Communications News articles from June 2005

Communications News archives from June 2005

Ready, aim ...(company forecasts)
June 1, 2005... Watching John Chambers "perform" as the lead keynote speaker at last month's Interop conference, you might not realize that the CEO of Cisco Systems walks around with a bulls-eye on his forehead. At Interop, Chambers was high energy and Mr....

Tired of old network.(SHORT TAKES)
June 1, 2005... Savannah Tire which provides automotive services at 11 locations in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, recently teamed with BellSouth to rebuild its data network. The company previously connected its locations to headquarters with 56 kbps...

Conferencing for UNICEF.(SHORT TAKES)
June 1, 2005... The United States Fund for UNICEF has selected Arkadin to provide audio and data conferencing services to its U.S. employees. According to David Marts, director, administration and operations for UNICEF, the organization's U.S. employees have...

Acceleration market growing.(network hardware)
June 1, 2005... Network traffic acceleration and optimization are front-burner technologies of late, as organizations try to wring out as much value from their data networks as possible. Network performance products made a strong showing at the recent Interop...

Events.(calendar)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... Black Hat USA, July 27-28, Las Vegas, features briefings from computer security professionals and nine different tracks of information, including application security, forensics and log analysis, and 0-day attacks and defense, www.blackhat.com...

Managing security.(SHORT TAKES)
June 1, 2005... Overseas Express, needing to centrally manage its network security, turned to the same source it relies on for its remote control needs--CrossTec Corp. The Chicago-based transportation firm for missionaries and relief workers has installed...

Restaurants safe.(SHORT TAKES)
June 1, 2005... Benihana, a leading Asian restaurant chain in the United States, has deployed the Juniper Networks firewall and virtual private network (VPN) solution. Juniper Networks NetScreen-204s and NetScreen-5GTs will protect the company's network...

Stay home or roam.(Wireless)
June 1, 2005... Businesses in Rio Rancho, N.M., now can make voice calls over Wi-Fi equipment, following the launch of a metro-wide voice over Wi-Fi telephone service from Azulstar Networks that operates over the converged Wi-Fi wireless network that spans...

A new Interop.(trade shows)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... First, a name change, and now a rebirth. After 10 years as Networld+iInterop, one of the industry's mainstay trade shows is now just "Interop." In addition, the conference that only two years ago canceled its second event in Atlanta, is...

Improved wireless.(SHORT TAKES)
June 1, 2005... The Newcastle City Council in the United Kingdom has selected Trapeze Networks to provide a secure WLAN to meet the mobility needs of its guests and employees. "Our objective was to identify a wireless solution that would properly address...

Linux Network Security.(PUBLICATIONS)
June 1, 2005... Linux Network Security, by Peter Smith, is a guide to finding, fixing and preventing holes in a Linux network. The book teaches about packet filtering with IP tables; hardening services such as Apache, BIND, Sendmail, FTP and MySQL to prevent...

Hacking Exposed-Fifth Edition.(PUBLICATIONS)
June 1, 2005... Hacking Exposed-Fifth Edition, by Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray and George Kurtz, provides up-to-date coverage of today's devastating hack techniques and how to prevent them. The publication shows through step-by-step instructions how to locate...

Secure services.(network hardware)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... North American, European, and Asian service providers that sell managed VPNs and security services plan to invest heavily in integrated services in 2005, with most combining five or six different technologies into a single service, led by...

New technologies, new threats.(Security)
June 1, 2005... Yaron Raps likens the problem of controlling security on the Internet to stopping spam, overnight. "It is not enough to install a firewall and say my network is secure," says Raps, a solution partner at BusinessEdge Solutions, East Brunswick,...

Extreme availability: New York Stock Exchange's new IT infrastructure puts hand-held wireless terminals in brokers' hands.(Cover Story)
June 1, 2005... While reliability is important to every company, New York Stock exchange (NYSE) is among the handful of organizations that require uninterrupted availability--as close to 100% as possible. Whether a trader on the stock exchange floor or an...

Web conferencing works wonders: fighting AIDS in South Africa benefits from collaboration of medical personnel around the world.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... By any standard, infections with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, have reached epidemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa. Various studies indicate that the disease touches between 20% and 25% of the population. In some communities, more than...

