Network World articles from April 2004

Network World archives from April 2004

Is patch management the best protection against vulterabilities?(software patches or intrusion prevention systems for managing software flaws)
April 5, 2004... Byline: No, by Steven Hofmeyr Currently, the most widespread means of preventing intrusions is patching, and it's failing miserably. The number of security incidents reported to CERT has grown exponentially over the past six years,...

Is patch mgmt. the best protection against vulnerabilities? Two industry insiders debate the best approach to dealing with software flaws.(software patches or intrusion prevention systems for managing software flaws)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Yes, by Eric Schultze Patch management is the optimal solution to protect computers against known software flaws for which vendor patches exist. Third-party products that attempt to correct these flaws solely through firewalls,...

Beyond the Superdome; Consolidation paves the way for utility computing.
April 5, 2004... Beyond the Superdome Consolidation paves the way for utility computing. Belkin COMPTON, CALIF. "Are you crazy?" That was the reaction John Adcock, network services manager, got when he told the vice president of finance that he...

Escape from D.C. Disaster-recovery plan leads to data center consolidation of servers and storage.
April 5, 2004... Escape from D.C. Disaster-recovery plan leads to data center consolidation of servers and storage. n Howrey Simon Arnold & White Washington, D.C. When Brian Conlon proposed to the executive committee that the international law...

The big box theory; Hospital ports apps to 32-processor Unisys server.(Truman Medical Centers)
April 5, 2004... The BIG BOX theory Hospital ports apps to 32-processor Unisys server. n TRUMAN MEDICAL CENTERS - Kansas city, mo. The word "explosion" is never good when you're in an IT environment. But that's how Rob Jones describes the growth of...

VoIP and your telecom contract.(Voice over Internet Protocol)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Laura McDonald and Hank Levine Many users are testing and evaluating VoIP options. As you consider items that could affect the cost of transitioning to VoIP, don't overlook a critical factor right in front of you - your telecom...

PeopleSoft upgrade drives consolidation; Hospital turn to server partitioning and clustering to reduce maintenance costs.(Oakwood Healthcare system)
April 5, 2004... PeopleSoft upgrade drives consolidation Hospitals turn to server partitioning and clustering to reduce maintenance costs. n OAKWOOD HeALthcare system dearborn, mich. Oakwood Healthcare System had the classic recipe for a...

Feeling vulnerable? Try assessment tools; APPLICATIONS: Network security.(vulnerability assessment software)
April 5, 2004... Byline: ELLEN MESSMER Come June, high-volume merchants and payment processors that do business on the Web and want to work with MasterCard International had better be conducting quarterly vulnerability assessments of their Web sites....

The devil's in the details of this virtual security switch; Inkra Networks' 1518TX Virtual Service Switch.(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Joel Snyder Inkra Networks' 1518TX Virtual Service Switch The devil's in the details of this virtual security switch By Joel Snyder, Network World Lab Alliance Inkra Networks has taken on the enormous task of...

McNealy: Don't dismiss us in data centers.(Interview)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Deni Connor and Jennifer Mears Sun warned us: You can interview CEO Scott McNealy, but don't ask about the financials, which Sun said last week will include up to an $810 million loss for the latest quarter. We more or less stuck to...

Extreme server makeovers.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Byline: MARY BRANDEL Server consolidation has become one of those inescapable trends in the computer industry - everyone, it seems, is either doing it, planning to do it or thinking they should be doing it. In fact, 75% of large...

SCO business 'plan' is a flop.(The SCO Group Inc.)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Linda Musthaler It's been a long time since I read Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a chapter called "Win new business by suing everyone." Perhaps we should buy a few...

Nightmare or regulation?(Chad Dailey)(Toby Meehan)(Jeff Steinport)
April 5, 2004... Mark Gibbs' Backspin column "Nightmare or regulation, your choice" (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 1423) elicits no wild cheering or howls of protest here, but what could best be described as a sigh of resignation. The IT industry as a whole...

Alcatel launches workgroup switch.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Byline: PHIL HOCHMUTH Alcatel last week launched an all-Gigabit switch aimed at high-end workgroups or for connecting servers or clustered nodes in a data center. The fixed-configuration OmniStack 6300 lets users deploy Gigabit...

Securing mobile assets; Policies are key in procuring and tracking wireless devices throughout your company.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Denise Pappalardo Securing mobile assets Policies are key in procuring and tracking wireless devices throughout your company. n BY Denise Pappalardo Dashing to make a connecting flight, your company's star salesman...

Real, not pseudo, flying Internet.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Scott Bradner Connexion by Boeing recently announced that many air travelers outside the U.S. soon will be able to buy rationally priced, satellite-based Internet service while cruising at 35,000 feet. The announcement was in sharp...

