that are available today to provide a solution for inter-switch links and server connections in Token Ting environments include Fast Ethernet and ATM. Another alternative, as suggested by Taylor in “High Speed Token Ring”, is High Speed Token Ring (HSTR) itself. HSTR is needed primarily to address the problems of inter-switch links and fast server connections. Since Token Ring standards already provide a model for full duplex dedicated Token passing with a maximum speed of 16 Mbps, Taylor argues “all we need to do is to adapt this to run at a higher speed.” To keep costs low (such as the competing Ethernet technology), HSTR will be based on the new solution of an existing and widely available high speed transmission technology, such as 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet or 155 Mbps ATM. The HSTR solution is based on the IEEE 802.5r standard for Dedicated Token Ring, adapted to run over the 100 mbps physical transmission scheme, which is used by, dedicated Fast Ethernet. There will also be a Gigabit Token Ring solution, based on IEEE 802.5r adapted to run over the Gigabit Ethernet transmission scheme. Today, Network Operating Systems (NOS’s) have gone far beyond their roots of file and print services. Other functions, such as communications, database, application, and management services, have become equally important in business environments. Companies using NOS’s have found supporting large numbers of single-function servers to be costly and complex. These companies have started consolidating to a smaller number of larger, more powerful, multifunction servers. This trend makes it imperative for the NOS to have the flexibility to support such configurations. NOS applications vary a great deal in their use of system features and functions, NOS functions are implemented two ways: 1.As a standalone operating environment that may or may not allow the support of additional services, such as database or electr...
