Communications News articles from July 2008

Communications News archives from July 2008

Testing on the way.(Viewpoint)(Oil spills)(Viewpoint essay)
July 1, 2008... Nearly every day, we are asked if Communications News conducts product testing or writes product reviews. Our standard response has been that only Consumer Reports can be trusted to conduct unbiased testing and reviews, since it does not accept...

Market pulse.(TRENDS)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Q: What are the reasons your organization deployed /would like to deploy mobile enterprise applications? And what Js the main reason? Reasons Main reason ...

Mobile device security is a concern.(Mobile Security)
July 1, 2008... MOBILE SECURITY Spyware, viruses and worms continue to plague most organizations, but security challenges tied to the use of hand-held devices and mobile and remote computing are growing at a rapid pace, new research commissioned by the...

Secure lending.(SHORT TAKES)
July 1, 2008... Davis+Henderson (D+H), which provides checking and lending support services to Canada's retail banking institutions, is using NEC Unified Solutions and managed security services partner SecureWorks to provide security monitoring, management and...

Luxury Phones.(SHORT TAKES)
July 1, 2008... LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, a collection of luxury properties includingThe London NYC in midtown Manhattan, called on Mitel when it wastimeto replace its aging TDM telephone system in exchange for an all-IP solution.The London NYC selected...

WLAN ambiance.(SHORT TAKES)
July 1, 2008... The InterContinental Stephen E Austin Hotel has deptoyed the Bandspeed AirMaestro WLAN solution throughout the hotel, including all 189 guest rooms and suites, six conference rooms, as well as the bar and lobby areas. The hotel now provides...

Better protection.(SHORT TAKES)
July 1, 2008... Sharp Healthcare, a San Diego-based not-for-profit integrated regional health care delivery system, has slashed backup time in half, increased disaster-recovery capabilities and reduced the risk associated with non-compliance with HIPAA...

Enterprises 'vague' on Web 2.0.(TRENDS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... WEB 2.0 Although Enterprise Web 2.0 is generally considered strategically important, most organizations (74 percent) claim to have, at best, only a vague familiarity with it, according to AIIM, a nonprofit content-management research firm. In...

IBM data center goes 'green'.(Data Centers)
July 1, 2008... DATA CENTERS IBM recently opened its "greenest" data center in North America at its Boulder, Colo., site. The 115,000 square-foot, energy-efficient facility includes 70,000 square feet of raised floor space and is part ofa $350-million...

Events.(Calendar)
July 1, 2008... SANSFIRE 2008, July 22-31, Washington, D.C., features briefings from the SANS Internet Storm Center and courses on penetration testing, hacker exploits and security management. www.sans.org/sansfire08 Black Hat USA 2008 Briefings &...

Publications.
July 1, 2008... Networking with Microsoft Windows Vista: Your Guide to Easy and Secure Windows, by Paul McFedries, is a guide to creating, configuring, administering and using a small network usingWindowsVista. www.safari.quepublishing.com Designing for...

Desktop phones: on the way out?(Telephony)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... TELEPHONY While desktop telephones are a mainstay for business, their future may change as employees increasingly use alternative communication devices as their basic communication tool. "Workers today often manage multiple devices,...

Videoconferencing gaining ground.(Conferencing)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... CONFERENCING As leading companies look for ways to cut travel costs, many are turning to videoconferencing and telepresence, and deploying these solutions on existing corporate networks. A recent survey of nearly 400 enterprise network managers...

Lock the network's back door: secure remote-management appliances provide visibility and control, even during a network outage.(Threat Stoppers)
July 1, 2008... The security of enterprise IP networks has been enhanced in the last decade through the adoption of technologies such as directory systems, authentication/authorization/accounting, logging and encryption. More recently, enterprises have...

The ABCs of traffic management: deep packet inspection systems let network managers control network traffic flows.(Beyond Testing)
July 1, 2008... Controlling network traffic requires limiting bandwidth to certain applications, guaranteeing minimum bandwidth to others, and marking traffic with high or low priorities. While this process is typically called traffic management, these...

Airline plays a hunch: WestJet's William Lee helps keep fares low by using an intelligent application delivery appliance for WAN traffic over an MPLS network.
July 1, 2008... Growth is good, but WestJet airlines found that growing was beginning to threaten its low fares-based business model. Faced with a costly upgrade for its WAN services enterprise-wide, the airline's manager of technical infrastructure had a...

