Network World articles from December 2002

Network World archives from December 2002

test test test; It's an ideal scenario. In the office, you roam the floors with your notebook, always connected to the corporate LAN via an 802.11b wireless connection. At the end of the day, you head home, and connect the same notebook to your wireless home network.
December 1, 2002... If only it were that simple. Today, on the corporate side, your only choice is 802.11b. But when your workers head home, they're confronted with home network products - PC cards, Universal Serial Bus devices and residential gateways - that may...

'Net Buzz.
December 2, 2002... Readers get another turn One last word of thanks before we move on to the gift-giving madness: Buzz truly appreciates almost all of you who take the time to send e-mail. . . . The exceptions know who you are. Let's look the recent...

Optical in the enterprise; Once the sole purview of carriers, beaming gigabits over glass is now taking root in corporate networks.(Industry Overview)
December 2, 2002... Optical switching and transport systems are finding their way into corporate networks as users deploy fiber to support high-speed connections and bandwidth-hungry applications between buildings in a metropolitan campus. Educational institutions...

Sip passes taste test; The Session Initiation Protocol is winning converts among the voice-over-IP crowd.
December 2, 2002... The Session Initiation Protocol has gained industry momentum for its promise as the future of real-time voice, video and messaging applications. But early adopters like it for one reason - it's very simple to manage. SIP is an IETF...

The customer is king; Four pioneers from different industries tailor CRM technology to better their customer relations.(Nordstrom Inc.)
December 2, 2002... Nordstrom's salespeople are getting ready to throw out their little black books. Instead of filling pages with hand-scrawled notes about customers' sizes and designer preferences, 20,000 sales clerks at the Seattle chain's 137 stores soon...

Under control; Route control customers say they're experiencing unexpected benefits.
December 2, 2002... Route control products and services are primarily designed to pick the best paths for Internet traffic at companies that use more than one ISP. But early adopters of the technology say it delivers a range of additional benefits. In...

New OS creating Macintosh converts; Unix-based Mac OS X 10.2 offers network executives more familiar administrative tools.
December 2, 2002... Macintosh servers and workstations might no longer be the black sheeps of network and systems management. The reason, IT executives say, is that a new version of Apple's Unix-based operating system - Macintosh OS X 10.2 - is giving them...

Making wireless LAN security air tight; All-in-one security gateways are helping to boost confidence in wireless networks.
December 2, 2002... Losing sleep lately? With rogue wireless LAN access points popping up every time you turn around it's easy to understand why. Securing the ether is becoming job No. 1. One approach that's gaining favor is to use security gateways to lasso...

Utility IT exec to explore power of Web services.(Gene Zimon oc Nstar)(Interview)
December 2, 2002... Gene Zimon, CIO and a senior vice president at energy company Nstar in Boston, has an atypical perspective on network technology. While he currently oversees a statewide network for the utility, which serves 1.3 million residential and business...

Authentication gets smart.
December 2, 2002... In an apprehensive society, we'll be more identified and authenticated than ever before. We'll be carded, asked for our personal identification number and inspected using a bevy of new technologies. But whether these efforts prove effective in...

Linux is the answer.
December 2, 2002... Regarding "What users want from Microsoft" (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 3322): I perceive Microsoft to work more or less like our politicians do. You tell them what you want; they listen, nod their heads and then do what they were going to do...

ESP over Fibre Channel secures SANs.(Encapsulating Security Payload )
December 2, 2002... Storage-area networks were once closed and relied predominantly on physical protection to ensure security. However, as SANs become more distributed and remotely accessible, security concerns are growing. Fibre Channel has limited security...

Antispam help is on the way.
December 2, 2002... In the last year, spam has grown from a nuisance to a nightmare for corporate network executives, who are scrambling to respond to the increased volume and objectionable content of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages sent to end users. ...

Will 2003 see a telecom revival?(Industry Overview)
December 2, 2002... Columns written this time of year often have one of three themes: a nostalgic look back - such as the 10 best things to happen in 2002 (unfortunately, the "best" events this year would be "worst" in a good year); wishful Santa-list dreaming -...

