Communications News articles from February 2008

Communications News archives from February 2008

The truth about blogs.(Viewpoint)(Viewpoint essay)
February 1, 2008... We have two blogs on the Communications News Web site, one that I write and one penned by Associate Editor Denise DiRamio. Mine is used more to run ideas by site visitors, gain some insight from those readers and create a dialog. Denise's is...

Seven trends to shape CIO's role.(Career Path)(Chief information officers)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There will be two types of chief information officers (CIO) in 2008, according to Forrester Research. The first are change-agent CIOs, who are "continually increasing credibility and influence with CEO and...

Secure access.(SHORT TAKES)(Technicolor Network Services uses network switches and digital videos)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Technicolor Network Services division of Thomson has deployed LANShield switches from ConSentry Networks to protect the critical network assets of the firm. The switches provide access control and insight into all user activity on the...

Wireless campus.(SHORT TAKES)(Cornell University uses Wireless LANs of Aruba Wireless Networks)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Cornell University has started deploying Aruba Network's adaptive wireless LANs across its Ithaca, N.Y., campus. Once fully deployed, the campus, which encompasses more than 20,000 students, 14,000 faculty and staff, and some 260 buildings...

iPhone not meant for enterprises.(Wireless)(Apple Inc.'s iPhone features)
February 1, 2008... Since its introduction, Apple's iPhone has drawn much interest from business executives. IT operations professionals, however, have remained skeptical about providing support for the devices. According to Benjamin Gray at Forrester Research,...

Emergency communications outdated.(Messaging )(emergency communications systems used for safety of metropolitan areas)
February 1, 2008... A national survey of U.S. residents, conducted by CDW-Government, suggests that emergency notification capabilities are not evolving with advances in technology and changing information-consumption habits. While wireless subscribers in America...

10-gig switching.(SHORT TAKES)(Tornillo Independent School District uses computer network devices)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The Tornillo Independent School District, nestled just outside El Paso, Texas, recently decided on a 10-gigabit switching infrastructure with fiber uplinks to boost network performance and improve connectivity for its entire regional...

Unified storage.(SHORT TAKES)(Harvey Mudd College uses storage systems of Reldata )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Harvey Mudd College (HMC) has chosen Reldata 9240 Unified Storage Systems to satisfy the storage needs of the school's IT infrastructure. The 9240 systems include 9240 controllers in an active-active failover configuration, REL-vos 2.1...

Events.(TRENDS)(conference of telecommunications industry and information technology services industry)(Conference news)(Brief article)(Calendar)
February 1, 2008... Gartner Business Continuity Management Summit, March 5-7, Chicago, provides strategies for continuity, rapid recovery and resiliency from disaster. www.gartner.com/us/bizcon Infosec World Conference & Expo 2008, March 10-12, Orlando,...

Security role is evolving.(Security)(trends in data security knowledge)
February 1, 2008... A growing number of organizations recognize information security can provide more than just protection of corporate assets, with the delivery of IT and operational efficiencies and improving overall business performance emerging as critical...

Practical Oracle Security.(PUBLICATIONS)(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Practical Oracle Security, by Josh Shaul and Aaron Ingram, is a step-by-step guide to securing both existing and newly installed Oracle databases. It also details best practices to implement to alleviate information security concerns and...

The Best Damn Firewall Book Period, 2e.(PUBLICATIONS)(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... The Best Damn Firewall Book Period, 2e, by Thomas Shinder, covers the most recent releases from Microsoft, Cisco, Juniper Networks, SonicWALL Aventail and Check Point in sections organized by vendor that include hardware, software and VPN...

Top five VoIP threats identified.(Convergence)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Based on industry trends that include major IP telephony vendors offering SIP solutions, enterprises deploying VoIP and unified communications (UC) beyond the traditionally secure perimeter, and service providers aggressively embracing fixed...

