StreetTalk Access for Windows NT

StreetTalk, the resource-naming convention in Banyan Vines, has an excellent reputation for ease of use. StreetTalk predates X.500, yet it offers most of the same benefits. For sites that use Novell's NetWare, Banyan sells Enterprise Network Services (ENS) for NetWare. For NT-based LANs, Banyan licenses its StreetTalk Access for Windows NT File and Print. StreetTalk Access provides location-independent resource names that administrators can use, for instance, to migrate a print server from one domain to another without updating user profiles.

Released in March, StreetTalk Access is a directory services add-on for NT Server that supplies features missing in NT Server itself. T hrough StreetTalk Access, administrators can forget domain-based resource maintenance. StreetTalk Access allows users to log on to the network even if the server holding the user's profile is inaccessible. StreetTalk has SNMP support for integration with such network management products as OpenView. StreetTalk Access, which replaces the Microsoft redirector network client on NT machines, can run on either the Vines IP or TCP/IP protocols.

Besides supporting NetWare, Banyan's ENS works with Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, and SCO Unix. StreetTalk Access targets NT Server environments.

StreetTalk Access is available to users with Vines 5.5 or higher or ENS for Unix and Windows NT Workstations 3.51 or Windows NT Server 3.51. It costs $1495 per server plus $40 per user.

ENS for NetWare, which began shipping last year, supports DOS, OS/2, Windows, and Mac clients. ENS Server costs $3995. Prices for ENS for NetWare range from $295 for five users to $995 for 25 users and $ 5495 for 1000 users, with other increments in between.