Are you an early adopter?
December 2, 2002... Finding leading-edge network shops isn't as easy as it used to be - and it's not because they don't exist. Partly to blame is the demise of national user organizations that gave network executives a high-profile way to showcase their efforts....

Collaboration software gets CAD support.(eRoom Technologies' eRoom Viewer for CAD Visualization)
December 2, 2002... CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - With an eye toward reducing product development cycles, Web-based collaboration vendor eRoom Technologies is adding support for CAD drawings to its online meeting room software that will let users share, edit and annotate...

Los Alamos builds big InfiniBand cluster.(with Promicro Systems)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2002... LOS ALMOS, N.M. - Los Alamos National Laboratory has turned to server maker Promicro Systems to build what it says is the largest cluster that uses the fledgling InfiniBand interconnect. Los Alamos recently said it was building a...

The road toward successful streamlining.(Column)
December 2, 2002... Several of my recent columns have touched on the importance of lowering operational costs. Most recently, I discussed the crushing operational overhead that many telephone companies endure (60% to 70% of service costs are because of operational...

Spam, spam, spam, lovely spam.(Column)
December 2, 2002... Spam. As a food we celebrate its virtues in two well-publicized festivals, one in Austin, Texas (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 3325), and another in Austin, Minn., home of the Spam Museum (DocFinder: 3326). Most everyone thinks Spam, the food,...

carrier briefs.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2002... Telstra, the largest service provider in Australia and New Zealand, recently announced it is deploying BroadSoft's voice-over-data products in its network. The carrier is rolling out BroadSoft's BroadWorks servers and applications to offer...

SBC unifies offerings across U.S. .
December 2, 2002... SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - SBC Communications last week rolled out standardized national data services, letting SBC business customers get the same speed, service level and pricing options across the U.S. Until last week, SBC's pricing, speeds...

Latis rolls out wireless LAN protection.(Latis Networks StillSecure Border Guard )
December 2, 2002... SUPERIOR, COLO. - Latis Networks has introduced an 802.11 wireless LAN security gateway that enforces user authentication and continuously scans the wireless network to block computer worms and Web attacks. Installed between wireless access...

Sprint buffs up managed data offerings.
December 2, 2002... KANSAS CITY, MO. - Sprint announced last week that it has revamped its managed data service offerings by simplifying the product set and pricing while extending the reach of its management capabilities. The carrier now offers two service...

MasterCard factors 9/11 into disaster-recovery plan.
December 2, 2002... 'FALLON, MO. - MasterCard International, which last year opened a gleaming $160 million data-processing campus in Missouri, is gearing up for its next challenge: building a back-up and disaster-recovery site designed for the age of terrorism....

Optical subsets up while market slumps.(according to Probe Research)
December 2, 2002... Leading research firms recently released figures and made statements indicating that certain subsets of the worldwide optical-hardware market are experiencing healthy growth while the overall market languishes. In the long-haul, revenue...

Switch lightens database server load.(Savantis Systems dbSwitch)
December 2, 2002... LEXINGTON, MASS. - Start-up Savantis Systems is introducing a switch that lets users pool databases to better utilize capacity and potentially reduce the number of database servers they maintain. The company says individual database servers...

A resilient architecture.
December 2, 2002... Sept. 11, 2001, was a generally quiet day on the Internet. This was true even though the attacks in New York destroyed some important network facilities. It might not have looked that way to those trying to get through to CNN and other news...

Experts flag security flaw in Solaris.
December 2, 2002... A vulnerability in Solaris puts systems running the Sun operating system at risk of being taken over by an attacker, experts warned last week. A buffer overflow flaw lies in Sun's implementation of the X Windows Font Service, which serves font...

IP VPN extends manufacturer's reach.(Russ Berrie and Co. )
December 2, 2002... In an effort to save money and tie together its widely scattered groups, Russ Berrie and Co. is turning to high-speed IP VPNs to augment its existing frame relay network connections. In the past, the Oakland, N.J., manufacturer of gift...

