Communications News articles from August 2002

Communications News archives from August 2002

Feedback is important. (Editor's Note).
August 1, 2002... You would think that the editor of a 100,000-circulation magazine, with perhaps three times that many pass-along readers, would have ample interaction with his subscribers. Truth is, I have far more contact with the companies who sell you...

DSL in the security mix: video surveillance, air-quality sensors and employee tracking add up to a complete security solution. (Guest Column).
August 1, 2002... Security is more than metal detectors and alarms. With the unquestionable need for security, a complete solution--with real-time video surveillance, air-quality sensors, employee-tracking systems, automatic data backup and systematic emergency...

Certificates secure new bank services. (Trends).
August 1, 2002... In the highly competitive world of banking, winning and keeping customers often depends on the extra services a bank offers. Zions First National Bank, with offices in Idaho and Utah, implemented new services based on technology that expands...

Hot spots. (Trends).(Airport hot spots for Wi-Fi wireless access )
August 1, 2002... Road warriors increasingly are using wireless access with their laptops and handheld devices. While anytime, anywhere wireless connections on the road are still a dilemma, hereUare Communications, San Jose, CA, says that as of late May, 42...

Six next-gen disruptive technologies. (Trends).
August 1, 2002... Digital disruption--the arrival of a technology so radically superior that it has the potential to render entire industries obsolete--has happened more often in the last 100 years than in any other period of history, as the vacuum tube, LP...

Events. (Trends).
August 1, 2002... [check] The University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering offers "Fundamentals of Data Communications" from Aug. 12-14, for technicians, engineers, CSRs, IS programmers, and equipment and service marketing staff. E-mail...

Make conferences effective. (Trends).
August 1, 2002... Professionals find Web-conferencing presentations different from in-person experiences. The audience is often silent, with no readable facial expressions, and no observable body language. The weight of the presentation is carried by the...

Spirent plc, Crawley, England, is acquiring the remote special services test product line of Anritsu, Laguna Hills, CA, for $26 million. (nanoBits).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Spirent plc, Crawley, England, is acquiring the remote special services test product line of Anritsu, Laguna Hills, CA, for $26 million. The product line includes systems to access, test and monitor service providers' network performance.

Proxim Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, is purchasing the 802.11 wireless LAN equipment business of Agere Systems. (nanoBits).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... ... Proxim Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, is purchasing the 802.11 wireless LAN equipment business of Agere Systems, Berkeley Heights, NJ, including its ORiNOCO product line, for $65 million....

CacheFlow. (nanoBits).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... The Delaware state government will deploy CacheFlow, Sunnyvale, CA, 6000 Series Web security appliances, allowing network administrators to implement content filtering policies....

Equant. (nanoBits).(contract with Bacardi)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Equant, Atlanta, has implemented a 44-site, 21-country IP virtual private network for spirits-maker Bacardi to interconnect its U.S., European and South American locations....

Nortel Networks. (nanoBits).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... In a $15-million deal, China Unicom has selected Nortel Networks, Brampton, Ontario, to deploy a metropolitan optical network in seven cities in Guangdong Province.

The elevation of an IT outsourcing partnership: with HP SAP-trained staff, KONE's global strategy is top level. (Cover Story).
August 1, 2002... When KONE, one of the world's largest escalator and elevator companies, embarked on a globalization strategy several years ago, it analyzed its internal IT processes and costs as part of the process. Management discovered the company's network...

A storehouse of solutions: options include speed, simplicity and cost savings. (Network Management).(Pacific Coast Jiffy Lube)
August 1, 2002... Pacific Coast Jiffy Lube--part of Jiffy Lube International, one of the largest franchisers in the fast oil-change and fluid-maintenance industry with more than 2,000 service centers located in 49 state--encompasses all outlets in California's...

Conferencing: boardrooms to classrooms: the laptop-and-lunchbox generation learns that knowledge is the future's new commodity. (Telephony/CTI).
August 1, 2002... Often ballyhooed strictly as an alternative to business travel, conferencing is, quite simply, convenient collaboration among people. Through conference calls, forums, instant messages, newsgroups, bulletin boards, e-mail, notes,...

Demystify optical providers: new companies form exclusively for giving metro businesses the advantage of high-speed connectivity. (Optical Technologies).
August 1, 2002... Over the past few years, explosive bandwidth demands have exposed limitations in the metropolitan network infrastructure. As enterprises continue to shift focus to business continuity and disaster-recovery strategies, network limitations will...

