Network World articles from March 2002

Network World archives from March 2002

20000 leagues.(Norte Networks Passport 20000 network switch introduced)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Nortel unveils core-specific multiservice switch Nortel last week became the latest vendor to pitch an updated entry into the multiservice switching fray, a market that looks like it will be red hot this year as carriers spend what little...

Windows XP: A SIP VoIP implementation that works.
March 4, 2002... Many conversations among the voice-over-IP cognoscenti who have cycled through our labs recently turned to the new Windows XP operating system and its embedded Session Initiation Protocol stack. A cursory tire kicking during our recent...

Extending Ethernet into the access arena; IP QoS, 802.1q VLANs enhance Ethernet bandwidth capabilities.
March 4, 2002... A great deal of interest surrounds the deployment of Ethernet in metropolitan-area networks as a replacement for SONET. At the same time, Ethernet advocates are trying to elevate Ethernet to become a broadband alternative to xDSL and cable...

No seal of approval for spam.
March 4, 2002... The spam problem is worse than ever. My in-boxes are as laden with junk e-mail as the next user's, but at least I don't feel totally unprotected. I thank my e-mail providers for the antispam features they've built into their products and...

Enron and us.(Letter to the Editor)
March 4, 2002... In his column "Before you throw stones at Enron" (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 8323), Thomas Nolle raises some good points comparing the fall of Enron to that of dot-coms and competitive local exchange carriers. However, two points overlooked...

How we did it with review.
March 4, 2002... We installed Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000 onto a Compaq DL-380 server with twin Pentium III 1-GHz processors, 512M bytes of RAM and an internal 18G-byte RAID 5 disk array. All management packages also were loaded on this machine. The...

Get a grip on Exchange server storage; E-mail management tools and extended storage systems can reduce e-mail storage headaches.(Evaluation)
March 4, 2002... It's a Microsoft Exchange administrators job to make sure users don't consume all of the disk space on Exchange servers. There are two main approaches: one is to use management tools to get e-mail use under control - to convince people they...

Dot Hill has a lot of cool toys.(Dot Hill Systems SANnet 7128 data storage device)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Dot Hill provided two other products to show off its Axis server for our testing. The first is the company's RAID Blade component system. Essentially, it is a 1U rack-mounted appliance that provides SCSI storage. A master unit has a RAID...

It's about Time.(Times N Systems TNS1600M)(Abstract)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The TNS1600M is a preconfigured system designed for use in Exchange environments. It uses Windows 2000 on the three participating nodes, and the connecting system must also be Windows-based. However, this configuration also can support a Linux...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
March 4, 2002... Jumbo Frames again Regarding Kevin Tolly's column "Time for Jumbo Frames -- again!" (http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2002/0107tolly.html): While Jumbo Frames could help improve performance, better partitioning between hardware and...

Investing in the year ahead.(Column)
March 4, 2002... Traditionally I have used my first column of the year to project which technology sectors I think will be most promising for venture investors. That is more difficult to do this year, given the economic environment and the fact that venture...

Equant extends IP voice to the LAN.
March 4, 2002... ATLANTA - Equant last week unveiled a managed IP telephony service for companies looking to converge voice and data traffic all the way down to the LAN. The service is designed to save companies money by eliminating the need to run...

Microsoft's newest nemesis - the Linux mainframe?(IBM zSeries 800 e. server)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Years ago, Microsoft's Windows NT Server vanquished IBM's technically superior OS/2 Warp in the struggle to own the then-nascent realm of enterprise servers. Since then, Microsoft largely has focused on trying to gain market share in the...

MPEG-4 as a forgotten footnote.
March 4, 2002... It's an apparent case of greed triumphing over common sense. The folks working out the licensing fees for MPEG-4 have decided to charge a per-minute, per-user fee for use of the technology and to set the fee at a level that should ensure MPEG-4...

Infrastructure briefs.
March 4, 2002... Sun last week lowered the prices of some products in its Cobalt server appliance line. As Microsoft phases out its Windows NT Server 4.0 software, Sun hopes to convince customers to purchase a Cobalt server appliance instead of upgrading to a...

Lurid links a new pain for biz sites; Expired domain names point to porn.
March 4, 2002... The number of domain names being allowed to expire - intentionally or accidentally - is at an all-time high. Now shady middlemen called traffic aggregators are increasingly buying these names and redirecting corresponding Web traffic to other...

