Communications News articles from January 2002

Communications News archives from January 2002

Tough choices.(Editorial)
January 1, 2002... Selecting a storage solution is not as simple a decision as opting for network-attached storage (NAS) or a storage area network (SAN), particularly for smaller enterprises. Take, for example, an interesting decision process undertaken by a...

Firms take stock in Ethernet. (Trends).
January 1, 2002... Increasingly, enterprises are considering metro area network (MAN) service providers over traditional telcos to meet their growing bandwidth needs. At the Chicago Stock Exchange, for example, where legacy T-1 lines were frequently being jammed...

Short take. (Trends).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... On wireless instant messaging: "Wireless instant messaging can offer companies an enormous revenue and savings opportunity. The business value wireless IM brings will be a key factor in its shift from a personal communication tool to an...

NanoBits. (Trends).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Graybar Electric Co. (www.graybar.com), a distributor of voice and data communications products and services, is now offering Ericsson's complete line of enterprise communications products.... United Technologies Corp. (www.utc.com) has...

Events. (Trends).
January 1, 2002... [check] CIROptics 2002 invites executives, network planners, and senior marketing, product, or technology managers, and service providers to participate in debates and audience interaction among leading optical-industry experts. Topics range...

Disaster recovery system ensures 100% uptime. (Trends).
January 1, 2002... When the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), the largest municipally owned utility in the nation, decided to replace its existing disaster-recovery (DR) system, it chose a solution that mirrors, electronically, disaster recovery...

An Introduction to U.S. Telecommunications Law, Second Edition.(Publications. (Trends).)(Review)
January 1, 2002... Artech House Publishers has released An Introduction to U.S. Telecommunications Law, Second Edition, by Charles Kennedy, a revised and updated look at the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The book is a concise, jargon-free reference that...

Shopping for ASPs. (Trend * Setter).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Shopping for ASPs What has been /was the greatest challenge in the ASP buying process? 30% Finding an ASP with an application portfolio to fit my needs 30% Finding an ASP with expertise in my...

VoIP: more than long-distance savings. (Trends).
January 1, 2002... Barnes Aerospace, a global producer of machined and fabricated parts for air craft engine and airframe builders, was unwilling to implement a traditional PBX system in its newest offices. Instead, the company concluded that an IP telephony...

Letters to the editor. (Trends).(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... Mr. Kelly: I enjoyed your recent article, "Necessity is the mother of VPN invention" (Aug. 2001). I thought it was very comprehensive and provided some excellent statistics on the topic; it was one of the best articles I have seen on the...

Quality of service: whose responsibility is it anyway? (Guest Column).
January 1, 2002... Packet networks have become popular in recent years as the means of extending mission-critical applications across the enterprise, including remote branch offices, telecommuters and mobile professionals. The choice for transport will usually...

Storage: the EMC way: CEO Joseph Tucci focuses on stormy storage market. (Cover Story).
January 1, 2002... Joseph Tucci has proven anything, it is that he can weather storms. The president and CEO of storage leader EMC came on board at Wang Global in 1991 at its nadir--when the midrange computer manufacturer was in the throes of Chapter 11...

Cabling industry meets Jan. 21-24: emerging applications follow historical demands for more. (Cabling, Wiring and Enclosures).
January 1, 2002... The nation's cabling and wiring industry will assemble this month in Orlando, FL, under a cloud. Technology events of the past year have left many feeling uncertain of the future and, at the same time, with some hope that an economic turnaround...

Hinged brackets. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth I NEW DESIGN PROVIDES CABLE ORGANIZATION for a neater telecom rack. The Wire Managers' hinged black covers allow for easy installation and rework, and reduce the chance that the covers will be misplaced or destroyed. The managers are...

T-I converter. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 194 SNMP-MANAGED CONVERTER for fiber deployment in metropolitan or enterprise networks. The iConverter TI/EI extends T- I or E- I trunk distances over fiber to 58 km and supports advanced network management for both the central...