Optimize space and time: data center design depends on optical solution. (Cabling, Wiring and Enclosures).
August 1, 2002... Enterprise-level sharing, management, protection and storage of data have become critical to business success. A leader in networked information storage--offering systems that store, protect, move, manage and access information--is EMC Corp.,...

Swing rack. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Booth 605 The SFR Swing Frame Rack is designed as an economical solution for housing patch panels, switches, hubs and routers in secure rooms or closets. The unit securely supports up to 100 lbs. of equipment in an innovative open-frame...

Fiber converter. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Booth 310 Double the fiber capacity of single-mode fiber optic cable and extend trunk distances over fiber to 40 km, with the iConverter Single Fiber managed media converter. The module uses WDM technology to permit two individual channels...

Complete copper system. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Booth 600 Designed for shorter distance applications, the Volition CAT 5e System is a complete, end-to-end passive cabling system that includes a tool-less jack, high-performance cable, patch panels and faceplates. The RJ-45 jacks provide...

Compact media conversion. (BICSI 2002).(Transition Networks Dual Fast Ethernet Converter)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Booth 411 The Dual Fast Ethernet Converter is a slide-in modular card containing two fiber interfaces in the front of the unit, and has copper routed to two RJ-21 connectors on the rear of the chassis. Up to 12 cards can populate the 18...

Cable column. (BICSI 2002).(Wiremold)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Booth 707 Provide power and communications in open areas with the Vista Series. The architectural columns serve as design elements, and deliver power and communications from overhead to the workspace without compromising aesthetics. They...

Lockable cabinet. (BICSI 2002).(Ortronics Mighty Mo Cable Management Cabinets)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Booth 302 The Mighty Mo Cable Management Cabinets offer security, aesthetics and functionality for applications that require a secure telecom closet where no telecom room exists. The 32"-wide, full-size cabinet includes two vertical...

Cable-cutting tool. (BICSI 2002).(Benner-Nawman)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Booth 104 The lineman's best cutter for multi-stranded communication cable, the UP-B41 has a patented offset bite to eliminate compression and frayed ends. The tool can easily cut 50-pair communication cable, 2/0 aluminum cable and #2...

Wall-mounted cabinet. (BICSI 2002).(Hoffman)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Booth 500 When floor space is at a premium, the wall-mounted 19" Bottom-Hinged Panel cabinet provides a home for telephone and voice-mail equipment, routers, switches, punch-down panels and patch panels. The unit features unrestricted air...

Thin CAT 6 cable. (BICSI 2002).(Quabbin Wire and Cable Datamax 6 Horizontal Cable)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Booth 300 Smaller in diameter than most other horizontal cables, the four-pair DataMax 6 Horizontal Cable is a UTP, CMR-rated, solid-conductor, Category 6-compliant cable. The cable is designed to reduce the installed cost of horizontal...

Analyze an expanding system: getting a clear picture of the network put out daily network fires. (Testing and Diagnostics).
August 1, 2002... For the past four years, the city of Vero Beach, FL, has been stretching its network from a two-hub system with no interbuilding connectivity to a WAN system spanning the municipality's eight locations--from City Hall to the local power plant...

Hand-held test set. (Testing and monitoring products).(Sunrise Telecom SunLight Loss Test Set)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... With a light source and power meter in one unit, the SunLight Loss Test Set is a tool designed for field and laboratory testing of fiber-optic systems. The unit's convenient automated test feature allows users to perform measurements...

Mobile testing. (Testing and monitoring products).(Tempo TeamMate)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... A PDA-size test equipment platform, the TeamMate is a lightweight portable telecommunications testing platform in a powerful hand-held user interface and communications package. Built rugged and weatherproof, TeamMate is designed to work in all...

Component analysis. (Testing and monitoring products).(Luna Technologies Virtual Instrument Software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Eliminate measuring optical components multiple times by accessing stored test data with Virtual Instrument Software. The software makes component characterization data more accessible. It also increases productivity by enabling users of the...

Benefit from e-mail management: enhanced features make burgeoning volumes of e-mail easily handled. (Internet/IP Technologies).
August 1, 2002... E-mail is no longer a second-tier communication channel. The question today is not whether e-mail should be used to communicate with customers or not, but whether the company is going to suffer from or benefit from inbound e-mail. Most...

VPN service. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Cable and Wireless IP-VPN Internet Service)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Get global coverage and the easy addition of extra bandwidth or new sites virtually anywhere in the world. The IP-VPN Internet Service allows enterprises to get the functionality of a private data network, together with the flexibility and cost...