Sorry, Microsoft, but the EU got it right.(Anti-competitive Penalties)
April 5, 2004... Byline: dave kearns T he European Union finally came out with the penalties Microsoft will have to pay for being found guilty of anti-competitive practices. A fine of $600-plus million, along with changes to Windows, are being imposed...

Onfolio, an outstanding Web research tool.(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Mark Gibbs O ne of the most common problems with Web browsing is keeping track of what you look at. And when you actually are researching something on the Web, keeping your results organized is really hard. Over the years...

Configuration mgmt. tool reaches for mobile clients.
April 5, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA Configuresoft this week is introducing upgraded configuration management software to help companies keep their mobile computers secure. The company says Enterprise Configuration Manager 4.5 now includes support...

IM spam piling up, researchers say.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Byline: DAVID LEGARD Spam sent via instant messaging is set to become a major nuisance this year, with the number of such messages tripling from 400 million to 1.2 billion, according to research firm The Radicati Group. The increase in...

Enterprise Applications Short Takes.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... n Internet Security Systems has unveiled two gigabit-speed models of its Proventia intrusion-prevention system line that operate in three modes: active blocking of attacks, passive detection or simulated blocking response. Each product has four...

backstage with craig mathias.(principal at Farpoint Group)(Interview)
April 5, 2004... Byline: sandy gittlen Network World hits the road this month with its Wireless LANs Technology Tour. Craig Mathias, principal at Farpoint Group, keynotes the event and will highlight the important changes in the WLAN industry. Network...

Advocates push for network neutrality policy.
April 5, 2004... Byline: GRANT GROSS WASHINGTON, D.C. - Internet rights advocates are pushing the government to adopt policy that will keep the Internet and the content that rides on it free from the meddling of individual ISPs. Proponents of a federal...

Putting the 'service' back into service provider.(Column)
April 5, 2004... Byline: John Till Johnson R egular readers of this column know that I like to divide carriers into bandwidth providers and service providers. The latter focus on delivering solutions while the former provide pipes. Here's the...

IPMI V2.0 eases blade management.
April 5, 2004... Byline: STEVE ROKOV High-performing, reliable systems used to have one drawback: They were usually built with proprietary components that offered little or no interoperability. Server management relied on proprietary tools that made it...

short takes.(Telecommunications Industry launches new products)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... n Polycom last week announced a $180 IP phone aimed at deployments of VoIP services, or as IP endpoints for enterprise IP PBXs. The entry-level SoundPoint 300 boasts dual-line support, three-way conferencing and 10 programmable keys that can be...

Blades raise heat, power issues.
April 5, 2004... Byline: jennifer mears As blade servers become more powerful, business customers need to think carefully about how to cool the thin devices, which can generate more heat and consume more power in small spaces than most data center managers...

Lucent unveils wireless multimedia system.(Lucent Technologies Inc. Introduces Multimedia systme)
April 5, 2004... Byline: JIM DUFFY Lucent recently unveiled a system designed to enable wireless operators to offer VoIP and IP-based multimedia services. Called Accelerate IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), the system combines gear from Lucent and its...

Science center switches to open source.(Center for Biophotonics uses Gluecode Software's products)
April 5, 2004... Byline: ANN BEDNARZ Mike Hogarth looked to open source software when he decided to replace a 6-year-old homegrown portal application that had become too cumbersome to maintain. "I was looking for a basic framework on top of which I...

Collation strengthens app mgmt. formula.
April 5, 2004... Byline: DENISE DUBIE Collation this week is expected to unveil upgraded software it says will help companies more quickly determine the source of application performance problems. The company is updating its flagship Confignia package...

ask dr internet.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Steve Blass Is there a utility that can convert an Outlook mailbox folder full of Web server log-file reports on our Exchange server into individual text files on my hard drive all at once? Check out the free Personal Message Store...

Global Crossing rolls out VoIP services.
April 5, 2004... Byline: DENISE PAPPALARDO Global Crossing last week announced a series of VoIP offerings for business users that range from simple transport to fully managed VoIP over the carrier's IP VPN services. The offerings include VoIP On-net...

Schools rethink network security; College IT staffs have become proactive since last summer's Blaster attack.
April 5, 2004... Byline: JOHN COX Computer worms and viruses continue to besiege colleges and universities, which are responding with a range of network security improvements. Most schools are focusing on technology fixes: Products designed to correct...

Service Providers briefs.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Byline: staff writers SBC last week said it will turn up Wi-Fi service in thousands of UPS retail stores in the U.S. The FreedomLink service will let mobile professionals use laptop computers and PDAs to wirelessly connect to the Internet....

