Communications News articles from May 2002

Communications News archives from May 2002

Just one click. (Editor's Note).(Editorial)
May 1, 2002... One of the enduring symbols of trade magazine publishing has been the reader service card, which provides readers with an opportunity to request more information from an advertiser or about a product mentioned in the magazine. Also called bingo...

Minimize the instant messaging threat. (Trends).
May 1, 2002... Tackling complex public health issues, such as bio-terrorism, is the goal of students and staff at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, located in Baltimore, MD. The school, however, has had another type of outbreak with which...

Fiber optics make the grade. (Trends).
May 1, 2002... Carefully considering what type of network to install was primary in renovating Ruesch and Cantwell Halls, and a challenge to the management and technical staff of Gonzaga College High School--the oldest educational institution in the old...

Is best effort good enough? Good enough for what? (Guest Column).(Column)
May 1, 2002... Is best-effort IP service good enough? I suppose the answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish. This question always shapes up as a debate between the "big fat pipe" guys vs. the service-level guys. Instead of debating whether...

Up to the test: Chris Odell guides fluke networks in delivering network analysis tools. (Cover Story).
May 1, 2002... The diverse mix of protocols and applications that have converged onto switched IP networks make the challenge of configuring, optimizing and troubleshooting an enterprise network an increasingly daunting task. By providing easy-to-use tools to...

Look toward a strategic storage network: high-level issues remain to be resolved. (Special focus: storage technologies).
May 1, 2002... Companies growing data at an exponential rate must scale storage capacity in a more secure, manageable and cost-efficient manner. To control associated management costs, the storage networking model--of which network-attached storage and...

Storage technologies buyers guide: the first portion of this Storage technologies Buyers Guide, the Product Guide, lists the various products in this category, and the companies that make those products.(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2002... Storage technologies buyers guide: the first portion of this Storage technologies 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,...

Storage server. (Storage management products).(HP tc3100 server)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... The new tc3100 server enhances existing IA-32-based server and storage product lines. The scalable system is built around an Intel Pentium III processor with a 133-MHz front-side bus, error-checking and correcting SDRAM, and a dual-channel...

Compact backup appliance. (Storage management products).
May 1, 2002... Economical and small enough for a small-to-medium size office, the S10000 is a compact backup appliance configured either as a tabletop or rackmount system. Using AIT2 tape drives, the system supports environments from 180 GB to 540 GB, and...

Upgradable NAS. (Storage management products).(Ateonix Networks NASAS-2040)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... The NASAS-2040 is a network-attached storage appliance that supports any combination of up to four ATA/ 100/133 disk drives of any capacity, from any manufacturer. The unit's operating system can be updated and hard disks can be added, replaced...

Media tracking. (Storage management products).(Legato Systems' AlphaStor 2.0)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Simplify configuration, reduce administration time and help control the overall cost of storage with AlphaStor 2.0. The media-device and library-management application features full media life-cycle management capabilities, including on-site...

SCSI storage. (Storage management products).(nStor Technologies NexStor 4000S Ultra320)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Integrate a storage system into space-restrained environments without sacrificing Ultra320 (320 MBps per bus) SCSI performance with the new NexStor 4000S Ultra320 SCSI product series. The unit combines performance with High density,...

Workgroup SAN switch. (Storage management products).(Brocade Communications Systems' SilkWorm 3200)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Designed to meet the price and performance requirements of entry-level SAN environments, the easy-to-manage SilkWorm 3200 is an 8-port, 2-Gbps intelligent fabric switch. The product provides a cost-effective switch solution for DAS-to-SAN...

Who is running what application -- and where? Dedicated network monitoring probes tell how the network is being used. (Testing and Diagnostics.).
May 1, 2002... Managing the performance of networks and the performance of works the applications has been that of the use netone greatest challenges faced by IT. All too often, network managers--even though they have little insight into them--must try to...

Ringing in the new phone system: unified messaging eases employee tasks. (Telephony/CTI).
May 1, 2002... Nonprofit PROVAIL, based in Seattle, WA, is the states largest private, multiservice agency dedicated to meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities. Its services include a community living program with 31 facilities in King and...