How one data center kept its cool: carmaker enhanced delivery of chilled air to decrease temperatures, and increase reliability and capacity.(Power Play)(Cover story)
February 1, 2008... The data center is the engine that keeps a major enterprise running. If that engine overheats and performs suboptimally, the enterprise may experience disruptions of service, or significant downtime and associated expenses. This is precisely...

When do you take the plunge? VCU bridges the gap between old and new with hybrid integrated communications infrastructure.(Virginia Commonwealth University)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For enterprise CIOs and telecom directors, the question of when to consider a migration from traditional private branch exchange (PBX) or Centrex systems to IP-based telephony is all too familiar. For Virginia...

Faster VPN provides insurance: SSL VPN overcomes security and deployment challenges for third-party site connectivity.(Special Focus: Network Security)(Hub International Ltd. uses Virtual private network)
February 1, 2008... Insurance firm Hub International is in acquisition mode, having pulled off three in the second quarter of 2007 alone. This makes getting newly acquired firms quickly connected to critical resources on the Hub International network a high...

Compliance and the AS/400.(International Business Machines Corp.'s IBM System i )
February 1, 2008... The IBM System i (as the AS/400 is now known) carries some of the most critical and sensitive data in the organization. While industry and government compliance initiatives require the protection of personal and confidential data, the average...

Buyers' guide.(Special Focus: Network Security)(Directory)
February 1, 2008... Companies in this Network Security Buyers' Guide can assist you in selecting the products and services that work best for your organization. INTRUSION DETECTION/PREVENTION 8e6 Technologies 888-786-7999 www.8e6.com Access...

Network security appliance.(Special Focus: Network Security)(data security device NAR-5520 of American Portwell Technology )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... The 1U NAR-5520 communication/network security appliance combines network security, firewall, WAN optimization, antivirus server, unified threat management, media gateway and triple play broadcasting for the enterprise. The NAR-5520 includes...

Spam filter.(Special Focus: Network Security)(SPAMfighter Exchange Module 3.4.0)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... With SPAMfighter Exchange Module (SEM) 3.4.0, users can block various forms of spam e-mail, including PDF and image spam. SEM 3.4.0 features full support for active/passive Exchange cluster users, and provides full fail-over capability for...

Role-based security.(Special Focus: Network Security)
February 1, 2008... To address security and compliance requirements at the switch level, Trusted Security (TrustSec) authenticates users, assigns roles and enforces policies on enterprise networks comprised of Cisco switches, routers and unified wireless network...

Smart phone data protection.(Special Focus: Network Security)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Smartphone Protection defends against data loss and data leakage on smart phones and hand-held devices. The policy-based security program ensures data on devices is encrypted, and access to applications, ports, Wi-Fi and external devices are...

Mobile device security.(Special Focus: Network Security)
February 1, 2008... Featuring data encryption and authentication, Trend Micro Mobile Security 5.0 protects smart phones and PDAs from data loss, infections and attacks. If a mobile device is lost or stolen, the business-critical data contained in it is encrypted...

Firewall operations management.(Special Focus: Network Security)(Tufin Technologies's SecureTrack 4.1)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Offered as a software-based or appliance-based solution, SecureTrack 4.1 manages firewall configuration changes in real time, enforces corporate security policies and government security standards, automates manual day-to-day tasks, and stores,...

Multigigabit application security.(Special Focus: Network Security)
February 1, 2008... As an integrated security gateway that combines firewall, VPN and intrusion prevention with acceleration, the VPN-1 Power Multi-core delivers processing speeds of up to 5.3-Gbps integrated intrusion prevention throughput. Key performance...

Exchange trades up to 10 gigabit: the consensus was to standardize the data center from end to end on a single vendor's products.(Cabling Infrastructure)(Chicago Board Options Exchange Inc. uses telecommunications cables)
February 1, 2008... Joe Sternbauer, director of electrical engineering at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), has witnessed his organization's evolution from a mainframe-computing environment utilizing coax and shielded cabling to a distributed PC...