News briefs.
March 4, 2002... The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the Tauzin-Dingell bill, which will ease long-distance restrictions on the four regional Bell operating companies if it is also approved by the U.S. Senate and President Bush (see editorial,...

Service provider briefs.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... n USinternetworking, the application service provider that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, is in talks with fellow ASP Interpath about a possible merger. Analysts have speculated such a merger might be likely since...

Mediaone.net domain name change: A warning.
March 4, 2002... As a result of a recent legal settlement, AT&T Broadband must stop using the Mediaone.net domain name and is requiring its 630,000 customers to change their e-mail and Web pages. AT&T purchased MediaOne for approximately $58 billion two...

Sprint bets on a different convergence technology; UPDATE ON SPRINT What's next after ION?
March 4, 2002... Sprint may have waved goodbye to its integrated on-demand platform last year, but the company's goals in the post-ION era remain essentially the same. Sprint still wants to offer business customers a migration path for converged voice and...

Start-up manages IP/net performance; Jaalam diagnostics software lets users quickly pinpoint source of problems.(Jaalam Technologies' AppareNet)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Network testing and diagnostics software from start-up Jaalam Technologies will give customers a real-time view of IP network performance and can help pinpoint the source of problems. Jaalam, founded in July...

Portals get more palatable.
March 4, 2002... Enterprise information portals have been a boon to businesses that want to provide a single point of entry to their vast resources of disparate information. But along with the benefits have come hurdles, primarily in the area of technical...

Net saboteur faces 41 months.(Timothy Lloyd of Omega Engineering)
March 4, 2002... NEWARK, N.J. - A long nightmare has come to a close for Omega Engineering. The network administrator who destroyed the company's network is facing 41 months in federal prison, and now - five-and-a-half years after the attack - the company...

Verio closing more data centers.
March 4, 2002... ENGLEWOOD, COLO. - Web hosting firm Verio is cutting staff and shuttering more than three-quarters of its data centers as it streamlines operations to reflect changing demand from enterprise users. The cuts are nothing new in a Web hosting...

ISP Internap enters managed VPN service arena.
March 4, 2002... Internap last week launched a managed site-to-site IP VPN service that promises high network availability in addition to secure data networking. PrivatePath, the ISP's first IP VPN service, requires users to deploy preconfigured Cisco...

New chips could lead to less-expensive Gigabit NICs.
March 4, 2002... SAN FRANCISCO - Intel last week unveiled chip technology that could reduce the cost of Gigabit Ethernet network interface cards to less than $50, the company says. The products, revealed at the Intel Developer Forum, puts all logic...

HP bulks up midrange servers.(HP Server rp7410 PA-RISC-based server)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Hewlett-Packard last week rolled out a compact, midrange server that is faster and more scalable for Web and technical computing applications than competitive servers. The HP Server rp7410, code-named Matterhorn, is a PA-RISC-based server...

Ask Dr. Internet.
March 4, 2002... In your Feb. 18 column (see www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 8333), you suggested applying the MS02-005 patch to secure Outlook Web Access. We've applied it to all our workstations and have disabled scripting of ActiveX Controls already on them as...

A router in every pocket; MeshNetworks' mobile technology fosters peer-to-peer wireless networking.
March 4, 2002... MAITLAND, FLA. - MeshNetworks has created a mobile network that does not need the cumbersome infrastructure associated with today's cellular networks. Instead, the company has enabled its mobile communication devices to act as peer-to-peer...

Enterprise Applications Briefs.
March 4, 2002... Microsoft is set to deliver its first .Net service for businesses in the fourth quarter. Last week the company said Microsoft Customer Relationship Management will provide a single, integrated view of contacts with customers, working with...

Edge briefs.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... n Net.com has unveiled an IP telephony gateway that integrates in one device the functions of several. Shout2500 combines gateway and gatekeeper functions, and supports Signaling System 7 (the signaling used in the public switched telephone...

Vendors rev InfiniBand engine; Blade servers, router and test appliance shown at Intel event.
March 4, 2002... SAN FRANCISCO - At last week's Intel Developer Forum, users got a glimpse of some of the key InfiniBand-based server and network devices that promise to alleviate many of the bottlenecks clogging server, storage and other network devices. ...

net buzz.(Space Data)
March 4, 2002... 'Wacky' wireless net just might fly Journalistic objectivity aside, you can't come away from an interview with Space Data CEO Gerald Knoblach without a rooting interest in his fledgling wireless network, which the entrepreneur himself...