Asset management. (Cabling, Wiring, Enclosures).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 123 IMPROVE NETWORK RELIABILITY, gain greater network security and increase network efficiency when making moves, adds and changes. The PANVIEW solution is a physical layer asset-management system that meets the challenge of managing...

Protected connections. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 107 RESISTANCE TO MOISTURE, liquids, dust, temperature, EMI/RFI and vibration. The IMAX Industrial Outlets and Plugs are designed specifically for industrial environments and feature a Category 5e module housed in a protective shell....

Bend-limiting strain relief. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 2 PROTECT HIGH-PERFORMANCE DATA CABLES by limiting the bend radius of the cable at the point of termination. The Bend-limiting Strain Relief now comes packaged with all Category 6 and 5e SL Series 110Connect Jacks. The overall...

Portable labeling system. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 102 PROFESSIONAL LABELING SOLUTION offers labels designed for adherence to round and curved surfaces. The ID PAL hand-held portable printer is designed for cable, faceplate and patch-panel marking, as well as general identification....

High-performance cabling. (BICSI 2002).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 83 GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE above the Category 6 standards. [NetClear.sup.GT3] is a CAT 6 cabling solution that integrates LANmark-2000 cable and cordage from Berk-Tek, with Ortronics' [Clarity.sup.6] optimized CAT 6 component...

Wavelength division multiplexer. (BICSI 2002).(iMcV-WDM wavelength division multiplexer from IMC Networks)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... Booth 154 DOUBLE THE CAPACITY OF INSTALLED FIBER. The iMcV-WDM is a two-channel, passive, protocol-independent wavelength division multiplexer. Module sets allow two individual wavelengths to share one fiber pair--full-duplex data travels...

KVM over IP eases growing pains: footpaths among buildings are no longer worn bare. (Special Focus: Local Area Networks).
January 1, 2002... Data center growth in excess of 480% would stress any IT department. Some might panic, some might start on a hiring binge, and some might take the opportunity to look at overall efficiency, seeking out better ways to make growth work....

School district retools its LAN: Access to media encourages advanced learning for K-12 students. (Special Focus: Local Area Networks).(San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District)
January 1, 2002... Located along Texas' border with Mexico, San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District (SFDR) could hardly boast the bleeding-edge technology that might rival Fortune 500 companies. In fact, communicating among its 25 K-12...

Buyers guide: the first portion of this LAN Buyers Guide, the Product Guide, lists the various products in this category, and the companies that make those products. The second section, the Company Guide, provides phone and fax numbers, and Web addresses of those companies. For quick access to the companies and to view their products, check out the Communications News website at www.comnews.com. (Special Focus: Local Area Networks).
January 1, 2002... PRODUCT GUIDE Environmental Control MovinCool/DENSO Sales CA Inc. Integrated Access Devices Efficient Networks Media Converters Broadata Communications Inc. Canoga Perkins Communications Supply Corp. Control...

Firewall/VPN appliance. (Latest LAN Products).(CyberGuard LX data security device)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... SMALL AND MIDSIZE ENTERPRISES can have the same high-security benefits as government and commercial enterprise customers, with the LX firewall/VPN appliance. The set-top model combines packet inspection with full application-level proxies,...

Layer switch. (Latest LAN Products).(Physical Layer Switch from Apcon)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... FLEXIBLE POINT-TO-POINT CONNECTIVITY for 10/100-Mbps Ethernet and Fast Ethernet copper networks is available with the 10/100 Physical Layer Switch. Remotely and automatically connect, redistribute and monitor Ethernet and Fast Ethernet cable...

Hand-held network analyzer. (Latest LAN Products).(Agilent Technologies Inc's FrameScope 350)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... VERIFY THE PERFORMANCE OF KEY NETWORK SERVICES. The FrameScope 350 hand-held analyzer has a color touch screen that allows users in switched Fast Ethernet and TCP/IP environments to quickly isolate and resolve protocol, configuration,...

