Re: SUMMARY - SNMP software wanted

From: David A. Curry (davy@erg.sri.com)
Date: Fri Apr 19 1991 - 11:35:46 CDT


     From: palmer@gateway.mitre.org
     Date: Fri, 19 Apr 91 10:53:54 -0400
     Subject: Re: SUMMARY - SNMP software wanted

     
     Are you sure about this price? My Sun Catalog lists SunNet Manager at
     $10,000.
     
The catalog is out of date. I've included the announcement below.

--Dave

From: glasgow@attn.West.Sun.COM (Jim Glasgow - Sun Major Accounts Sales Rep)
Subject: SunNet Manager 1.1 Intro
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 11:15:06 PST

                WORLDWIDE PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT INFORMATION

                    SunNet Manager 1.1 Repricing and Direction Statement

SECTION I

ANNOUNCEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
-----------------------
 ****************************************************************************
 * *
 * -SunNet Manager Price Significantly Reduced! *
 * *
 * -SNM 1.1 Includes New SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), *
 * OpenWindows, New User Tool Features *
 * *
 * -Upcoming version of DNI will Allow SNM to Manage DECnets *
 * *
 * -PC-NFS SNMP Agent Allows SNM to Manage DOS PCs *
 * *
 * -SNM is the Best-Selling Open Net Management Software in the Industry *
 * *
 ****************************************************************************

ANNOUNCEMENT BRIEF
------------------
Sun is pushing aggressively to make open network administration easy.
Last year, SunNet Manager became the first network management system from
a computer vendor to include support for SNMP and to be fully extensible.
This year, we're making sure it's available to everyone. Also, we're not
just making great administration tools; we're making products that are more
manageable.

Starting with SunNet Manager rev 1.1, pricing will be reduced for most
channels by about 70%. In addition, we are exploring future strategies
such as including SunNet Manager libraries and interfaces with SunOS.
Our goal is to make network management a standard part of Sun's Unix.

The rest of the industry is watching SunNet Manager already. According
to Datapro's Network Management report of 9/90, SunNet Manager 1.0 has
outsold any other open network management system by a factor of 4 to 1!
More vendors have committed to use SNM as a basis for their own
custom network management tools than any other software platform. This
includes Cabletron, SynOptics, Racal-Interlan (together about 70% of
the LAN hub industry), Retix, and Autotrol. In Forrester Research's
view ("The Network Management Sinkhole", October 1990), customers are
advised to use SPARCstations for network management, since most major
vendors have agreed it is the ideal platform for such tools. They
advised LAN users to use LAN hubs, since this provides the best
management synergy. Finally, they advised network vendors that SunNet
Manager was one of the best core systems for custom network management
tool development.

With this announcement, network management will start to be part of
the required operating system environment for network computing.
  

FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF SNM 1.1
--------------------------------
All of the benefits of 1.0 PLUS:

*For easy set-up, SunNet Manager 1.1 can automatically discover the
 configuration of TCP/IP-based networks and set up network maps without
 requiring user training.
*Agents have been added for printers, disks, and route discovery.
*Events now show as changes in color, and they can affect parent view icons.
*SNMP features
        - MIB II (including an Enterprise Subtree MIB compiler
          for incorporation of other vendors' extensions);
        - Sets
        - Enhanced Trap integration
*The user interface has been rewritten in Xview to fully support
 OpenWindows and OPEN LOOK
*A 3D data graphing tool is now included, as are tools for more easily
 browsing network history logs.

Sun's other products are also adding synergy to SunNet Manager for
overall ease of administration. PC-NFS now includes an SNMP agent so
DOS-based PCs can be made more manageable. Future revisions of SunLink
DNI will include a DECnet(TM) Phase IV NICE protocol proxy, so SunNet
Manager can extend to manage DECnets.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE CONSIDERATIONS
------------------------------------
SunNet Manager runs on all SPARCsystems. It is recommended to
have 12MB RAM and at least one local disk; GX is optional but
preferable, as is color. Agents (distributed management daemons)
are available for Sun3 and SPARC systems. 1.1 requires
SunOS 4.1 and OpenWindows Version 2.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
---------------------
Q: If we're selling so well, why are we lowering the price?
A: Most customers are willing to pay about $150-$250 (US) per managed node
        for network management software. The size of the average Sun network
        is about 30 nodes. With this action, many more users will be
        able to afford SNM for basic network fault isolation and
        performance analysis. We expect increased demand to more
        than compensate for the price drop.

Q: Why is Sun considering bundling the network management platform
        in the operating system? What are the benefits to users?
A: If the network is the computer, then network management is a key
        part of system administration. There are two kinds of users
        who will benefit.

        - End users will have access to simplified, consolidated
                network management mechanisms, instead of the
                various unique and different tools available now,
                each with its own learning curve and quirks.
        - ISVs of management tools will benefit from knowing
                that anywhere there is a Sun, there is access to
                libraries that take care of the basic network management
                protocol work for them. They can concentrate on
                tools that help the user, instead of having to
                duplicate this protocol effort.