Network performance management.(NETWORK PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS)(Mazu Networks Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Using network behavior analysis, Mazu Profiler enables IT administrators to improve management of application performance, and WAN and security/compliance initiatives. Capabilities include response-time management, WAN optimization reporting...

Performance monitor.(NETWORK PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS)
July 1, 2008... Application Performance Monitor (APM) offers the visibility to monitor and pinpoint performance issues across the entire network. The system integrates the Orion Web-based interface, creating a centralized fault-and performance-management...

Network monitor.(NETWORK PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS)
July 1, 2008... WhatsUp Gold Version 12 combines automated device discovery, network mapping and real-time network monitoring, as well as alerting, notification and reporting functions to deliver 360-degree visibility, actionable intelligence and control....

Virtual bottleneck analyzer.(NETWORK PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS)
July 1, 2008... The Capacity Bottleneck Analyzer virtual appliance identifies current and future capacity bottleneck issues in VMware ESX environments to ensure optimal performance. A single-screen management dashboard displays detailed capacity information...

Overcome IP network challenges: deep-packet inspection offers a unified approach to incident, problem and performance management.(Network Performance)
July 1, 2008... Today's enterprises are engaged in 10-Gigabit Ethernet upgrades, migrations from Frame Relay to MPLS wide-area networks, as well as data center consolidations. So what do these evolutions mean for the way today's IT infrastructure, and the...

WAN acceleration 'virtualized': take steps to optimize application performance and disaster recovery in a virtual server environment.(Network Performance)
July 1, 2008... In a virtualized environment, IT managers should pay attention to the impact WAN performance has on application performance. When virtual servers are placed in centralized locations, limited bandwidth, high latency and packet loss on the WAN...

CAT 5 cable handles hotel's TVs: system is designed to deliver analog or digital signals over unshielded twisted pair cable.(Cabling Infrastructure)
July 1, 2008... I saw a big, expensive disaster coming," says Dale Sennie, who was in charge of completing the new Sheraton Baltimore Washington Airport Hotel early last year. "Nobody wanted a time-consuming, expensive project pulling coax to every room. I had...

BOF for big performance.
July 1, 2008... Today's high-speed networks are pushing optical fiber into buildings and closer to the workstation to carry fiber's high bandwidth to the end-user. As fiber is installed in the last mile of these networks, it is subject to a greater degree of...

UC driving protocol convergence: the road to SIP visual communications is paved with challenges--and benefits--for end-users.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
July 1, 2008... With the emergence of the unified communications (UC) concept, organizations started morphing their voice, video, instant messaging and presence systems into one. This trend creates an interesting technical challenge. Telephony...

Buyers' guide.(Special Focus: Conferencing)(Directory)
July 1, 2008... Companies listed in this Conferencing Buyers' Guide can assist you in selecting the products and services that work best for your organization. AUDIOCONFERENCING EQUIPMENT/SERVICES AccessLine Communications 877-500-5463...

Wireless microphone system.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Available with four or eight microphones, the Fusion all-in-one wireless microphone system comes preprogrammed with software and combines all necessary electronics in one small package. Designed for use in small...

Desktop videoconferencing.
July 1, 2008... The Avistor C3 unified communications solution for SMBs includes an all-software multipoint control unit (MCU) that provides multiparty videoconferencing capabilities. Enabling click-to-call connectivity, the fully automated MCU utilizes...

Data conferencing software.
July 1, 2008... SMART Meeting Pro enables whiteboarding and data conferencing in meeting rooms with a dedicated computer and up to 16 interactive whiteboards or displays. The software can connect multiple displays and laptops in the same room or around the...

Conferencing service.
July 1, 2008... Accessible 24/7 via a toll-free phone number and/or PC, Global Enterprise Collaboration Services (GECS) is a suite of integrated collaborative tools, including audio and Web conferencing, automated scheduler plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, event...

A second life for IT assets: the secondary market reduces e-waste, increases the useful life of equipment and stretches budgets.(Green Tech)
July 1, 2008... From the IT manufacturers' perspective, the push to "go green" is good for business, because advances in technology means replacing network equipment. Manufacturers are producing a plethora of power-saving products, encouraging customers to buy...