Schools standardize IT cabinets: equipment placed in classrooms will allow for future growth and new technologies.(Cabling Infrastructure)
February 1, 2008... The St. Paul School District in Minnesota recently completed phase one of a multiyear classroom IT project in K-12 classrooms across the entire public school system. The initial phase represented the installation of more than 500 wall cabinets...

CAT 6a/7 termination block.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... The SS-51 punch down blocks enable Field termination of AWG 22-26 solid copper wire/cabling in CAT 6a and CAT 7 applications where wires are individually shielded. The blocks allow for staggered pair-to-pair arrangements in multiport designs to...

DC power systems.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Available in shelf, rack and cabinet configurations, 48 V Guardian Series DC power systems deliver power densities exceeding 27 W per cubic inch or 25 kW per rack unit. The rectifier subsystems feature wide-range 90 VAC to 300 VAC input with...

Divided raceway.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... The dual-compartment Wiremold 2400D offers an alternative to installing separate raceway runs and device boxes for both power and data, and features downward-facing device boxes for receptacles and communications jacks, which can be placed at...

Cooling solution.(INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... The Liebert DS precision cooling system is available in configurations of 53 kW, 70 kW, 77 kW and 105 kW to support applications that require cooling delivered from the top of the unit in data centers or telecommunications environments that do...

Network assessment tool.(NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Enabling companies to determine if their cabling, switches and routers, and network bandwidth are ready for VoIP, the Network Assessment Tool provides information for a detailed analysis of the current and projected telecommunications...

Network management.(NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Offering real-time and historical visibility, Mazu Profiler 8.0 helps IT operations and security teams understand and manage network activity across the WAN, LAN, desktop and data center. Network behavior can be viewed from various...

KVM switches.(NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... With built-in IP remote access, the KH1508i/KH1516i High-Density KVM over the NET switches are available in eight- and 16-port units, enabling a single console to remotely control up to eight or 16 computers via LAN, WAN or the Internet. The...

Traffic monitoring/management.(NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... The FlowLine 500 and SlimLine 100 offer capabilities for traffic monitoring (NetFlow v5), flow tracking/management, firewall and DoS prevention. The compact appliances offer peer-to-peer application identification, administrative traffic...

Schools bolster student safety: secure converged network puts an IP phone in every classroom and staff office.(Unified Communications)
February 1, 2008... By leveraging funding from the federal E-Rate program and utilizing the extensive IT expertise of its contractor, San Jose's Franklin-McKinley School District (FMSD) has been able to keep pace with national and state technology standards--in...

Law firm deploys converged network.(Unified Communications)
February 1, 2008... In the highly competitive law field, every little advantage can make the difference between being considered a good firm and a great one. With this in mind, Gibbons, a leading law firm in the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania metropolitan...

Uninterruptible power supply.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... The Winsted PRO-E UPS is designed to protect digital video recorders, access-control workstations and data-communications systems. The UPS is compact enough to be used on the desktop or under a console. The solution features a built-in...

Bypass airflow seal.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] KoldLok Extended Raised Floor Grommets solve bypass airflow problems by sealing cable openings. The customizable 3" and 6" grommets can seal 24" or 600-mm raised-floor tiles to increase static pressure under the...

UTP receiver hubs.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Suited for video-surveillance deployments, HubWayLD Hubs transmit UTP video and RS422/$485 data on a single CAT 5e or CAT 6 cable for distances up to 3,000 feet. The units are available with eight or 16 video channels in 1U rackmount,...

Log management.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Providing audit-quality log collection, storage, reporting and analysis, ArcSight Log Management Suite can scale from small businesses to large enterprises using stackable appliances with processing rates up to 100,000 events per second per...

Single sign-on solution.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Novell SecureLogin helps meet compliance regulations for multifactor authentication, automates and facilitates password management, and minimizes IT administration. The scalable solution provides access to the network and Web resources via...

Encoder and decoder.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Delivering DVD-quality video performance at high and low bit rates, the C-44 video encoder/ decoder system is capable of compressing up to four video channels over IP using MPEG-4 and motion JPEG. The C-44 is less than 8 inches long and can...

