Abstract

CR Systems commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate the XU4100 MultiProtocol SNA XTENDER, with the main focus on benchmarking SDLC conversion performance against other leading SDLC converters in the 1993 Industry Benchmark. The report also examined ease of configuration, emphasizing whether the product could deliver both high throughput and a practical setup experience in IBM SNA environments that linked Token Ring LANs to SDLC-connected 3270 resources.  

The January 1994 Technology Spotlight identifies the MultiProtocol SNA XTENDER as an SDLC converter and reports that it achieved the highest overall throughput the lab had seen to date in this class of product. Tolly notes that the lab refined its benchmark from earlier work and expanded the suite to 17 SDLC-conversion test scenarios covering a range of outbound, chained outbound, read-buffer, stress, and endurance conditions. In the overall SDLC Conversion Performance Rating chart on page 1, CR Systems received the highest rating at 9.94, ahead of Cisco at 9.57, IBM at 9.46, AOC at 9.37, Netlink at 8.76, and Sync Research at 7.65.  

The report states that the XU4100 delivered the highest results in 9 of the 16 throughput-oriented suites measured and outperformed the average vendor result in every case shown in the comparative chart on page 2. Tolly explains that the rating system normalized each vendor’s throughput against the highest throughput recorded in each suite, then multiplied the ratio by 10 to derive a performance score. The side-by-side chart on page 2 shows CR Systems consistently above the average SDLC converter across the tested workloads, with especially strong results in several of the higher-throughput suites.  

The test bed, illustrated on page 3, connected the XU4100 to a 16Mbit/s Token Ring and directly to a 9.6Kbit/s SDLC link leading to a 3270 emulator, with an Applied Computer Technologies SDTF mainframe emulator on an IBM PS/2 Model 55sx and a DCA IRMA-based 3270 emulator on an IBM AT PC. Tolly lists hardware features for the tested XU4100 configuration including two serial ports, two V.35 ports, four RS232 ports, two Token Ring connections, and a LAN panel supporting AUI, coax, UTP, and Token Ring connectivity. The report also highlights ease of configuration as a practical strength: the DOS-based Configuration Manager was described as intuitive, compact, and resistant to invalid configurations, using graphical depictions to help users understand how equipment fit into the network. Overall, the report presents the CR Systems XU4100 MultiProtocol SNA XTENDER as a top-performing SDLC converter that combined benchmark-leading throughput with straightforward deployment and operation.  

Solutions tested:

• ACC SDLC conversion product (Ver 2.0.5/6) — Competing SDLC conversion system included in the 1993 industry benchmark.  
• Cisco SDLC conversion product (Ver 4.6(1)) — Cisco competitor benchmarked against the CR Systems platform.  
• IBM SDLC conversion product (Ver 1.1.1.2) — IBM SDLC conversion system included in the benchmark.  
• Netlink SDLC conversion product (Ver 1.2.0.0) — Netlink solution tested in the comparative benchmark.  
• Sync Research SDLC conversion product (Ver 1.00) — Competing SDLC conversion solution included in the benchmark.