RSS tools and stuff.
March 4, 2002... So in last week's Gearhead (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 8331) we discussed a standard for news syndication called Rich Site Summary. To recap, RSS lets Internet sites with something to say make their content findable through an XML-formatted...

Compaq updates line of network storage.
March 4, 2002... Compaq last week released a host of networked storage products that promise to give companies more options for shuffling data between servers, storage systems and users. Companies typically have made direct attachments between servers and...

Study looks to define 'insider threat'.(Carnegie Mellon University and United States Secret Service)
March 4, 2002... The U.S. Secret Service, in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has launched a study of insider-based computer security breaches that it hopes will ultimately help IS executives protect their systems from these attacks....

Set the RBOCs free and let the fun begin.(regional Bell operating companies)(Editorial)
March 4, 2002... The House passing of the Tauzin-Dingell Bill last week may render moot the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to give the regional Bell operating companies some DSL regulatory relief, but many believe Tauzin-Dingell will die in the...

Explain, kill or fix.
March 4, 2002... Over the past few months and years, we've had all kinds of doodads added to our lives in the form of new and improved software and services, and what has it brought us? Often nothing other than more stuff to manage along with tears and...

Group saves Java for Domino; Open source developers create replacement for JSP.
March 4, 2002... A group of developers last week said it has created an open source replacement for Java technology that Lotus recently revealed it was stripping from its forthcoming Domino 6 collaboration package, much to the chagrin of customers. The...

New tools ease Cisco IOS mgmt.(Gambit's Mimic IOS Simulator andIntelliden's R-Series)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Two companies last week introduced software aimed at helping users better manage and troubleshoot hardware that use Cisco's Internetwork Operating System, which runs most Cisco routers and switches. Software from Intelliden could help...

Exec promises big changes at Novell.(Chris Stone)
March 4, 2002... PROVO, UTAH -The newest executive hired to right Novell's ship intends to save foundering products by lashing them into suites, scuttle proprietary development tools and emphasize the company's directory-based offerings through revamped...

Microsoft revises Win 2000 security stance; But critics say its release of key authorization data format falls short.
March 4, 2002... After three years of criticism, Microsoft has finally published a royalty-free version of a key authorization data format that has been the center of interoperability concerns surrounding "standards-based" Kerberos security in Windows 2000. ...

AltiGen IP PBX wares on tap; Vendor's new operating system supports more users, applications.
March 4, 2002... LOS ANGELES - AltiGen this week will announce several IP PBX and call center products aimed at bringing large phone system and call center features to small businesses. At the Computer Telephony Expo, the vendor will have a new operating...

Williams pitching IP VPN.
March 4, 2002... Williams Communications this week will try to woo corporate network executives with new managed VPN services, but observers say the company's rocky financial situation could make the offerings a hard sell despite several catchy features. ...

AmEx taps IBM for on-demand services.
March 4, 2002... American Express says it expects to save hundreds of millions of dollars over the next seven years through an outsourcing deal announced last week with IBM Global Services. The $4 billion pact calls for IBM to take over most of American...

BEA boosts WebLogic to enable Web services.(WebLogic Server 7.0)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... The latest release of BEA Systems' Java application server, WebLogic, is designed to help enterprise developers working in Java embrace so-called Web services. WebLogic Server 7.0 solidifies the product's security features, supports the...

Caching vendors take on last mile.
March 4, 2002... As caching vendors and content delivery networks have focused on improving the Internet's performance by pushing content to the network's edge, a group of smaller start-ups has been quietly rolling out technologies designed to boost speed all...

Flaw could put Linux systems.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... A flaw in the Netfilter firewall component of various versions of the Linux kernel could put systems running the open source operating system at risk, experts warned last week. A bug in part of Netfilter's system could undo previously...

Keeping an eye on IT; Evolving project portfolio management tools are useful, but can't substitute for good processes.(Baylor University Hankamer School of Business uses Pacific Edge Software's Project Office)
March 4, 2002... As a professor of MIS at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, Reagan Ramsower didn't need a crash course in project portfolio management. But when he took over as Baylor's first CIO 15 months ago, he got one anyway. These days,...

Look before you leap; Thinking of joining a new company as a remote manager? Better consider your personal workstyle, expectations and the firm's corporate culture. See what one executive learned about himself, his employer and telework - after it was too late.
March 4, 2002... Doug Barney thought telework would work for him. After six years as an office-based editor with Network World, in 2000 Barney left to become the editor in chief of another magazine, working full time from home. Barney was confident the...