Broadband router. (Latest LAN Products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... MULTIPLE USERS CAN ACCESS a single, secure Internet connection via DSL or cable services with the 10/100 Mbps Internet Gateway broadband router. Designed for SOHOs, the device--part of the Structured Media System--is equipped with a 10/100-Mbps...

Branch office firewall. (Latest LAN Products).(RoBox Internet firewall appliance from Global Technology Associates)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... PROTECT REMOTE AND BRANCH OFFICE USERS with the RoBox Internet firewall appliance. Designed for environments with a maximum 25 users, the appliance works on a single network or integrates into any enterprise. It has three 10/100 Ethernet ports,...

Console servers. (Latest LAN Products).(Lantronix SCS 1600 and SCS 3200 Secure Console Servers)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... INSTANTLY ACCESS VOICE AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT. The SCS 1600 and SCS 3200 Secure Console Servers provide network managers with an integrated solution for accessing information in real time and managing remote equipment. The servers...

Security standards improve: improved encryption standards offer better wireless safeguards. (Wireless).
January 1, 2002... Wireless LANs (WWANs) and wireless WANs use different technologies and meet different needs. Their security challenges are similar, and a single security solution can be deployed over both kinds of networks. The confidentiality of...

Media converters troubleshoot network: technology gives Internet access provider flexibility. (Testing and Diagnostics).(Internap services)
January 1, 2002... Internap created a platform to intelligently route data over the Internet's major backbones from a single connection to one of its own service points. As an Internet access provider, it has deployed a total of 37 service points in major U.S....

SS7/IP networks probe alternatives: integrated system increases overall reliability. (Testing and Diagnostics).
January 1, 2002... With technology advances and network expansions, telecom munications solution providers are tested to effectively monitor signaling system 7 (SS7) and Internet telephony (IP) networks. In general, monitoring systems are complicated to plan,...

VoIP testing. (Latest testing products).(Chariot VoIP Assessor from NetIQ)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... TEST A NETWORK'S ABILITY TO HANDLE VoIP TRAFFIC. The Chariot VoIP Assessor allows systems integrators and network managers to determine a network's readiness for VoIP prior to the purchase and deployment of any VoIP equipment. Users are...

Passive optical tap. (Latest testing products).(Net Optics GigaBit 4x1 Tap LAN monitor)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... PASSIVE TAP enables multiple views of network traffic through a single access point, even during business hours. The passive GigaBit 4x1 Tap enables real-time simultaneous monitoring of a GigaBit fiber network by up to four protocol analyzers,...

Website watcher. (Latest testing products).(WebWatchBot from ExclamationSoft)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... AROUND THE CLOCKWEBSITE MONITORING. WebWatchBot is software that provides website monitoring to ensure vital corporate sites are providing a quality experience. Administrators can set up the monitoring frequency, from once a second to once a...

Network warning system. (Testing and Diagnostics).(NetBotz Central)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... CLOSELY MONITOR THE IT NETWORK ENVIRONMENT to improve business application uptime. NetBotz Central allows administrators to view environment readings and a camera image from any site on a network where a NetBotz monitoring appliance has been...

Automated testing. (Testing and Diagnostics).(MGTS TestAutomation from Tekelec)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... ADVANCED TESTING PRODUCT for research and development laboratories provides integration, systems and field-deployment testing. The MGTS TestAutomation software product allows engineers to preprogram and automatically run tests for...

Monitoring tool. (Testing and Diagnostics).(Visualware's VisualRoute 6.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... GRAPHICAL CONNECTIVITY MONITORING TOOL now includes e-mail tracking. VisualRoute v6.0 is a graphical trace-route tool that provides Internet connectivity information for network troubleshooting and IP geographical locations for security...

Integrated access device. (Network Management).(ATLAS 550 NxTI concentrator from ADTRAN)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... HIGH-SPEED LAN-TO-LAN CONNECTIVITY. The ATLAS 550 NxTI HSSI module is a T-I inverse multiplexer that combines multiple T-I circuits into a single logical data stream through a high-speed serial interface (HSSI).The IAD is designed for...