Enterprise Applications Briefs.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2002... Macromedia announced last week a new version of its Director MX multimedia authoring software, which makes it easier for customers to create kiosk and training applications that are accessible to end users with disabilities. The upgraded...

Chilling out at Comdex.
December 2, 2002... The recent Fall 2002 Comdex show in Las Vegas was a rather low-key event; it seemed that more people wanted to do business than watch any over-the-top booth demonstrations (nary a bikini or magician in sight). Still, there was plenty to get...

Ask Dr. Internet.
December 2, 2002... We have a 300-workstation network with a Windows 2000 server, two domain controllers, a SQL 2000 database server, Linux Web server and ISA firewall. We've been asked to segment the database server onto a separate network so only certain staff...

VocalTec head says VoIP adoption coming slowly to U.S.(Interview)
December 2, 2002... The past two years have been tough for VocalTec: Revenue dropped from $41.9 million in 2000 to $28.4 million in 2001, and through three quarters of this year sales are $13.1 million. Despite this, the Israeli company expects conditions to...

JUNIPER'S MINT OFFERS PROFITABLE DATA.(Juniper Networks )
December 2, 2002... SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - Juniper Networks this week is unveiling a plan designed to let service providers profitably address underserved markets without commoditizing their offerings. Supporting the framework are several new products Juniper...

BindView tunes tools for Microsoft.(bv-Admin for Windows 7.0)
December 2, 2002... HOUSTON - BindView this week will release tools for easing delegation and deployment tasks for those managing Microsoft Active Directory environments. While bv-Admin for Windows 7.0 includes features for migrating to Windows 2000 and...

Infrastructure Briefs.
December 2, 2002... Raritan, a vendor of keyboard-video-mouse switches, recently announced a product that lets small and midsize data centers manage servers and other network devices distributed across networks over IP. Called the IP-Reach M Series, the products...

ISAPI, ISAPI filters and finally ASP.
December 2, 2002... A correction is in order: Two weeks ago we wrote that "the Windows Task Scheduler . . . only allows a minimum repeat interval of 24 hours," and we were wrong. Despite having used the scheduler several times, we moved too fast to notice the...

The total information monster.(Total Information Awareness program )
December 2, 2002... In the Fox News story "Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases" it was reported the Pentagon said, "A massive database that the government will use to monitor every purchase made by every American citizen is a necessary tool in the war on...

Vendor crafts handheld access to corporate apps.(National Semiconductor developing Geode Extended Office )
December 2, 2002... LAS VEGAS - At the recent Comdex show, National Semiconductor showed a working prototype of a handheld computer that can access standard enterprise applications over more wireless infrastructures. Roughly half the size of an 8.5-by-11-inch...

Sun move placates users; Company ships Solaris 9 operating system for Intel servers.
December 2, 2002... PALO ALTO - Ending nearly a year of sometimes cantankerous debate with its users, Sun appeased its Unix customers when it posted on its site a downloadable early-access version of its Solaris 9 operating environment for Intel-based servers and...

GSA to keep vigilant with patch- notification service.(U.S. General Services Administration)
December 2, 2002... WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. General Services Administration last week began offering federal civilian agencies a way to keep track of new software patches so that they can apply them before hackers exploit known vulnerabilities. The free...

10G or not 10G?; That is the question regarding high-speed switch products.
December 2, 2002... If you're looking to add 10 Gigabit Ethernet to your corporate backbone, you might want to wait for the next generation of switches from vendors such as Cisco, Extreme Networks and Foundry Networks to ensure you're getting the most bang for...

Leave your PDA at home.(CardScan)
December 2, 2002... Putting your contacts database online lets you access it from anywhere Last time we discussed the new CardScan business-card scanner hardware and accompanying database software. Since then, I've downloaded the upgrade (runs faster, jumps...