What's in the way of home networking?
March 4, 2002... Home networking expert outlines what's holding back home nets. It seems obvious to me. If you're paying $40 per month for cable or DSL and have more than one PC, you need a home network to share the pipe, and maybe printers, files and...

Implementing a directory service.(consider Microsoft Active Directory or Novell eDirectory)
March 4, 2002... I'm looking into risks and issues associated with implementing a directory service. Can you give me some advice and Web resources? I have three words of advice for implementing a Directory Service: research, plan and test. From your email,...

Cool tools.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Kensington's cool stuff for mobile warriors Here are some recently released cool tools from Kensington Technology Group, made especially for the mobile warriors on your staff. These and other cool products can be found at...

Flash upgrade improves Web site accessibility.(Macromedia Flash Player 6.0 and Macromedia Flash MX)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Macromedia Monday unveiled new versions of its Flash multimedia player and authoring software that work with screen readers, a move that Web site accessibility advocates say is a boon to disabled users of the Internet. The software, which...

RIM adds voice to the BlackBerry.(Research In Motion RIM BlackBerry 5810 PDA)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Research In Motion Monday announced it has added voice capabilities to its RIM BlackBerry handheld device to create the Java-based BlackBerry 5810, which it is demonstrating at this week's Comdex Chicago trade show. The PDA is designed to...

Palm's new PDAs turn up the color, go wireless.(Palm m130 and Palm m515 PDA's and Palm Bluetooth Secure Digital I/ 0 card)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Palm Monday trotted out its spring lineup, introducing the new m130 entry-level handheld and the premium m515 model, as well as touting its Palm Bluetooth Secure Digital I/ card for providing wireless collaboration and connection capabilities....

Fujitsu develops fingerprint sensor for cell phones.
March 4, 2002... Cellular telephones could be more secure in the future now that engineers at Fujitsu have completed development of a compact fingerprint sensor designed for use with handsets. With growing use of services such as electric commerce and...

Visualware tool helps trace spammers.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Network administrators and individual users looking to track spammers may have a new tool in their kits after Visualware Monday announced its eMailTrackerPro e-mail inspection product. EMailTrackerPro is a Windows application that analyzes...

Cisco unveils 'unified' VPNs.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Cisco Monday announced extensions to its routing software that enable service providers to provision Layer 2 VPN services to enterprises across a range of the company's products. The extensions, which Cisco calls its Unified VPN Suite, are...

Ipedo database gets XML jolt.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Ipedo this week is adding a standards-based query engine to its XML database that will give users a more intelligent, efficient and faster way to perform queries not only on documents but the data contained within those documents. The...

ISS, Marsh team on cybersecurity, insurance.
March 4, 2002... Companies interested in securing their networks and minimizing risks from any potential security breaches got a new option Monday when managed security services provider Internet Security Systems and insurance firm Marsh teamed to offer a plan...

IBM's Tivoli extends its Risk Manager.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... AUSTIN, TEXAS - Tivoli Systems, the network management software arm of IBM, Monday made available the latest version of its threat management software that the company says now collects data from security devices from the likes of Network...

Internet Photonics unveils architecture.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Internet Photonics Monday announced products to support Ethernet and SONET services over Dense Wave Division Multiplexing. The products include a passive DWDM, which will enable service providers to "wrap" DWDM around SONET-based networks...

Storability streamlines multivendor storage management.(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... Storage management provider Storability is expected to announce software Tuesday that lets IT manage storage devices from multiple vendors and provide services such as storage resource and device management, and backup and recovery. The...

Opinion: Could Web services be a breakthrough for handheld computing?
March 4, 2002... Web services may almost have been invented for handheld computing. They weren't, of course, and so far, even with all the existing excess of hyperbole, not many vendors have addressed how Web services could benefit deployment of handheld,...

Supreme Court to hear wireless spectrum case.
March 4, 2002... WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case between the Federal Communications Commission and NextWave Telecom over ownership of valuable spectrum licenses. The dispute goes back to 1996, when NextWave bid $4.74...

Intelliden emerges to help configure nets.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 4, 2002... A start-up has recently emerged from stealth mode with what it believes is an easier way to configure Cisco and Juniper Networks routers. Intelliden, founded in April 2000 by officials from WorldCom, developed software that automates what...