Compendium.(Russell Beatie)(Phil Wainewright)(Breast-cancer Patients)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Adam Gaffin The problem with Java Russell Beatie says the problem with Java isn't the language itself but computer-science majors who insist on making it too complex. He writes: "The problem is that much of the Java stuff...

Healthcare IT execs share their wish lists.
April 5, 2004... Byline: ANN BEDNARZ BOSTON - Vendors' pricing models are lacking. Better tools are needed to sift through piles of data. Trying before buying is key. Those were sentiments expressed by a range of technology buyers from healthcare and...

What's in a code name? Shark sticks, Butt-Head Astronomer doesn't.(technology companies assign code names to products being developed)
April 5, 2004... Byline: ROBERT MCMILLAN What's in a code name? Shark sticks, Butt-Head Astronomer doesn't. If you've just bought one of IBM's TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Servers and happen to know the right sales representative, you get a...

IBM shifts the balance of Power.
April 5, 2004... Byline: jeff Caruso If IBM's latest strategy takes hold, the way we all think about processors is about to change. I don't think the industry at large is quite ready to think in the new terms. I certainly wasn't, but then again it's been...

Siemens to launch high-end IP PBX.
April 5, 2004... Byline: PHIL HOCHMUTH Borrowing technology from its carrier softswitches, Siemens has developed an enterprise network-level IP PBX it says companies can use to consolidate telephony setups based on distributed regional and branch office...

Wireless grabs spotlight at Spring VON; New handsets drive discussion of VoIP over Wi-Fi and cellular.
April 5, 2004... Byline: TIM GREENE SANTA CLARA - The combination of VoIP over Wi-Fi and traditional cellular phone services made a splash at last week's Spring VON 2004 conference, although observers say key obstacles need to be cleared before companies...

Thin is in for these three gadgets.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Keith Shaw Thin is in for these three gadgets Product name: SyncMaster 172x LCD monitor Company: Samsung Price: $600 What it does: This LCD monitor has a very slim and lightweight design, dual inputs for analog or...

Wrapping up the messaging and spam tour.(Network World Messaging and Spam Tour)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Mark Gibbs That's it - the four-city Network World Messaging and Spam Tour is over. If you were one of the attendees, thanks for coming. If you weren't, well, you missed some great events. One thing we do at these events is...

IBM becomes new Candle holder.(Acquisitions and Mergers)
April 5, 2004... Byline: DENISE DUBIE IBM, in an effort to expand its management software arsenal, last week snapped up longtime partner and sometime competitor Candle for an undisclosed sum. Candle, a privately held company formed in 1976, is best...

Who's responsible for cybersecurity?
April 5, 2004... Byline: CAROLYN DUFFY MARSAN WASHINGTON, D.C. - The debate over whether corporate network executives or their software suppliers should shoulder the burden for improving the nation's cybersecurity is shifting direction as pressure mounts...

Vendors readying InfiniBand switches.
April 5, 2004... Byline: JENNIFER MEARS InfiniBand switch vendors Topspin Communications and Voltaire today are expected to announce switches that expand their product lines to support bigger clustered systems. The companies say the moves will breathe new...

WLAN protocol being pitched to smooth interoperability.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Byline: JOHN COX Two wireless LAN companies this week will unveil a protocol for controlling WLAN access points and ask the IETF to consider it for a standard. If the aim for this protocol sounds familiar, it should: It's the same as...

XP fix previews impact of a more secure Windows.
April 5, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA When Microsoft released the first public beta for Windows XP Service Pack 2 a few weeks ago, it knew the built-in security enhancements could cripple some corporate applications. Companies testing XP SP2 say they...

Security tools target inside jobs.
April 5, 2004... Byline: ELLEN MESSMER For a decade, corporations have erected perimeter defenses to keep Internet attackers at bay. Now IT managers are under pressure to deal with an even bigger challenge: keeping insiders from using the Internet to leak...

News briefs.(Software Industry Trends)
April 5, 2004... Byline: staff writers Archrivals Sun and Microsoft last week buried the hatchet by settling their legal disputes and agreeing to share technology. Microsoft will pay Sun $1.6 billion to resolve Sun's patent and anti-trust claims and agreed...

3Com CEO Claflin focuses on revenue growth.(Bruce Claflin)(Interview)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Joel Shore Q&A: 3Com CEO Claflin focuses on revenue growth Bruce Claflin, a former network executive at IBM and Digital Equipment, joined 3Com as president and COO in 1998. At the time, 3Com was riding high after its huge...