Maximize conferencing benefits.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... Web conferencing, or "rich-media" conferencing, has become an important business communication tool, but how does a potential user assess the pros and cons of the different solutions available? While there are no hard and fast rules to decide...

Tool tracks video problems: the switch to H.323 conferencing brings performance problems along.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... Looking back, Monica Kennis remembers the induction of videoconferencing using H.323 as being far more problematic than purposeful. "We came in kicking and screaming," Kennis recalls. "It was a painful transition to go from H.320 and a T-1...

Flexible unified messaging.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... There are two basic types of architecture used for unified messaging. The most common, common message store (CMS), places all messages into the user's e-mail message store. The voice and fax servers capture the messages and move them to the...

Buyers guide: companies listed in this Conferencing Buyers Guide can assist you in selecting the products and services that work best for your organization.(Special Focus: Conferencing)(Buyers Guide)
June 1, 2005... AUDIOCONFERENCING EQUIPMENT/SERVICES Alcatel Internetworking 800-995-2612 www.alcatel.com/enterprise Applied Global Technologies 321-638-2007 www.appliedglobal.com Arel Communications 770-396-8105 www.arelcom.com...

Global connections.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... The Global Meet Conferencing solution delivers local-access phone numbers in international locations to reduce company phone bills and broaden conference participation. The one local-number solution reduces the concerns of international...

High-definition sharing.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... The HD5000 workgroup videoconferencing solution, version 3.5, provides interoperability and high resolution for live video, full-motion video and data sharing, as well as support for dual-streaming video and data. Unlike simple standalone...

Instant content sharing.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... Designed as an upgrade solution for users of wired SoundStation conference phones, QSX enables fast, ad hoc content sharing for anyone in the conference call, without requiring special software applications, on-going usage fees or document...

Browser-based Web conferencing.(Special Focus: Conferencing)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... e/pop Web Conferencing 4.1 adds enhancements that include the ability for conference hosts to easily start multiparty VoIP and videoconferencing sessions with two mouse clicks. The solution goes beyond one-to-one or one-to-many...

Advanced soft phone.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... The CONVERSip EP200 Multimedia Endpoint is a Fully integrated Windows XP-based solution that adds advanced telephony functionality to every-day computers. The soft phone offers traditional telephony features, such as voice calling, park and...

Desktop videophone.(Special Focus: Conferencing)
June 1, 2005... The BVP8759 set-top box videophone is designed for affordable group conferencing. The system uses a TV as a videophone display and a corded or cordless microphone connects the user's voice to the unit. The unit can be placed on top of a TV,...

Which cable to choose? Cost considerations, cable run length will help determine choice between Category 5e, 6 or 6a.(Cabling Infrastructure)
June 1, 2005... In June 2002, Category 6 cable was introduced as an improvement over Category 5e tinder standard ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-1. It, much like Category 5c, meets the requirements for 1-Gigabit Ethernet; however, Category 6 cable extends positive...

Increase network availability.(Cabling Infrastructure)
June 1, 2005... Critical systems demand specialized engineering, implementation, operation and service. Precision air conditioning and power systems have emerged to fill this need. While utilizing conventional management systems to monitor these...

Flexible innerduct.(Infrastructure products)
June 1, 2005... An alternative to traditional innerduct, CableGuide SC is a textile-based innerduct solution maximizing space utilization, with the ability to conform to the inside of the conduit yet still keep multiple cables segregated. Various cell sizes...

Fiber access unit.(Infrastructure products)
June 1, 2005... The TriBox Fiber Management Unit is a versatile wall- or pole-mountable device that can be used for direct cable terminations, splice-point administration, inside plant interconnect work and more. The unit can be used as a secure dual-door...

Fire-retardant endcaps.(Infrastructure products)
June 1, 2005... Designed as a solution for sleeve systems being harvested when abandoned cables are re moved, Endcaps are for seating the ends of empty sleeve systems. They are available for the company's Smooth Penetrator (EMT), as well as the Threaded...

Cooler racks.(Infrastructure products)
June 1, 2005... Server Racks with ventilated steel doors are designed to precisely direct the flow of equipment cooling air into the front-to-back direction used by many servers and other electronic equipment. The cabinets have a provision for optional...

