Connectivity is king in networking, and SmarTerm added three levels of PC-to-host connectivity software for Windows 95 and NT.

SmarTerm Essential 6.0 handles serial connectivity, ftp and telnet support for 32-bit Windows. Essential is aimed at corporate users of Microsoft and third-party TCP/IP stacks and serial connections. The product includes drag-and-drop and command-line ftp support for Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem and Kermit, full MAPI and TAPI support, a macro language compatible with Visual Basic for Applications, and support for Windows Sockets TCP/IP and PPP/SLIP dial-up connectivity.

SmarTerm Office 6.0 includes all the features of SmarTerm Essential, plus PC connectivity to multiple hosts.

SmarTerm Enterprise Suite 6.0 takes care of your corporate Internet and intranet needs. It lets your network users connect simultaneously to the Internet and to UNIX hosts. The Enterprise Suite includes a 32-bit X11R6 PC X server, plus Netscape Navigator 2.0 browser.

Essential, $225; Office, $395; Enterprise Suite, $595; 50 percent off through Sept. 30
Persoft
800-368-5283, 608-273-6000

Bigger and faster LAN servers and software applications call for faster, more flexible host adapters.

The Adaptec AHA-3940U and AHA-3940UW consist of two independent UltraSCSI channels powered by two new Adaptec AIC-7880 PhaseEngine RISC processors. The AHA-3940U SCSI bus transfers data at up to 20MB per second per channel and supports 14 SCSI devices, while the AHA-3940UW transfers data at up to 40MBps and supports up to 30 SCSI devices. The 3940U uses a narrow (8-bit) SCSI bus, and the 3940UW employs a wide (16-bit) SCSI bus.

Both host adapters feature flash BIOS for software upgrades, Adaptec 7800 Manager Set 1.3 for operation systems support and Adaptec EZ-SCSI 4.0 for SCSI peripherals management. The adapters' multichannel ability improves peripheral performance by isolating slower peripherals on the second channel. That procedure speeds database management, Web server traffic, multimedia and video production applications.

AHA-3940U, $499;
AHA-3940UW, $599
Adaptec
800-442-7274, 408-945-8600

SiteNet 2 keeps you up-to-date with your UPS. The software lets you monitor and control uninterruptible power supplies on NetWare networks. SiteNet2 features load analyses, power flow diagrams and power meters. Its event manager gives a visual display of programmed responses. Other features include a response planner with color-coded checklist, and an animated status and events display for all network units. You are able to set responses as broadcast messages, pager alerts, batch/script files, and operating and UPS system shutdown.

From $69 to $199
Liebert Corp.
800-877-9222, 614-888-0246

If you're a LAN administrator or power user, Norton Your Eyes Only provides on-the-fly encryption to protect your data. The program automatically decrypts files when opened and encrypts them when saved or closed. You can also manually encrypt and decrypt.

$89.95; upgrade for registered Norton DiskLock users, $49.95; Administrator version, $799 for 10-user pack
Symantec Corp.
800-441-7234, 541-334-6054

PrivaSuite 2.02 lets you encrypt everything from e-mail and Internet correspondence to files downloaded from the Internet to paper and PC faxes. It has three components: PrivaMail, PrivaSoft and PrivaFile. When using PrivaMail for shared documents, the sender and receiver agree on the key used for decryption. PrivaSuite includes a 30KB decryption program you can send as an attachment if the recipient isn't running the program.

$98
Aliroo
818-343-3066, fax 818-343-1436

CipherLink transparently encrypts documents and e-mail over networks and the Internet even if they travel among Windows, UNIX and Mac platforms. The software uses encryption algorithms such as DES and Triple DES to show eavesdroppers only scrambled text.

$99 (direct)
FSA Corp.
403-264-4822, fax 403-264-0873