What consumers really want.
December 2, 2002... Early technology adopters want a hand in the kitchen more than access to company files? What good is the connected home? That's what the Internet Home Alliance (IHA) is charged with finding out. By conducting research and field trials, the...

Alcatel switches stack up; 'Virtual chassis' offerings boast failover, flexibility.(Alcatel's OmniStack 6600 network switch)
December 2, 2002... CALABASAS, CALIF. - Alcatel this month is scheduled to start offering stackable 10/100M bit/sec Ethernet switches that pack much of the punch of enterprise chassis-based boxes. Alcatel lags behind 3Com, Cisco and Nortel in getting into the...

Bank of America chooses Sigaba.(Sigaba will provide secure e-mail gateways)
December 2, 2002... Bank of America has awarded Sigaba, a San Mateo, Calif., start-up, a multimillion-dollar deal that industry observers say is one of the largest-ever enterprise purchases of secure messaging software. Sigaba will provide secure e-mail...

how we did it.(SilverBack's InfoCare 3.5 )(Brief Article)
December 9, 2002... We installed SilverBack's InfoCare 3.5 CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) on our lab's six segment Fast Ethernet network. Each segment consisted of a server and several clients along with SNMP-manageable switch, router, DSU/CSU and an...

SilverBack InfoCare 3.5; The service is good, but software needs some work.(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 9, 2002... Want to take a long lunch, but you're afraid to take your eyes off the network for more than a few minutes? Consider hiring an "extra pair of eyes" to watch over things. SilverBack Technologies says its InfoCare 3.5 service and appliance can do...

Lightening the load; Reduce total cost of ownership with strategic sourcing and cost-optimized network design.
December 9, 2002... Lightening the load Reduce total cost of ownership with strategic sourcing and cost-optimized network design. BY SHALLY BANSAL STANLEY As IT executives finalize their 2003 budgets, few expect much growth. The new spending goals in...

AS2 secures documents using the Web.
December 9, 2002... Applicability Statement 2 is a draft standard from the Internet Engineering Task Force for securely exchanging business documents over the Internet, with guarantees in place to ensure a document is not lost. AS2 provides the instructions...

Other VoIP traffic-analysis options.
December 9, 2002... Other VoIP traffic-analysis options By Vincent Battistelli and Edwin Mier In addition to the voice over IP traffic analysis products tested, other vendors also now offer products featuring various VoIP-analysis capabilities. We've...

How we did it.
December 9, 2002... How we did it By Edwin Mier Product selection Our objective was to review the growing set of products that have added "VoIP traffic analysis" to their repertoire of options. Nearly two dozen contenders turned up in our research;...

Sizing up VoIP listening tools; VoIP traffic analysis products offer an eclectic mix of capabilities and perspective, but no vendor ships a complete tool kit.
December 9, 2002... VoIP traffic analysis products offer an eclectic mix of capabilities and perspective, but no vendor ships a complete tool kit. By Edwin Mier, Vincent Battistelli and Alan Miner With corporate voice-over-IP activity on the rise, network...

Whitelisting could be spam remedy.
December 9, 2002... Spam is nearing a crisis point for e-mail users and administrators. But we don't have to accept it as an inevitable force of nature. The first step in the fight against spam is to dispel the notion that users are powerless against the...

Wireless woos doctors; networked mobile devices help improve patient care and diagnosis.
December 9, 2002... Wireless woos doctors Networked mobile devices help improve patient care and diagnosis. By John Cox Healthcare network executives are discovering that wireless access to data can have a dramatic effect in boosting the number of...

Wake-up call.(distributed denial-of-service attacks )
December 9, 2002... The recent distributed denial-of-service attack (DoS) against the Internet's root servers (www. nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 3425) should stand as a wake-up call for the entire computing industry. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 43...

To buy or not to buy.(IT budgets)
December 9, 2002... With IT budgets for 2003 expected to remain flat, and with traditional early technology adopters such as financial services companies short of resources to spend, the environment is harsh for start-up companies with new products to sell. Most...