2002 Network World User Excellence Award competition.
March 5, 2002... Each year, through its User Excellence Award competition, Network World honors end user organizations that make innovative and effective use of network technology. We are now accepting entries for the 2002 competition.

VeriSign eyes telecom market.
March 6, 2002... Expanding its business horizon beyond the Internet, VeriSign's CEO Wednesday said the company sees itself at the intersection of the Internet and telecommunications networks within five years, providing a huge database that links users and...

IBM to ship powerful notebook line.(IBM ThinkPad A series)(Product Announcement)
March 6, 2002... IBM is preparing to launch a new line of notebook computers that will be positioned as portable workstations with enough processing muscle to run high-end applications used by engineers and developers, according to information on IBM's Web...

MeshNetworks partners for mobility.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... MeshNetworks Tuesday announced a technology and market development agreement with ViewSonic to add mobile routing to handheld devices. The companies will jointly develop a mini-PCI card version of MeshNetworks' peer-to-peer mobile routing...

Pocket PC browser gets Windows Media support.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 6, 2002... Windows Media Player Control is now available for Microsoft's Pocket Internet Explorer browser, the company said Tuesday, allowing digital-media playback directly from a Web page viewed with Pocket IE on the company's Pocket PC 2002 platform....

Williams taps Emperative.
March 6, 2002... Williams and Emperative this week claimed they could demonstrate automatic setup of a cross-country fiber link in 10 seconds, which means service providers could theoretically quickly turn up such broadband services for corporate customers. ...

Lucent unveils CDMA2000 base stations.(Product Announcement)
March 6, 2002... Lucent this week unveiled two Code Division Multiple Access 2000 mobile base station systems designed to increase mobile network capacity and aid migration to 3G. Verizon Wireless is the first mobile network operator to deploy these new...

FTC, Palm settle over misrepresentation claims.
March 6, 2002... After charging Palm with misrepresenting the Internet access and e-mail capabilities of its handheld devices in marketing materials, the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday said that it had entered into a proposed settlement deal with the...

Clear partners with Calient.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 6, 2002... Network management software vendor Clear this week announced that its optical network management software can now support switches from Calient Networks. Clear's network monitoring suite, ClearView, will monitor Calient's DiamondWave...

Nortel to supply 3G gear to Cingular.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2002... Nortel this week announced a $500 million contract signed last November to supply Cingular Wireless with GSM/ General Packet Radio Service equipment for upgrades in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Under terms of the three-year agreement, Nortel...

The ties that bind enterprise applications; MIDDLEWARE: Bridging the gap between legacy and new applications.
March 11, 2002... After selecting Siebel Systems' customer relationship management suite, service provider Infonet set out to determine which of its other business applications should be integrated with the new CRM software. That's when things got complicated....

Nano futures; Switches and chips built atom by atom could lead to smaller, faster, cheaper network products.
March 11, 2002... Switches and chips built atom by atom could lead to smaller, faster, cheaper network products. BY SUZANNE GASPAR BOSTON - Nanotechnology could lead to an automated world of self-restoring architectures, reconfigurable chips,...

Every byte into the pool; What if you could somehow aggregate all your storage from any type of physical device into a single pool that could be easily accessed and centrally managed? That's the promise of virtualization.
March 11, 2002... Virtualization is an abstraction of physical storage. It masks the complexity of underlying networked storage by building a logical view of storage that is isolated from physical devices. Virtualization software collects data from different...

Plunging into virtualization; Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund rolls out DataCore's SANsymphony to improve storage manageability.
March 11, 2002... Bill Manning knew he had a problem keeping up with the storage demands of his network. Manning, associate director of technical services for the Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund, wanted to expand storage without facing the...

Visions of virtualization; There are three ways to implementvirtualization, each with its own pluses and minuses.
March 11, 2002... The ability to pool all your storage into one virtual view is inviting, but vendors and analysts alike recommend that you slowly get acclimated before jumping in. Virtualization, which can be deployed in the server, network or storage...

Has the FCC revived IP DSL?
March 11, 2002... When the regional Bell operating companies were forced to unbundle their DSL service elements, they were reluctant to use direct IP-over-DSL technology because it would have meant they had to wholesale IP-based access to competitors. ATM-based...

Arranged marriage; Maintaining a happy relationship with your outsourcer.
March 11, 2002... Arranged marriage Maintaining a happy relationship with your outsourcer. BY DREW ROBB Done right, outsourcing saves money while improving productivity. But like a marriage, the vendor/client relationship results in heartbreak as...