Protected access points.(Infrastructure products)
June 1, 2005... Create a permanent, secure location for wireless access points and bridges. The UL-listed Domed Wireless Ceiling Enclosure is designed to house wireless access points in open office spaces. Used in place of a single 2' x 2' drop ceiling tile,...

Shielded fiber.(Infrastructure products)
June 1, 2005... The ArmorLite family of fiber-optic cables are manufactured with interlocked armor to provide enhanced cable protection. The robust cable eliminates the need for additional innerduct, which saves installation time and space in plenum or riser...

Build wireless LANs that last: access points can be designed to work in adjacent groups without co-channel interference.(Wireless)
June 1, 2005... Wireless LAN (WLAN)adoption in enterprises began in earliest with the emergence of low-cost 802.11 b access points (APs). By 2003, the aggregate demand for 802.1 l b access led industry leaders to begin including 802.11b wireless clients in...

Firm rests easy with WLAN.(Wireless)
June 1, 2005... Network administrators like Christian Wilson at Select Comfort face a number of concerns when they implement a wireless LAN (WLAN). There are potential problems, for example, with bandwidth capacity, access point inefficiency and new security...

Ensure data center resiliency: intelligent networks can lower costs, and improve security and business continuity.(Business Continuity)
June 1, 2005... Scalable, intelligent storage networks, based on director-class switches, offer significant business resilience benefits. Such networks enable efficient utilization of storage resources through pooling, and consistent data replication and...

No more bumps in the road.(Business Continuity)
June 1, 2005... The amount of critical data that needed to be stored was growing, and the backup process was becoming more difficult. As a result, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) found itself in a position that is common to many...

New trends in storage.(Business Continuity)
June 1, 2005... As enterprises realize the value of stored data and the high costs associated with application downtime, as well as the need to meet increasing regulatory demands, they are using remote data mirroring to replicate data between geographically...

A structured approach.(Business Continuity)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Designing a resilient data center network requires a structured approach encompassing the following steps to help ensure long-term success and improved resilience: * Prepare. Data center managers should analyze business requirements and...

Branch office monitoring.(Product Spotlight: Testing and Monitoring)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The PVMax Network Scanner addresses the growing need to centrally manage and control physical network infrastructure across an unlimited number of remote branch offices. With the scanners as part of a complete PatchView solution, network...

VoIP call analysis.(Product Spotlight: Testing and Monitoring)
June 1, 2005... The OmniPeek Voice distributed expert VoIP network analyzer provides real-time VoIP diagnoses, statistical analysis and distributed, real-time network troubleshooting needed for converged enterprise networks. The solution performs extensive...

Handheld spectrum analysis.(Product Spotlight: Testing and Monitoring)
June 1, 2005... BumbleBee is a precision-calibrated spectrum analyzer that interfaces with HP's iPAQ PocketPC. The hand-held receiver measures four distinct wireless bands: 900 MHz, 2.4-2.5 GHz, 5.1-5.5 GHz and 5.5-5.9 GHz. The device allows the user to...

Optical link verification.(Product Spotlight: Testing and Monitoring)
June 1, 2005... The FiberBasix 500 Handheld Series provides simple and efficient testing of optical networks used in enterprise markets. The units enable accurate measurement of signal attenuation during fiber-optic cable installation and maintenance. Designed...

Monitor rack equipment.(Product Spotlight: Testing and Monitoring)
June 1, 2005... OpenComms ENI is a Web-enabled monitoring device for tracking temperature and humidity inside racks and small rooms. It enables rack-level monitoring of power when used with the company's power strips. It can graph and display temperature,...

Handheld optical testing.(Product Spotlight: Testing and Monitoring)
June 1, 2005... The CMA 50 hand-held test equipment line is designed with the needs of the FTTx market in mind. The high-performance testing products include power meters, light sources and loss test sets, all of which are light-weight, yet rugged in design....

How to manage telecom expenses: take inventory first to ensure the accuracy of subsequent billing management.(Guest Column)
June 1, 2005... Taking inventory is an important first step before implementing an automated telecom expense-management solution. If you do not know where you are when you start this journey, how can you determine where you are going or how far you have come?...