The 3Com saga; One-time industry pillar hits 25.(Company Profile)
April 12, 2004... Byline: JOEL SHORE 3Com turns 25 this June, but the Ethernet pioneer probably won't spend much time celebrating - it's too busy fighting to stay relevant. The last several years have been difficult for the longtime industry mainstay; it's...

Let's end pass-the-buck security.
April 12, 2004... Byline: winn schwartau At InfowarCon in 1997, one of the first public debates was held on who should protect the private sector (an economic national security asset) from the "bad guys" - not just from hacking, but also international...

Gearing up for the CISSP exam; A Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner shares study tips for obtaining the hot certification.
April 12, 2004... Byline: barton mckinley Gearing up for the CISSP exam A Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner shares study tips for obtaining the hot certification. n BY barton mckinley I am now a Certified Information Systems...

Utility computing services catching on; Pay-per-use offerings chosen for cost savings, flexibility.
April 12, 2004... Byline: DENISE DUBIE AND ANN BEDNARZ In some ways, manufacturer Rockwell Collins is an ideal customer for HP's powerful Superdome computers. The maker of avionics and communications systems needs the sort of processing power that the...

I need you! (For advice and guidance).(forums arranged by Network World at CeBit America and NetWorld+Interop)
April 12, 2004... Byline: John Gallant There's an old proverb that you should never give advice unless asked. I'll leave you to ponder the wisdom of that adage while I ask for your advice - and your involvement. I'm working on two upcoming events where your...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
April 12, 2004... Byline: readers The story "Flash: More than just glitzy Web sites" (DocFinder: 1526) was right on the money in many regards: This powerful (and sexy) language is rapidly becoming far more than the lingua franca of the Web. However, the...

Camera phones are here to stay.
April 12, 2004... Byline: ira brodsky Last year, more than 75 million camera phones were sold worldwide. Are they just a consumer fad, or do they have the potential to be a useful business tool? Camera phones make many companies nervous. They can be...

Gordano offers full Outlook integration.(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA Gordano, a company that pitches its software as a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Exchange, is updating the package to fully support the collaboration features within Microsoft's Outlook client. The company has...

Putting the 'enterprise' into wireless LANs.(local area networks)
April 12, 2004... Byline: kevin tolly A s wireless LANs have rocketed into the consciousness of corporate managers in the past year or so, existing and prospective vendors in that space have been quick to point out how not to build a WLAN. Stay away,...

Gric beefs up enterprise offerings.
April 12, 2004... Byline: CAROLYN DUFFY MARSAN Gric Communications this month will update its Mobile Office remote-access system so users can more easily connect to corporate networks using either wired or wireless high-speed Internet links. The...

Fast bits as a right for the masses?
April 12, 2004... Byline: scott bradner P resident Bush last month pushed "a national goal for broadband technology" that would ensure "universal, affordable access for broadband technology by the year 2007." A laudable goal indeed, but one that we...

NAS gateways allow IP access to SANs.(Network-attached storage, internet protocol, storage area networks)
April 12, 2004... Byline: TOM JOYCE Network-attached storage quickly has been adopted in corporations because IT managers were drawn to NAS appliances' low cost and quick and easy deployment. But the flexibility comes at a price - the more islands of...

Who GETS the 'Net?(Government Emergency Telecommunications Services)
April 12, 2004... Byline: johna till johnson O ne of the most interesting issues these days is the right to Internet access. You might have thought 'Net access wasn't a "right," but you'd be wrong. Some folks are concerned about the "digital...

short takes.(Alcatel's 7750 SR-7 router)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... n Alcatel last week unveiled an addition to the service edge router line it obtained from last year's acquisition of start-up TiMetra Networks. The 7750 SR-7 router, which has seven slots and takes up one-third of a telco rack, is designed for...

The makings of a do-it-yourself supercomputer; Trying to build one very fast megabox - in a single day.
April 12, 2004... Byline: LINDA LEUNG Making a supercomputer these days is a lot easier than you might think. I even helped build one myself in just one day earlier this month. The call to create the processing beast came from a group of University of...

short takes.(software industry)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... n Microsoft this month will hold the first meeting of a new council it formed to address radio frequency identification opportunities. The Microsoft RFID Council will consist of end users and hardware and software vendors building RFID systems...

Infrastructure briefs.(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: staff HP said last week it will begin offering low-cost Fibre Channel disks in July that will cost about one-half the price of current Fibre Channel storage. The new drives will be manufactured by Seagate Technology and sold as an...

Security vendors bolster line of defense.(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: ELLEN MESSMER IBM, Network Associates and Symantec each disclosed plans last week to beef up their security product lines to provide more defense for networks. IBM's Tivoli division next month plans to ship its first...

