Communications News articles from August 2007

Communications News archives from August 2007

I wish I had an iPhone.(Apple Inc. new product iPhone)(Viewpoint essay)
August 1, 2007... By press reports, Apple's iPhone is all the rage. Lines of people were outside of stores waiting to purchase the expensive smart phones ($500 for the 4-GB model) when they were introduced in late June. Of course, such purchases meant also...

Employees bogging down networks.(Network Optimization)(misuse of enterprize network affecting the work environment)
August 1, 2007... Recreational use of enterprise network resources is soaring. Employees' instant messaging, downloading of music and video, and visiting social networking sites and news/sports sites are impacting the performance of business-critical...

County communications.(SHORT TAKES)(Smith County, Texas uses new communication network)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Smith County, Texas, is using a new countywide communications network based on Avaya Communication Manager telephony software. Avaya $8720 and $8500 Media Servers and Avaya G250, G350 and G650 Media Gateways run the software and power...

Security improved.(SHORT TAKES)(Fairfax County public schools looks into security measures)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The nation's 13th-largest school district, Fairfax County Public Schools, is stepping up to the challenge of securing user identities and simplifying access to technology resources for its 164,000 students, their parents and almost 22,000...

Mesh in Virginia.(SHORT TAKES)(Radford University)(Proxim Wireless )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Radford, Va., has deployed hundreds of Proxim Wireless ORINOCO AP4000 mesh access points as the communications platform for Radnet, the city's new wireless network, "The final choice of Proxim mesh equipment was based on price, performance,...

DWDM for library.(SHORT TAKES)(Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The Library of Congress is using Level 3 fiber-optic links to provide the underlying infrastructure to the National Audio Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC). The NAVCC supports the preservation and digitization of the national copyright...

iPhones to test networks.(Wireless)(market analysis of iPhones)(Statistical data)
August 1, 2007... Now that the iPhone hype has settled down, network administrators can start to strategize on how to manage the newest end devices on their networks. According to Matt Bancroft, CMO of Mformation, managing and securing the iPhone presents a...

ShoreTel tops again?(Convergence)(rankings for telecommuincation industry)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... ShoreTel is tops again, at least in the latest ratings of IP PBXs from Nemertes Research. The report calls ShoreTel's operational start-up costs the lowest among the four vendors included in the survey of 300 IT professionals--Cisco, Avaya,...

Events.(Calendar)
August 1, 2007... 2007 BICSI Fall Conference, Sept. 10-13, LasVegas, offers educational courses for IT professionals, and an exhibition featuring cabling and infrastructure products for the enterprise, www.bicsi.org VMworld 2007, Sept. 11-13, San Francisco,...

Cisco Express Forwarding.(PUBLICATIONS)
August 1, 2007... Cisco Express Forwarding, by Nakia Stringfield, Russ White and Stacia McKee, clarifies the internal workings of Cisco routers and switches, making it easier for users to optimize performance and troubleshoot issues that arise in Cisco network...

Security Convergence: Managing Enterprise Security Risk.(PUBLICATIONS)(Dave Tyson talks on the security measures with the organization)
August 1, 2007... Security Convergence: Managing Enterprise Security Risk, by Dave Tyson, explores the movement in business to combine the roles of physical security and security management with network computer security measures within an organization....

Customer data: still not top priority.(Security)(organizations must deal in the database security )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... With more than 150 million data records exposed in the past two years, organizations face serious challenges in securing sensitive data. A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute underscores these challenges. The survey also highlights an...

Now they are 'virtual' workers.(Remote Computing)(IT executives are intended to grow their company)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The number of "virtual" workers and telecommuters is growing substantially, according to Nemertes' latest poll on the subject. The study, based on five months of in-depth interviews with 120 IT executives, finds 62 percent of participants are...

Lost their focus.(Feedback)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... Well stated in your July Viewpoint ("Techies gone wild"). I am a techie and for years loved the content in Network Computing. I enjoyed the "fun" that they put into the magazine, along with covering good topics with good technical details....

A big amen.(Feedback)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... The July 2007 issue of Communications News magazine is filled with great material. The articles on page 24 and 38 are especially valuable for data center people. The Viewpoint ("Techies gone wild") calls for a big AM EN. We depend on your pages...

Power point made.(Feedback)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... I particularly enjoyed your "Enough electricity?" Viewpoint in the June edition of Communications News. This economic revelation for data storage facilities and the communities they are located in comes as a welcome realization to public power...

Cabling nightmare.(Feedback)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... Wow! Who took the photo of the cabling nightmare behind Mr. DePietro (June cover photo)? This is one of the areas of expertise lacking in the IT realm today and responsible for innumerable problems that the industry experiences. I would...