Q: Does 1.1 include an SNMP agent?
A: No. We hope to include an SNMP agent in a future revision. The
        current SNMP technology is somewhat limiting for a Unix
        system. Since SNMP talks to a distinguished socket, only one
        agent can exist on a system at any given time. If we want to
        allow users to add to the SNMP agent, or allow vendors to sell
        their own special SNMP agent for Suns, they would have to have
        access to our source and modify it at the user site. This is
        highly impractical. We are working with the Internet community
        to find a more reasonable solution.

Q: When will SunNet Manager support OSI?
A: OSI's CMIP network management protocol was approved in final form
        last year. To date, no vendors have produced agents that are
        based on it. Since Sun depends on other vendors for most of
        the network equipment that connects our computers, we have to
        do products that offer us the most leverage over industry
        standards. Currently, OSI offers us no leverage for SNM -
        there is nobody to manage. We are a member of the OSI/ Network
        Management Forum, an industry consortium that focuses on this
        issue, and we expect to track CMIP approvals very closely so we
        can come out with appropriate products in a timely fashion.

        The same answer applies to IBM/3COM's CMOL proposal, the Internet's
        CMOT proposal, IEEE 802.1, and other limited-market technologies.

Q: Will Sun support the OSF Distributed Management Environment (DME)
        proposals?
A: We believe it is too early to try to establish user tool standards in
        this area; too much innovation is left to be done. We are working
        closely with real standards organizations like Posix and X/Open
        to define goals for future distributed system administration
        interfaces.

        Sun did not submit an entry to OSF for the DME RFT. Since OSF
        did not choose prior Sun submissions which had superior
        technology (OPEN LOOK) or a better business case and
        installed-base leverage (ONC/NFS), there was no reason to
        believe we would benefit from submitting this time.

Q: How has SunNet Manager been selling since its introduction last March?
A: Very well. We have approximately 20% market share in a very crowded
        SNMP Manager market. Nobody else has more than 5%. We've been
        outpacing our own internal forecast by about 250%.

Q: Are there any new SunNet Manager sales handouts?
A: There is a SunNet management datasheet available.
          By the end of the quarter, the monochrome product brief and
          customer presentation will be available in interleaf format
          through Success. For presentation materials or demos in the
          meantime, please contact the network ambassadors, who have
        access to 1.1 documentation and early demos. Our experience
        is that a demo of this product is worth a pound of handouts.

Q: Which LAN hub companies currently use SunNet Manager as the basis
        for their own custom network management systems?
A: We are working with several who are in development, but who have
        made public announcements of their directions. These include
        SynOptics, Cabletron, and Racal-Interlan, plus other
        network vendors like Retix for their bridge management tools.

Q: What differentiates SunNet Manager from its "open" network management
        competitors?
A: We differentiate from almost all the industry in being extensible
        with every copy. Most open management systems are not extensible;
        they focus on particular protocols or devices, and they do not
        allow users to add applications. SNM is open to any of these
        additions, by vendors or end users. SNM is a true platform.
        Also, our proxy "middle manager" architecture offers protocol
        independence and scaleability that most other vendors cannot
        match.

        Of the conventional competition, we have had a price advantage
        historically; now, we blow them away.

        - HP's OpenView family has three products: OpenView Server,
        OpenView Node Manager, and OpenView Windows. Server and
        Node Manager are HP/UX based, and Windows is DOS based.
        Server is the open one; it has APIs all over, but unfortunately,
        it has no user tools. It also costs $25-30K (US) for a developer
        license, and resellers must pay $5-7K per copy for each unit
        resold. Node Manager is not extensible, but it does support
        SNMP with user tools. It has scaled pricing, but it is generally
        around $15K. SNM's user tools are a fair match to Node Manager's.
        OpenView Windows is a network map drawing facility on DOS; very
        little support exists for any real work.

        - DEC's DECmcc family is not very open. First, it is VMS-only.
        Second, it is DECwindows-based, not OpenLook or Motif. Third,
        while they recently added support for SNMP, it was only for the
        most minimal range of manageable MIB variables. In other words,
        if a cisco-type vendor innovated in the manageability of their
        box, DEC tools could not access those inventions. DEC recently
        made their DECmcc APIs and libraries available with each copy
        of DECnet, so vendors interested in this proprietary network
        space can find the libraries. According to Datapro's report
        on the poor sales of this product, this was probably a necessary
        action.
                

SECTION II

U.S. PRICING AND ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS
--------------------------------------
ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS for SunNet Manager : US End User/OEM Price List

(Note: This will appear in the next major pricelist)

Description Order Number List Discount Software
                                        Price Price Category Support

SunNet Manager SNM-1.1-4-4-21 $3000 A $50/Mo.
Incl. CD, Docs, &
Right-to-Use License

SunNet Manager 1.1 SNM-1.1-X-X-9 $150 ND
Docs Only

SunNet Manager 1.1 SNM-X-X-X-0U $2850 A
RTU Only

   
ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS for SunNet Manager University ScholarPAC

Single User OnePAC UNSM1-1.1-4-34-21 $1000 ND
SitePAC UNSM1-X-X-X-LUN $9000 ND

Server configuration has been obsoleted.

SOFTWARE UPGRADE (1.0 to 1.1) FOR CSS NON-CONTRACT CUSTOMERS:

SunNet Manager SNM-1.1-4-4-21U $1000 A
Incl. CD, Docs

AVAILABILITY
------------

All models available February 8, 1991

   

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