VPN and virus protection. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Symantec Gateway Security appliance)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Designed to provide small and midsize businesses and branch offices of large corporations with protection against security breaches at the network perimeter, the Gateway Security appliance integrates firewall, gateway-level antivirus, intrusion...

Corporate VPN solution. (Security appliances and VPNs).(ADTRAN NetVanta 2400 gateway)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Branch offices or midsize host applications can use the NetVanta 2400, an IPSec-compliant gateway designed for large corporate needs, which supports 1,000 secure tunnels. Features include a stateful inspection firewall, NAT and integral...

Versatile appliance. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Bivio Networks Bivio 1000-AX)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... For enterprise broadband-access and data-center applications, the Bivio 1000-AX integrates gigabit speed routing, firewall, VPN, NAT and QoS into a single appliance. The product delivers routing between the intranet and Internet via RIP/OSPF. A...

Compact VPN appliance. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Advantech Network Computing FWA-230)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... The FWA-230 is a VPN/security appliance with three 10/100 Mbps autosensing Fast Ethernet ports in the front panel for WAN, LAN and DMZ connections. Also on the front panel is a nine-pin, RS-232 serial port for local system management,...

VPN and T-1. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Efficient Networks se5940 T1 Business Gateway)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... The se5940 T1 Business Gateway combines a T-1 CSU/DSU, router, robust firewall, VPN, 10/100 Ethernet switch and v.90 modem for dial backup. Supporting access to any type of T-1 network-frame relay, ATM or leased line T-1--the device enables...

Scalable VPN. (Security appliances and VPNs).(NetScreen Technologies NetScreen-5400)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... The NetScreen-5400 is a four-slot, high-performance security system for large enterprise, carrier and data center networks. The unit permits up to one million concurrent sessions, has a firewall performance of up to 12 Gbps, and a triple-DES...

Software VPN. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Stonesoft StoneGate 2.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Designed to allow IP multicasting that is used by videoconferencing applications and real-time data streams, StoneGate, version 2.0, is a high-availability firewall and VPN solution. The easy-to-install software appliance enables static routing...

VPN, voice and multimedia service. (Security appliances and VPNs).(Clearpath Networks iPVN)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Bosed an powerful ATM and multiprotocol label-switching technology, the iVPN solution allows smaller businesses to cost-effectively maximize the value of voice, data and multimedia communications throughout their business locations. The iVPN...

Rewards for the remote worker: careful exploration results in easier system administration. (Wireless).(Clarkston Consulting)
August 1, 2002... Supporting remote and mobile workers is a challenge for any IT department charged with the responsibility of making sure that they have the most up-to-date software and licensing agreements, their hardware is properly configured, and they have...

External storage. (New Products).(EZQuest Cobra +)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Designed for PCs and Macs, the Cobra+ 120 GB drive is ideal for large video, audio and data projects. The external FireWire hard drive is housed in a light-gray, streamlined case that is fully shielded with metal. In addition to its rotational...

Rack cooling. (New Products).(Liebert RackCooler)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Keep equipment cool with the RackCooler, a supplemental system that mounts on most standard rack and server enclosures to provide more than two tons of cooling capacity. The system will remove up to 8 kW of heat from each enclosure and requires...

Video messaging. (New Products).(Eyeball Video Communications Platform)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Enable teams to communicate and collaborate from anywhere with the Eyeball Video Communications Platform. The software infrastructure enables companies to develop and deploy reliable, scalable and cost-efficient video communications...

Speedy wireless. (New Products).(Agere Systems Orinoco AP-2000)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Add wireless speed, bandwidth and channels with the 802.11a, 5 GHz radio and antenna kit for the ORINOCO AP-2000 dual-radio wireless network access point. The new kit consists of a 5-GHz radio card and a special antenna. The wireless access...

Cool the room. (New Products).(portable air conditioner from AirPac)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Portable air conditioner is a solution for primary, temporary, supplemental and emergency cooling of mission-critical IT equipment in data/LAN rooms. The COOLIT3300 is a compact, self-contained unit that has a cooling capacity of 28,000 BTU/h,...

Secure wireless. (New Products).(security solution from Funk Software)(Odyssey)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
August 1, 2002... Easily deploy security across an enterprise network with Odyssey, a complete wireless LAN access control and security solution based on the IEEE security standard 802.1x. The system includes both client software and a RADIUS server specially...

Outsourcing network management: what was once seen as a cost-cutting tactic may now be a smart strategic decision. (The Bottom Line).
August 1, 2002... Discussing outsourcing in a magazine for network managers is always a little dangerous. The topic itself puts many people on the defensive, since they think it implies that they are just not very good at what they do. Unfortunately, that...