Companies saddle up for NT's ride into sunset; OPERATING SYSTEMS: The end of an era.
December 9, 2002... The New Technology Server was Microsoft's entrance into enterprise-class software in 1996, but in 12 months Windows NT will leave the ranks of supported software, and network executives must decide now what to do with the platform, users and...

Do you believe in the autonegotiation fairy?
December 9, 2002... A few months back, during our fourth annual Switch Interoperability event we host with Network World, I couldn't help but notice that all of the participating switch vendors passed our autonegotiation tests. No big deal. The standard for...

What fools these mortals be.
December 9, 2002... I know it's not Halloween, but if you want to read a scary book try The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick. I challenge you to not recognize yourself in the role of the mark in at least some of his little vignettes. And when you inevitably do, I...

Equant to keep an eye on apps.(Application Visualizer services)
December 9, 2002... ATLANTA - Equant says it will launch an application-monitoring service for data customers around the world by year-end. The service, called Application Visualizer, will let IP VPN, frame relay and ATM customers outsource application...

News briefs.(AT&T, WorldCom and Covad Communications)
December 9, 2002... Competitive local exchange carriers last week continued to joust with the regional Bell operating companies over what unbundled network elements the RBOCs must provide to CLEC competitors. The latest salvo is a petition to the U.S. Supreme...

net buzz.(Google News)
December 9, 2002... Google's gift to news hounds . . . Here's a self-centered observation that also just happens to be defensible: Nothing can really be said to represent an advance in search technology unless it helps me - yes, me - easily and quickly find...

Net mgmt. software: Rip and replace?; As systems age, users face decision to squeeze more out of old packages or toss them.(Computer Associates Unicenter TNG at Waterbury Hospital)
December 9, 2002... When the network at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut went from supporting 200 to 1,500 end users, CIO Jim Olson needed a way to keep managing it without spending any more money. The most obvious route would have been trying to squeeze more...

net briefs.(Linksys has begun bundling Norton Internet Security Suite; HomePlug Powerline Alliance )(Brief Article)
December 9, 2002... Linksys has begun bundling Norton Internet Security Suite with all its DSL and cable routers for free. Customers who bought a router after Sept. 25, 2002, can download a free copy from the Web site. The suite provides virus protection and a...

apps briefs.(IBM's WebSphere Voice Application Access; Sun's standard)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2002... IBM will release later this month WebSphere Voice Application Access, a tool for customers seeking to voice-enable corporate applications for mobile access. WVAA supports VoiceXML and Java, and includes sample portlets and preconfigured...

Gold Wire device locks down network.(Gold Wire's Formulator)
December 9, 2002... WALTHAM, MASS. - Gold Wire this month is scheduled to announce an appliance that could help operators of large multivendor networks get a better handle on configuring and auditing changes made to infrastructure gear. The company says its...

Infrastructure Briefs.(HP ProLiant DL320 and DL360; IBM's eServer p630 )
December 9, 2002... Hewlett-Packard last week bolstered its family of Intel-based servers with two new ProLiant boxes aimed at companies whose data centers are strained for space. The are 1U (1.75-inch-high) rack-mounted, single-processor servers that offer fault...

Analysts question Level 3's intentions.(Level 3 Communications)
December 9, 2002... Analysts question Level 3's intentions n By Michael Martin Level 3 Communication's recently announced plan to purchase Genuity should concern Genuity's enterprise customers, according to industry analysts. "My advice to Genuity...

Telework thrives at Trademark Office; After big technology hurdles, the agency is rewarded with happy employees and dramatic savings.
December 9, 2002... The U.S. Trademark Office is ahead of its time. In 1997, long before the federal government mandated eligible employees telework, the agency launched a two-year pilot program with 18 trademark attorneys working three days a week from home....

Low-end servers gain power, features; Memory-mirroring, fault-tolerance features aim to satisfy users who want more for less.
December 9, 2002... Everyone's view of what makes up an entry-level server is different - but everyone agrees that the category is changing rapidly from an unmanaged, single-CPU server to a more powerful, multiple-processing, highly available and fault-tolerant...

