422/485 compatibility and PC industry pricing, the new option helps maintain that position." Aurora Technologies, Inc., engineers, manufactures, and markets a complete range of workstation performance enhancement and expansion products that provide the foundation for business-wide open systems solutions based on the SPARC architecture. These include SBus terminal and peripheral servers, system expansion products, networking communications products, and imaging and OCR software. Aurora products are designed to offer users, resellers, and OEMs broad functionality and easy systems integration. Founded in 1988 by members of Sun Microsystems' marketing and engineering teams, Aurora is a member of SPARC International and a Strategic level member of Sun's third- party developer Catalyst program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: HPCwire's One-Year Anniversary Special: From: HPC Select News From: Thomas B. Tabor President & Publisher Org: HPCwire (( for a SunFlash article that describes HPCwire and HPC Select News see SunFlash 53.07 - you can obtain that article from the sunflash ftp archives or by sending email to flashadm@sun.com with a subject line of 53.07 and an empty message. Note that the auto-response program that is used to deliver sunflash articles was inspired in part by HPCwire. -johnj )) \|/ /|\ ______|______ |\/\/\/\/\/\| | HAPPY | | BIRTHDAY | | HPCwire! | |___________| WE'RE CELEBRATING OUR FIRST BIRTHDAY BY TAKING 50% OFF OUR SUBSCRIPTION PRICE!! Today, September 2, 1993, marks the one-year anniversary of HPCwire. One year ago from this date, our organization opened its doors (compute server) as the only electronic publication dedicated to the High-Performance Computing industry. Each week, our award-winning staff brings its readers HPC industry news, analysis, science, cutting-edge technology, system specifications, financial issues, benchmarks, jobs and all of the other important industry-related information you would come to expect from a leading publication. To all of us here at HPCwire, this is and will always be a very special date. For that reason, we would like extend to you and your colleagues the original low charter subscription rate that was available when we first began publishing HPC Select News. ONE YEAR -- ORIGINAL CHARTER SUBSCRIPTION RATE * $97 For the First Subscription, and * $29 For Each Additional Subscription at the Same Physical Location * $29 Student Rate If you are considering a subscription, this is the lowest our rates will get, and they will only be available FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS. Our regular subscription rate is $195 for the first subscription, and $57 for each additional subscription at the same site. TO ORDER Send an e-mail message to sub@hpcwire.ans.net or call (800) 795-4HPC (4472) and mention our First Birthday Celebration. Your retrieval service begins upon receipt of payment. We accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express, or payment may be sent to: HPCwire, 8445 Camino Santa Fe, Ste. 204, San Diego, CA 92121. In the coming year, we expect to bring our readers the most thorough, insightful and entertaining coverage of the HPC industry available anywhere. We hope you can be a part of it. Thank you very much for your interest and support. Thomas B. Tabor President & Publisher HPCwire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Multi-protocol print servers From: sjb@microplex.com (Steve Balaban) Org: Microplex Systems Ltd. (Microplex) Tel: 800 665-7798 or (604) 444-4232 Fax: (604) 444-4239 Address: 8525 Commerce Court, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 4N3. For Literature requests: info@microplex.com MICROPLEX SYSTEMS LTD. ANNOUNCES MULTI-PROTOCOL PRINT SERVERS ------------------------------------------------------------- Print Servers Ease Printer Sharing in Unix and Novell LANs Vancouver, B.C. Canada -- Microplex Systems Ltd. announces Version 4 of their M200 and M201 Printer Adapters featuring simultaneous support for TCP/IP and IPX/SPX protocols. The M200 and M201 permit multiple printing devices to be easily shared between Novell and Solaris/SunOS or any other operating systems that utilize TCP/IP. Microplex print servers enable printers, lasers, plotters, and other output devices to become nodes on an Ethernet network or subnet, and can be easily accessed by any authorized users. The need to have dedicated PCs, workstations, Novell servers, or host ports to serve printers is eliminated thereby freeing up those systems for other tasks. The high performance 200K+cps parallel throughput and ability to locate printers almost anywhere minimizes printing time. Based on comparative testing between the M200/M201 and several other vendor's print servers, Microplex print servers proved to be the fastest units available. The M200 and M201 do not require host software and support industry standard LPR/LPD and RSHD/RCMD/REMSH printing protocols to ensure compatibility across any operating system or hardware platform using TCP/IP. For Novell LANs, PSERVER and RPRINTER have been implemented to replace the need for file server or dedicated PC based printing. These models also provide full compatibility with Novell NetWare 2.X and 3.X. Standard PCONSOLE configuration and print commands are utilized to maintain user friendliness and simplify installation. Printer and network status monitoring has been enhanced with the addition of SNMP support making the M200 and M201 compliant with this de facto network management protocol standard. Back-channeling has also been incorporated into the M200/M201s to permit bi-directional communications and status feedback from printers supporting NeWSprint, PostScript and TranScript. For companies needing to keep track of printer usage for departmental billing purposes, the M200 and M201 offer a page count feature and log files. ASCII to PostScript conversion, auto-sensing and auto-switching have been added to eliminate host based or manual switching of desired printer emulation modes. Several printer destinations can be assigned per port on the M200/M201 enabling font, bin, paper tray, portrait/landscape selection. Password security has been increased to prevent unauthorized access to the print server or systems on the network. To simplify upgrading of the M200 and M201, FLASH memory has been added which allows downloading of firmware via the Internet, 900 service, or diskette. Version 4 models of the M200 and M201 are shipping now and are priced at $795.00 for either unit. Microplex specializes in the development of local area network print servers and synchronous wide area network products. ********************************************************************** For information about SunFlash send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. Archives are on draco.nova.edu, ftp.uu.net, sunsite.unc.edu, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. Send brief articles (e.g. third party announcements) and include contact information (non-800#, fax #, email, etc) to: John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@Sun.COM. +1 305 351 4909