Web conferencing saves time, money: staff and customer collaboration made easier. (Internet/IP Technologies).
May 1, 2002... Today's Web-based conferencing--the exchange of ideas using a combination of voice communication and a network of computers to share presentations, images and charts--enables regular and immediate collaborative interaction at a fraction of the...

Optical-loss testing. (Testing and monitoring products).(Kingfisher KI7300)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Test optical loss in fiber-optic systems with the Kingfisher KI7300 test set. The instrument provides instant drift-tree traceable measurements, without waiting for source warm-up or meter dark current compensation. An autotest mode enables a...

Advanced cable tester. (Testing and monitoring products).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Certify installations up to 750 MHz with the LANTEK 7 cable tester. The unit is designed for high-bandwidth environments that utilize Gigabit Ethernet and data/voice/video convergence applications. Fully compliant with the emerging Category...

Software monitoring. (Testing and monitoring products).(TechTracker ITX)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Providing a real-time view into storage usage, stability and performance for each PC across a LAN or WAN from a Web-based console, ITX downloadable software helps administrators make informed decisions on software troubleshooting, maintenance...

Protocol analysis. (Testing and monitoring products).(PacketView Pro from Klos Technologies)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Network protocol analyzer features optional GPS-synchronized time stamps. PacketView Pro software allows packets to be collected simultaneously at multiple locations with accurate time stamps provided by GPS-synchronized clocks, then merged....

Network analyzer. (Testing and monitoring products).(LANSleuth 6.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Track who is on the network and which applications are using bandwidth with LANSleuth 6.0 for Windows. The easy-to-use network monitoring software has new features, including Windows XP compatibility, real-time session tracing, enhanced...

Small office firewall. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(VPN-1/FireWall-1 SmallOffice from Check Point Software Technologies)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 2805 Security solution is designed for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branch offices, and service providers that provide managed security services to small office environments. VPN-1/FireWall-1 SmallOffice provides...

Cable management. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(Vertical Cable Manager from Panduit)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 7933 The high-capacity Vertical Cable Manager is designed to manage high-density network equipment in up to half the area required by today's conventional cable-management systems by reducing/eliminating the need for horizontal cable...

Scalable storage. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(ADIC's Scalar 100)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 1332 The Scalar 100 is a midrange tape library that offers a powerful combination of industry-leading density, trouble-free scalability and advanced storage networking technology. The system features integrated SAN connectivity and...

Remote tape management. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(Qualstar RLS Series)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 1741 The RLS-Series automated tape library family supports the three most popular tape technologies: AIT, including the latest AIT-3 drives; LTO, both full-height and half-height; and SuperDLT. Four models house up to four tape...

IPv6 switch. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(BlueFire IX5000 from NEC America)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 2037 A variety of WAN interface options is combined with QoS capabilities to deliver the performance demanded by converged networking and IP telephony. The BlueFire IX5000 multi-service IP switch router series allows the integration...

Secure VPNs. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(ZyWALL 100 from ZyXEL Communications)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 1742 The ZyWALL 100 is a robust firewall, which includes stateful packet inspection and DoS-attack prevention, as well as Internet content filtering. The unit s IPSec VPN uses data encryption to provide transparent and secure...

Bandwidth management. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(NetEnforcer from Allot Communications)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 6321 Control network resources, so mission-critical business applications deliver the performance needed to succeed. The NetEnforcer 601/701 traffic monitors present real-time macro and micro views of traffic and performance from a...

Passive optical monitoring. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(Net Optics SpyderSwitch)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 7377 Monitor fiber-optic networks during business hours. The SpyderSwitch enables a single protocol analyzer or other monitoring device to perform real-time monitoring and analysis across up to 100 networks. Featuring all-optical...

Compact tape library. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(StorStation Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) Library 162 from Sony)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 2452 A midrange to large enterprise storage and backup solution, the StorStation Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) Library 162 houses from one to two AIT-2 drives and 16 total cartridge slots. The AIT-2-based library boasts 2.08 TB of...

Storage management. (Networld+Interop, Spring 2002).(Dot Hill Systems' Axis Advanced storage manager)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Booth 5445 Consolidate Fibre Channel and SCSI direct-attached storage and SANs, and allow them to appear as NAS volumes with the Axis Advanced storage manager. The system provides storage routing, extensive virtualization, flexible...