Sygate CEO outlines security strategy.(Sygate CEO John De Santis)
December 9, 2002... Sygate, a privately held company known for its personal firewalls, says its revenue will double this year to $10 million and projects it will double again next year as sales are boosting its budget by four to five times the current $500,000....

CISCO ADDS IP MULTISERVICE PRODUCTS; NEW, ENHANCED WARES AND ARCHITECTURES INTENDED TO CONVINCE CARRIERS TO OPEN POCKETBOOKS.(Cisco ONS 15454 optical transport system )
December 9, 2002... SAN JOSE - Cisco last week unveiled a bevy of products designed to convince service providers they can roll out new services profitably on new and existing circuit, packet and cable infrastructures. Cisco also announced a handful of carrier...

Service providers, customers share concerns.
December 9, 2002... Regular readers of this column might have noticed that many of the topics raised - from reducing operational costs to developing effective service strategies - apply as much to enterprise organizations as to telecom providers. That's no...

The Edge briefs.(MicroMuse to acquire Lumos Technologies; WaveSmith Networks tests net switch)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2002... Micromuse last week announced plans to purchase Lumos Technologies for up to $2.7 million in cash and the assumption of approximately $800,000 in outstanding debt. Micromuse expects the acquisition to provide it with technology for managing...

carrier briefs.(Cogent Communications and AT&T announce services)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2002... Cogent Communications last week rolled out a data-center service targeted at customers with low bandwidth requirements. The offering, marketed under the PSINet brand, gives customers a 2M bit/sec connection and a full rack space for $1,000 per...

Tungsten T impresses -- Cool Tools.(Palm Tungsten T PDA)
December 9, 2002... We've been tooling around with the Palm Tungsten T over the past few weeks, and we're impressed. The handheld uses Palm's new OS 5 operating system and comes with a high-resolution screen and integrated Bluetooth. If you've been carrying...

Ask Dr. Internet.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2002... We've seen DSL "modems" that connect to the DSL phone line on one side and have a USB port on the other. What happens when a user wants to network several computers off this connection? Are there routers/switches that do network address...

Scripting Active Server pager.(Microsoft's Active Server Page technology)
December 9, 2002... A correction to our last correction is in order: Three weeks ago we wrote that "the Windows Task Scheduler . . . only allows a minimum repeat interval of 24 hours," and we were wrong. We corrected that last week, and then we wrote that even so,...

NetScreen embraces SSL with SafeWeb pact.
December 9, 2002... NetScreen Technologies is joining other IP Security VPN vendors that recognize customers want a simpler, less-expensive, secure remote-access method to supplement their VPNs. The company is teaming up with SafeWeb to provide a Secure...

Insurance giant taps start-up to manage domain names.(Nominum will provide German insurance giant Allianz Group with its new Foundation IP Address Suite)
December 9, 2002... REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. - Nominum, a 3-year-old start-up specializing in Internet name and addressing technologies, last week announced its first enterprise software licensing deal. Nominum will provide German insurance giant Allianz Group...

Microsoft looks to address licensing.(Licensing 6.0 plan)
December 9, 2002... Microsoft has begun tweaking its licensing programs to address the confusion and financial burdens it has admitted creating with its new Licensing 6.0 plan. The company last week introduced client access license (CAL) programs for Windows...

Crate & Barrel unwraps VoIP network.(Cisco CallManager IP PBXs installed)
December 9, 2002... NORTHBROOK, ILL. - The home goods retailer Crate & Barrel has given itself an early Christmas present: a new converged voice and data network. Crate & Barrel recently installed $350,000 worth of Cisco voice-over-IP (VoIP) gear at its new...

Web services leaders agree to showdown.(Network World's Web Services Showdown)
December 9, 2002... They say the press only brings bad news. Nonsense. Here's some good news. " A month ago, I challenged four top Web services companies to take part in a presidential-style debate at the Comnet 2003 conference in January - and all of them...