VoDSL IAD. (Network Management).(Efficient Networks' 7461-NG-IAD)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... DELIVER VOICE OVER DSL (VoDSL) to small businesses, branch and home offices with the 7461-NG-IAD. Providing integrated broadband voice/data services for up to four voice ports and supporting data over a single copper loop, the integrated access...

Power strips. (Network Management).(Pulizzi Engineering's VPC1917 Vertical Power Strips)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... MAXIMIZING VALUABLE RACK SPACE can be achieved with VPC1917 Vertical Power Strips. For use in frame relay, telecom and server racks, the systems stand 70"x2"x2", and are designed for long life and durability, with an industrial-grade housing...

Packet-over-SONET. (Network Management).(NetScout Systems' nGenius Probe 9300)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... MONITOR HIGH-SPEED PACKET-OVER-SONET (PoS) NETWORKS with the nGenius Probe 9300. The realtime probe eliminates the PoS blind spot in the enterprise network, giving the visibility needed to support performance-sensitive IP applications, and...

Enterprises embrace IP VPNs: new products and improved services spur growth. (Netcom Update).(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Could 2002 be the year for IP virtual private networks? An increasing number of companies are deploying IP VPNs, and using them in a greater percentage of their sites, either to interconnect the sites or to provide telecommuters and mobile...

24-port switch. (COMNET 2002).(Unicom Electric's Dyna-Switch/2401)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 2725 SWITCH FEATURES AUTO-MDI/MDIX CROSS-OVER. The Dyna-Switch/2401 is a high-performance, professional-grade, 24-port 10/100 Fast Ethernet switch for small commercial workgroup applications. The switch offers a fiber-optic slot for...

T-I over fiber. (COMNET 2002).(Transition Networks' T-1/E-1 to Duplex Fiber Converter)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 2702 EFFICIENT MEDIA CONVERSION. The TI/ EI to Duplex Fiber converter will encode/decode T-I or E-I signals over duplex fiber cables. Model options include either coax or twisted pair connectors for the T-I/E-I connection over...

Video over IP. (COMNET 2002).(VBrick Systems' Streaming Distribution System)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 331 STREAM BOTH LIVE AND STORED TELEVISION-QUALITY VIDEO over IP networks. The Streaming Distribution System (SDS) is a complete plug-and-play solution that can reach any number of simultaneous users with live or recorded television...

Simplified security management. (COMNET 2002).(Check Point Software Technologies' VPN-I Gateway Next Generation)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 1235 REDUCE SECURITY MANAGEMENT OVERHEAD. The VPN-I Gateway Next Generation (NG) integrates management functions into a security dashboard and creates a visual picture of security operations. Critical elements of the security...

Network observer. (COMNET 2002).(Network Instruments' Observer 8.0 protocol analysis software)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 1047 MAJOR UPGRADE to Version 8.0 of the Observer protocol analyzer software for LAN/WAN networks includes Windows XP compatibility, and enhancements to its user interface and performance in monitoring, troubleshooting and trend...

Intelligent switches. (COMNET 2002).(Cisco Systems Catalyst 3550 Series Intelligent Ethernet Switch)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 826 CONTROL TRAFFIC FLOWS to optimize network operations. The Catalyst 2950 Series and Catalyst 3550 Series Intelligent Ethernet Switches provide intelligent services to the network edge. Catalyst 2950 switches are...

Combine voice and data. (COMNET 2002).(TC Communications Data-Talker)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Booth 2338 MULTIPLEXER CAN REPLACE EXPENSIVE CHANNEL BANKS. The Data-Talker is a stand-alone four-to-eight channel telephone and data fiber-optic multiplexer for linking or extending data and telephone lines in campus networks. The unit...

Too many cooks? Better collaboration is necessary for managing today's multicomponent e-business services. (The Bottom Line).
January 1, 2002... Web applications and services have become more critical than ever to business success. Whether you're letting customers check their orders online or doing digital supply-chain management, you need your Web systems to perform reliably and...