University graduates to CAT 5e: flexibility, future growth addressed in new technology building. (Cabling, Wiring and Enclosures).
May 1, 2002... Tim Coppinger, engineering technology coordinator for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, stands proudly in the theater-style classroom on the first floor of the new four-story Science and Technology Building. Around the room, the desks arc...

Network jack. (Latest cabling products).(3Com's NJ 100 Network Jack)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Replace the standard Ethernet wall jack. The NJ 100 Network Jack brings switching technology from the wiring closet closer to the desktop. It is comprised of an unmanaged 4-port Ethernet switch, and has VoIP compatibility, power over Ethernet...

Flexible cable tray. (Latest cabling products).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Wall Snake is a hand-bendable cable-tray system requiring only two wall anchors per eight-foot section. The 25-square-inch-size sections can accommodate up to 400 Category 5 cables. The design provides ease of installation, requiring no...

Coaxial cable. (Latest cabling products).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A high-speed, low-loss 50-Ohm RF coaxial cable, the DBC Broadband Cable is designed for a variety of applications. The cables feature a proprietary polyolefin insulation system, with gas-injected foam compounds, resulting in up to 87% signal...

VGA Balun. (Latest cabling products).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The VideoEase VGA Balun allows normally bulky and costly VGA cable to be replaced by four-pair CAT 5 twisted pair cable. Used in pairs, the balun allows up to 450' to be achieved, depending on screen resolution. It is suitable for...

100-Ohm cables. (Latest cabling products).(Montrose/CDT'sMontrose/CDT Infinixx Cables)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Meet the demands of highly scalable and available distributed computer systems with Infinixx Cables. The 100-Ohm cables are individually shielded, parallel-pair constructions offered in Infini-Band 1X, 4X and 12X form factors, with conductors...

Microwave links campuses; low-cost system aids high-caliber education. (Wireless).
May 1, 2002... As the student population increased at its two remote Pennsylvania campuses, Allegany College of Maryland decided to expand classes by implementing compressed video systems and providing a continuous link to each campus. The college was founded...

Backup power. (New Products).(Para Systems' Minuteman UPS MCP-E Series)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Slim, lightweight UPS uses high-speed digital signal processing technology to deliver continuous online true sine-wave power. The MCP-E Series is available in sizes from 700 VA to 7,000 VA, and virtually unlimited runtimes can be achieved with...

Uninterruptible power supply.(Controlled Power UltraUPS 21C)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... A true, online double-conversion UPS, the Series 21C UltraUPS provides accurate, high-frequency IGBT digitized power. The UPS has an advanced battery-management system that automatically determines the precise charge and discharge...

Workgroup switch.(Enterasys Networks' Matrix E1 1G5 82-09 Gigabit Workgroup Switch)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Differentiate between business-critical and non-business-critical traffic, without sacrificing performance. The Matrix E1 1G5 82-09 Gigabit Workgroup Switch (GWS) is a wire-speed Layer 3 switch with full IP and IPX routing functionality. The...

Cool the room. (New Products).(AirPac's COOLIT3300 portable air conditioner)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Portable air conditioner is a solution for primary, temporary, supplemental and emergency cooling of mission-critical IT equipment in data/ LAN rooms. The COOLIT3300 is a compact, self-contained unit that has a cooling capacity of 28,000 BTU/h,...

Modular safe. (New Products).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Build around live systems. The I.T. Modular Safe is designed for installation around live/online systems. It can be built to enclose existing network and server cabinets, without dismantling hardware that is already wired. The modular structure...

Systems infrastructure spending tops IT investment priorities: multiple offerings allow for greater customization. (Netcom Update).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Despite the events of last Sept. 11, and the downturn in the economy and capital spending, business appetites for IT solutions appear far from satiated. Networks have given birth to newer and expanded breeds of systems and software, and...

Telecom buyer, beware! Bill review is essential in the slammin', crammin' world of competitive phone service. (The Bottom Line).
May 1, 2002... In a perfect world, you would never have to review a phone bill. Service providers would always bill you at the right rate and would only charge you for service you actually ordered. And you would get your bills fully itemized in an easy-to-use...