Abstract

Intel commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate the TokenExpress PRO ISA Adapter, with the main focus on independently verifying both broad application compatibility and Enterprise Ready certification in enterprise Token Ring environments. The project was designed to test the adapter and its ODI version 0.17 beta and NDIS version 0.19 beta drivers across a wide range of standard business applications, and then to validate the product’s robustness in a more complex multi-LAN, multi-path, source-route-bridged corporate network.  

The October 1994 report says Tolly ran 25 application-compatibility tests and found that the Intel adapter passed all of them. According to the Application Compatibility Test Matrix on page 2, the test set covered a wide range of IBM, Microsoft, and Novell software, including IBM OS/2 2.1, IBM LAN Management Utilities/2, IBM Station Manager, IBM APPC, IBM LAN Network Manager, IBM PC/400 for DOS, IBM PC 3270 Client, IBM 3270 Gateway via PC3270, IBM Communications Manager/2, IBM LAN Server and LAN Server clients, IBM TCP/IP for DOS and OS/2, Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.1, Novell Personal NetWare, multiple MS-DOS client configurations, ODI and NDIS support modules, and LANSUP.com. Tolly notes that, throughout testing, the Intel product showed no major differences from an IBM 16/4 Adapter II during driver installation or while running communication software.  

The Enterprise Ready portion extended the evaluation beyond simple two-station communication. Tolly ran 15 additional tests, six of which involved major applications communicating across the network from one station to another. The Enterprise Network Test Matrix on page 2 lists environments such as IBM LAN Server client/server pairs, IBM SNA APPC pairs, IBM TCP/IP for DOS and OS/2, Novell OS/2 NetWare Requester, and Novell NetWare client/server pairs. To further test real-world robustness, Tolly installed five different client adapters in succession, including Intel’s and other leading vendors’ products, to confirm that the TokenExpress PRO ISA Adapter could interoperate in a multi-vendor setting.  

The test beds shown on pages 3 and 4 included both a straightforward 16Mbit/s Token Ring application-compatibility environment and a more elaborate Enterprise Ready topology with three Token Ring segments, two operating at 16Mbit/s and one at 4Mbit/s, interconnected by IBM-compatible source-route bridges. The Intel adapter supported ISA bus systems, 16Mbit/s and 4Mbit/s Token Ring with auto-sense, Texas Instruments chipset technology, and both STP and UTP media. Overall, the report presents the Intel TokenExpress PRO ISA Adapter as a reliable, highly compatible Token Ring adapter that passed all tested applications and maintained interoperability in a realistic multi-LAN enterprise network.