Mobile unified communications.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... To extend unified communications beyond the enterprise, Avaya one-X Mobile provides secure access to corporate telephony, voice mail, call logs and corporate directories to mobile devices, such as iPhone, RIM, Palm, Java, WAP, Symbian and...

Wireless surveillance camera.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The WVC2300 Wireless-G Business Internet Video Camera has a built-in Web server, VGA resolution, low-light sensitivity and a maximum frame rate of 30 fps. The camera can be mounted on any pan-tilt base and remotely...

Communication gateway.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... As an IP-based network gateway solution, the Panasonic KXHG400 enables remote connection and Web-based desktop access, acting as a central communications gateway through a single point of entry for networked devices like printers, cameras,...

Server virtualization software.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Supporting Oracle and non-Oracle applications, server virtualization software Oracle VM consists of open-source server software and an integrated Web browser-based management console for creating, cloning, sharing, configuring, booting and...

Video recorder.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Distributed media manager DMM-1500 is an intelligent video recorder, stream server and video information manager, which empowers any analog video-surveillance camera with video-analytic and IP network-based capabilities. Up to two analog...

Color laser printer.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Equipped with embedded security features and remote connectivity software, the Aficio SP C400DN color laser printer prints 26 ppm in color and black/white, with resolutions up to 1,200 x 1,200 dpi. The desktop printer features a 1,750-sheet...

Combination network switch.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... The SMC8724-10BT TigerSwitch 10G standalone 24-port switch features 20 ports of 10GBASE-T and four XFP-based 10-G fiber ports in a 1U-high appliance to enable Ethernet adoption across various LAN applications. The IEEE802.3an-compliant switch...

Build-to-order workstations.(General Products)
February 1, 2008... Endeavor Tower XT and XS Workstations are configurable with quad-core Intel Xeon processors running at 1.6 GHz or 2.0 GHz. The systems include professional graphics, hot-swap hard-drive bays (users can pull out and replace hard drives without...

Application-performance monitor.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... With Application Performance Monitoring (APM), administrators can monitor and measure traffic and end-to-end performance at application level by performing measurements on actual traffic. The integrated solution ensures service-level agreements...

Performance management.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... Visual Performance Manager provides visibility for network and application performance, and VoIP communications across the entire enterprise. The solution helps identify performance degradation and provides root-cause analysis of performance...

Network behavior analysis.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... StealthWatch System 5.7 offers behavior-based anomaly detection and network performance monitoring across the enterprise. NetFlow data is used to provide enhanced network visibility and detailed intelligence for optimizing security and network...

Network test module.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... Designed to help save time and reduce errors when testing access and LAN networks, the Short-Range LAN (SRL) OTDR can provide a testing combination of up to five wavelengths in multimode and singlemode. The SRL OTDR offers 0.5/2.5...

Network monitoring software.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... NetGong 6.3 allows network administrators to monitor any networked device on the Internet, corporate intranet or TCP/IP LAN and receive alerts via audible alarm, message, e-mail or third-party software when a connection fails. The software...

Network analysis.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... Designed to locate and troubleshoot network problems, Capsa 6.5, a Windows packet and protocol analyzer, performs network analysis, packet sniffing, packet decoding, network monitoring and protocol analysis. Users can directly monitor real-time...

Power-monitoring software.(Product Spotlight: Testing & Monitoring)
February 1, 2008... Supporting up to 32 devices, Square D PowerLogic PowerView helps track real-time power conditions and remotely monitors electrical equipment or installations at key distribution points across a network, as well as monitor for pending problems...

The key to broad use of 10GigE: traditional RJ-45 Ethernet at 10-gigabit speed will mainstream copper connectivity.(Up to Speed)
February 1, 2008... BASE-T, or twisted-pair copper cable with RJ-45 connectors, is the most cost-effective and easiest way to create Ethernet local area networks. It is the connectivity of choice for more than 90 percent of the links in data centers, and the...