Technology to tie together servers swells; INFRASTRUCTURE: Server interconnects.
April 12, 2004... Byline: JENNIFER MEARS For years, Prudential Group Insurance has clustered big, proprietary Unix boxes to power data warehouses that manage volumes of client information. However, the Livingston, N.J., company recently began testing micro...

Software enhances digital rights mgmt.(Liquid Machines 2.0 pushes rights management )(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA Rights management vendor Liquid Machines last week released the latest version of its data-protection software that lets customers extend corporate document access controls to partners and suppliers. Liquid...

Satellite broadband improves for teleworkers.
April 12, 2004... Byline: TONI KISTNER We're at a point where most business people take home-office, high-speed access for granted. But teleworkers and salespeople who operate beyond broadband's reach remain a problem. Although small in number, these users...

Net.Worker Short Takes.( broadband subscribers )(Intellon acquires Cogency Semiconductor)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... n Business and residential broadband subscribers reached nearly 27 million in the U.S. by year-end 2003, according to a new In-Stat/MDR report, "Reaching Critical Mass: The US Broadband Market." Nearly one in five U.S. households subscribed,...

Ask Dr. Internet.(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Steve Blass Steve Blass Our Linux server (running IBM's Apache 2-based HTTP server) is having trouble installing PHP support so we can try the PHP-Nuke content management software as a customer service portal. We can't get...

Emergency service challenges VoIP.(voice over internet protocol)(Federal Communications Commission's Enhanced 911 emergency services standard)
April 12, 2004... Byline: PHIL HOCHMUTH While support is improving for Enhanced 911 emergency services on corporate VoIP systems, IT professionals and analysts say the technology is not yet standardized across platforms and can be tricky to use in...

Great things from little gadgets.(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 12, 2004... Byline: keith shaw If you believe the phrase "good things come in small packages," you'll appreciate the following gadgets, which all pretty much fit in the palm of your hand. The scoop: SMC2862W-G EZ Connect USB 2.0 Adapter, from SMC...

Making Outlook do what we want.
April 12, 2004... Byline: mark gibbs W e finally decided to address something that has been bugging us for a while - to wit, figuring out how to launch applications from a Microsoft Outlook appointment or a task list item. When you think about it,...

MCI aims to make remote access more secure.
April 12, 2004... Byline: DENISE PAPPALARDO AND PAUL ROBERTS MCI last week said it's strengthening its remote-access service portfolio with offerings designed to better secure communications. Through a combination of internal development and...

Wrangling for a refund; The federal excise tax on telecom is under siege as customers charge that carriers are misapplying it to non-distance-sensitive services.
April 12, 2004... Byline: David Rohde and Stephen Rosen Wrangling for a refund The federal excise tax on telecom is under siege as customers charge that carriers are misapplying it to non-distance-sensitive services. n By David Rohde and Stephen...

Sonic upgrades software to speed failovers.(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA Sonic Software this week will add unique replication technology to its message-oriented middleware designed to dramatically reduce the time it takes for a failed system to recover. The replication technology in...

Solaris ready for Sun's Opteron.(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Byline: jennifer mears Sun last week rolled out the sixth update to Solaris 9, which includes support for new platforms, including the Opteron-based Sun Fire V20z. The updated operating system also now supports Sun Blade 1500 and 2500...

IETF to lead anti-spam crusade.(Internet Engineering Task Force)
April 12, 2004... Byline: CAROLYN DUFFY MARSAN The Internet's premier standards-setting body is making its first attempt to develop messaging technology aimed at reducing the amount of spam flooding corporate e-mail servers. Having researched spam for...

Sun gives Microsoft lay-away plan option.(meshed briefs)(Infosys Technologies to invest in Infosys Consulting subsidiary)
April 12, 2004... As part of their landmark agreement reached this month, Microsoft has the option to pay Sun millions of dollars each year to shield itself from patent infringement lawsuits, Lee Patch, Sun's vice president for legal affairs, said last week....

Layer 8.(meshed briefs)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Melissa Shaw We know where you live Libertarian magazine Reason will be spooking the hell out of its 40,000 subscribers with its June issue. Each reader will receive a customized cover featuring a satellite picture of his...

Adtran keeps trying to undercut Cisco.(introduces NetVanta 1224 line of low-end network gear)
April 12, 2004... Byline: TIM GREENE Adtran is expanding its assault on low-end network gear for businesses, joining 3Com, Enterasys Networks and others hoping to relieve Cisco of some of its cost-conscious small- and midsize business customers. The...