The bulletproof network: Filtrona Extrusion implemented a network redesign to guarantee uninterrupted business processes at sites across the United States and Mexico.(company overview of Filtrona Extrusion)(Virtela Communications Inc. looks aftet it's IT solutions)(Company overview)
August 1, 2007... When Jeff White joined Filtrona Extrusion as corporate IT director, the company was operating a single threaded network with mixed traffic--mission-critical and non-mission-critical traffic running side-by-side, with no way to separate or...

Cabling brings building up to speed: Category 6 network provides performance improvements for corporate headquarters.(Cabling Infrastructure)(Range Resources Corp. gives contract to KRK for designing it's building)
August 1, 2007... In 1976, the Fort Worth, Texas, skyline changed with the construction of the first of the Tandy Center's twin 20-story towers. Two years later, the second tower was erected. The buildings were constructed to serve as the headquarters of...

Cabling improves TCO.(Cabling Infrastructure)(Total cost of ownership )
August 1, 2007... Data networks with minimal latency, high reliability and easy scalability enable more work efficiencies, faster response times and minimal service disruption. New bandwidth-intensive multimedia applications, server consolidation, link...

Reduced-size CAT 6 cable.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Designed to be light and easy to install, LANmark-6, a Category 6 UTP cable without the center spline, has a diameter of 0.195" to provide extra headroom and an increased bandwidth of 250 MHz. The cable is available in both CMP and CMR, is...

Telecom enclosure.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... The wall-mounted Mighty Mo Telecom Enclosure features a brush cable exit to prevent dirt and debris from entering the enclosure and facilitate rearrangements of exiting cables to accommodate moves, adds and changes. Able to support up to 48...

Access point enclosure.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Featuring fiberglass construction and aluminum mounting plates, NEMA 4X/IP66-rated PANZONE wireless access point enclosures provide protection against environmental conditions such as corrosion, dust and water, and include provisions for...

Redefining the data center lifecycle: blade servers offer the flexibility to upgrade the network without using a forklift approach.(Blade Servers)
August 1, 2007... Blade servers have been gaining significant ground in the data center since their introduction about six years ago. As a result, data center managers are benefiting from the improved power, cooling efficiency and serviceability of the blade...

Hosted IT infrastructure.(NETWORKING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... BlueLock Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provides a scalable service that allows organizations to pay a monthly fee for precisely the amount of computing capacity, storage, bandwidth and disaster recovery needed at any given time, with the...

KVM switch.(NETWORKING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... The 8-port KVM switch KH98 monitors the sensors inside servers and reports any abnormal conditions, and it also features IPMI 2.0 monitoring for the management of multiple servers from a single console. A single KH98 can manage up to eight...

Managed switch.(NETWORKING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... The DGS-3612G Stack is a fully managed Layer 3 switch that provides 12 SFP ports and four combo 1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet ports. The fiber-based core switching solution also provides virtual stacking functionality, allowing up to 32 units to...

Managed switches.(NETWORKING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Delivering 15.4 W of DC power on either eight or four ports, Transition managed switches provide reversed polarity cross, PD signature sensing, SNMP power-monitoring features per IEEE 802.3af standard, over-current protection and under-current...

E-mail keeps fuel flowing; maintenance tool provides management capabilities for Exchange environment.(Storage Technologies)(Port Consolidated)
August 1, 2007... For Port Consolidated, a leading distributor of high-quality motor fuels, lubricants and additives for markets that include Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America, e-mail is not merely a convenient way of communicating, it is at the center of...

Network storage.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Powered by a 400-MHz Intel 80219 processor, the four-bay Ethernet Disk RAID 4TB serves as a file-sharing server and central backup storage for multiple computers. The system includes four hot-swappable disks, RAID 0, 1, 5, 5+spare, and two USB...

Disaster-recovery solution.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)(Double-Take)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Double-Take provides real-time data replication and failover to protect and recover business-critical data and applications--in both physical and virtual environments--from outages, natural disasters and other disruptive events. Double-Take...

Data cartridge.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Offering a transfer rate of up to 240 Mbps and a storage capacity of up to 1.6 TB, the LTO Ultrium 4 tape cartridge is designed for securely transporting, storing and backing up digital information. Data encryption technology and WORM...

Secure portable hard drive.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... The Aegis Bio is a hardware-encrypted biometric hard drive that allows users to securely access files with a fingerprint biometric sensor instead of a password. Available in 80-, 120- and 160-GB capacities, the cross-platform-compatible,...

