Tail-f Systems Helps Telecom Industry Unleash Power of the NETCONF Standard for Configuration Management

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN--(Marketwire - April 22, 2008) - Tail-f Systems, the leading software developer of XML-based network management solutions, announced today that it is shipping two new products which enable network equipment and network management software providers to unleash the powerful configuration management capabilities built into the NETCONF standard. ConfM, for element management systems, and Instant NETCONF Agent, for network equipment, complement Tail-f Systems' existing ConfD software to make up the industry's most complete family of NETCONF solutions.

The NETCONF protocol is an IETF standard (RFCs 4741 and 4742) that defines a programmatic interface enabling management applications to automate the configuration of network elements. Transaction management, validations, and rollbacks are powerful configuration management functions built into NETCONF. Transaction management combines multiple configuration changes into a single atomic transaction. By ensuring that all changes are made consistently before they are finally committed, network operators avoid mis-configuration errors that often lead to network outages. Both carrier and enterprise networks benefit from NETCONF as a mechanism to resiliently provision complex networks while reducing operating costs.

"NETCONF is the industry's response to the challenge of provisioning large, complex networks," said Hakan Millroth, President and CEO, Tail-f Systems. "Large equipment providers, like Cisco and Juniper, have already integrated NETCONF into their products. Now, with products like ConfM and Instant NETCONF Agent, other industry players have the tools to rapidly catch up and meet the needs of network operators for a resilient, standards-based approach to configuration management."

ConfM is a Java-based software engine which allows EMS/NMS software developers to extend their applications with a southbound NETCONF interface and intelligent network-wide configuration management functions. Designed for carrier-grade performance, ConfM is implemented using a scalable session oriented programming model.

For embedded network management software developers, Instant NETCONF Agent is the fastest way to add a northbound NETCONF Interface to existing applications. Instant NETCONF Agent is a highly portable and compact software library that fully implements all NETCONF capabilities.

ConfM and Instant NETCONF Agent are both shipping and available for evaluation.

About Tail-f Systems

Tail-f Systems is the leading developer of XML-based network management software for the providers of networking equipment and software. Customers using Tail-f Systems' technology radically reduce their time-to-market and benefit from carrier-grade implementations of NETCONF, Web, CLI, and SNMP interfaces. Tail-f is a venture-funded company headquartered in Stockholm. For more information see www.tail-f.com.

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Contact Information: Press Contact: Andrea Doeringer 781.893.0053