HP's $109 10Base-T LAN Adapter Sets Price/Performance Standard

High-Throughput, Bus-Master Card Boosts Windows, Client-Server Performance

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 1, 1993 -- Hewlett-Packard Company today set a new price/performance standard for local-area network (LAN) connectivity, announcing the lowest priced 10Base-T LAN adapter on the market. Backed by a lifetime limited-warranty, the $109 HP PC LAN Adapter NC/16 TP delivers the highest performance levels in the industry, and is the most cost-effective, reliable way to connect personal computers to an Ethernet LAN.

The HP NC/16's state-of-the-art design provides the high throughput and low CPU utilization necessary to improve the performance of Microsoft Windows®, client-server and other multitasking network applications, while reducing the cost and increasing the reliability of the adapter. The HP NC/16 is easy to install and configure, and supports all major network operating systems -- including Novell NetWare, Microsoft Windows NT and LAN Manager, Artisoft LANtastic, SCO UNIX, Banyan Vines and IBM LAN Server.

"With today's announcement we've staked our claim to the PC LAN adapter market, offering more bang for the buck than anyone -- 3COM, Novell and Intel included," said Carolyn M. Ticknor, general manager of HP's Roseville Networks Division. "Network administrators no longer have to trade off price for performance when connecting multitasking clients to their PC LANs."

HP is a recognized leader in 10Base-T LAN technology. HP proposed the original 10Base-T standard to the IEEE in 1987, and HP Laboratories provided much of the initial technology to implement it.

According to IDC, the number of computers connected by Ethernet is expected to reach nearly 20 million by the end of 1992, and more than double to over 40 million nodes by the end of 1995. The most-widely implemented Ethernet LAN configuration is 10Base-T over voice-grade, unshielded, twisted-pair (UTP) cabling.

Industry-Leading Price

The HP NC/16 is the lowest priced high-performance 10Base-T LAN adapter card on the market. Priced at $109, the HP NC/16 is $73 less than 3COM's Etherlink 3, $6 less than Intel's EtherExpress 16 TP, and $103 less than Eagle's ______.

High-Performance, Bus-Master Design

HP achieves the HP NC/16's low cost, high performance and high reliability through a combination of a highly integrated pipelined bus-master architecture and advanced surface-mount technology. The HP NC/16 implements an Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) bus-master direct memory access (DMA) mode to enable direct data transfers between memory and the network without CPU intervention. As a result, the HP NC/16 obtains the optimal network performance of high throughput and low CPU utilization. This makes the HP NC/16 ideal for graphics and Windows applications, client-server applications and other multitasking applications that already tax CPU resources.

High Reliability

HP backs the HP NC/16 with a lifetime limited-warranty, providing on-site service for the life of the product. A high level of integration combined with HP's surface-mount technology manufacturing process gives the HP NC/16 the highest level of reliability, with a mean time between failure (MTBF) of over 300 years.

Easy to Use

The HP NC/16 is fully software configurable, and can be installed in minutes without setting jumpers or switches. If the default configuration values cannot be used, the HPNCSet utility included with the HP NC/16 provides auto-configuration of the DMA channel and other parameters with only a few keystrokes. HPNCSet can be run in batch mode, too, using a configuration file for rapid installation of multiple devices.

HPNCSet also provides thorough card diagnostics, as well as testing across the network. Using HPNCSet, a network administrator can automatically locate a station on the network that can respond to test packets sent by the card being tested. Built-in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) provide status and diagnostic information.

Industry Standard

The NC/16 complies fully with Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 standards, and provides built-in NE2100 compatibility. It supports all the following major network operating systems:

U.S. List Prices and Availability

The HP J2406A PC LAN Adapter NC/16 TP 6-Pack is available now for a U.S list price of $654 ($109 per card). The HP NC/16 can be purchased individually (J2405A) for a U.S. list price of $119.

HP provides a broad family of reliable, low-cost and easy-to-use networking products -- including managed hubs, bridges, routers, network interface cards and network-management software. These products support a variety of networked environments, ranging from simple workgroups to advanced multisite configurations. HP networking-hardware and management-software products are compatible with a variety of hardware platforms including IBM-compatible PCs, Apple Macintosh computers, workstations from Sun Microsystems and Digital Equipment Corporation and HP business systems and servers.

# # #