Green storage gaining ground: power consumption, ventilation layouts, new technologies help ease data center costs.(Storage Technologies)
August 1, 2007... There have been some impressive developments in green technology recently for communications and networking, both in terms of innovation and adoption. This is not necessarily because of an increase in idealism, but rather economic necessity,...

Storage array.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Configurable up to 10.8 TB, ftScalable features end-to-end redundancy, including hot-swappable RAID arrays, power supplies and fans, as well as environmental monitoring, rolling firmware upgrades and online RAID expansion. The system's 2U...

Storage service.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Utilizing a variety of geographically diverse data centers, Peak 10 E-Vaulting service offers secure data backup to at least two of Peak 10's data centers. Automated data transfers are monitored as they are sent over secure private lines, and...

Centralized data protection.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Veritas NetBackup 6.5 offers a single approach to agents, policy management, recovery processes, security, backup reporting and the data catalog. To protect UNIX, Windows, Linux and VMware environments, NetBackup unites data-protection...

Data backup system.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... For unattended backup and rapid file recovery of up to 2 TB of data, the REO 1500 appliance offers disk-based backup, recovery and virtual tape library (VTL) options. The system is available with any combination of six VTLs, 32 virtual tape...

Data loss prevention.(STORAGE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Designed to monitor, block, quarantine and encrypt sensitive data, McAfee Data Loss Prevention (DLP) offers complete visibility and control over data transfers to prevent accidental and malicious loss of confidential data at network and desktop...

Best practices for VoIP security: one technique for a converged network is to virtually separate voice and data traffic.(VoIP Security)
August 1, 2007... The ability to converge the view of network and security information is no longer just "nice to have" in the fight against application-layer attacks, worms, hacking, spyware and data theft. These days, situational awareness of internal and...

Communications system.(VOICE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Used for voice, data and wireless networking in one device, the Xcelerator IP integrates a SIP gateway and IP phone system that supports up to 24 IP2007 SIP telephones, a SIP carrier and proxy services, integrated voice mail and auto attendant,...

Managed VoIP service.(VOICE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... To ensure VoIP quality and reliability, Proactive Voice Quality Management (PVQM) provides an around-the-clock managed service for real-time QoE and QoS to every IP handset. PVQM service provides the staff, processes and tools for call...

Wireless headset.(VOICE PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2007... Designed for both traditional and IP desk phones, the CS70N Professional Wireless Headset System features a boom and a noise-canceling microphone, along with an integrated base and charging cradle. Users can take calls and talk hands-free up to...

Why VoIP security matters; the answer to privacy concerns with VoIP is TLS and SRTP (sorry about those acronyms).(VoIP Security)
August 1, 2007... Converged IT infrastructure is one of the main reasons companies decide to deploy voice over IP (VoIP). VoIP enables unified messaging by incorporating phone traffic, e-mail and file servers on the LAN. While this can increase employee...

VoIP becomes target.(VoIP Security)
August 1, 2007... Most enterprises implementing voice over IP (VoIP) are initially concerned about voice quality, latency and interoperability. The focus on these quality-of-service concerns, however, often results in security risks associated with VoIP being...

Data center monitor.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
August 1, 2007... Allowing remote monitoring in real time from any Web-enabled computer, the Liebert vEM-14 combines environmental monitoring with power management to help prevent overheating and power overload in the data center. The rack-mounted unit is...

Alien crosstalk test.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
August 1, 2007... The N2648A alien crosstalk test solution enables field-testing of 10GBASE-T conformance and displays test results directly on the Wire-Scope Pro cable/fiber tester. The system also features tracking and troubleshooting modes for fast failure...

Network traffic analyzer.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
August 1, 2007... To provide in-depth visibility into network traffic, NetFlow Analyzer Enterprise Edition can scale to manage thousands of switching and routing devices and several million flow records per minute. The collector component receives NetFlow...

Portable network analysis.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
August 1, 2007... The GigaStor Portable mobile forensics system can troubleshoot intermittent network, application and security problems wherever they occur. The device collects and saves packet-level data, which it then decodes, analyzes and displays. With...

Wi-Fi analyzer.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
August 1, 2007... The hand-held Yellowjacket 802.11b/a/g Wi-Fi analyzer demodulates, sweeps and analyzes Wi-Fi network packets, including 802.11b (2.4 GHz), 802.11g (2.4 GHz) and 802.11a (5 GHz) packets. The analyzer is accurate to within +1 dB and measures RF...

Cable verifier.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
August 1, 2007... The MicroScanner2 Cable Verifier displays cable length, wire map, cable ID and distance to break or short as visual representations on a single screen. The device also recognizes and displays what types of services are available at the outlet...