Network World articles from September 2002

Network World archives from September 2002

Portal standards for Web services.
September 2, 2002... Portlets, or portal applets, are visual components that make up a Web page residing in a Web portal. Typically, when an end user requests a personalized Web page, multiple portlets are invoked when that pages is created. An example is a...

Denial of service: Fighting back; Test shows there are several varied, viable options that help defend your network against attacks.(Captus Networks CaptCC, Captus Networks CaptIO, Mazu Networks Enforcer 5.2, Radware FireProof Application Switch II, Webscreen Technology WS100, Asta Networks Vantage System 2.0, Lancope StealthWatch M100, CS3 MANANet Reverse Firewall 1.10)(Evaluation)
September 2, 2002... Denial of service: Fighting back Test shows there are several varied, viable options that help defend your network against attacks. By Mandy Andress, network world global test alliance There's more than one way to skin a...

In other words; A glossary of DoS terms.
September 2, 2002... A glossary of DoS terms ACK floods - An attack that sends a large number of TCP packets with the ACK flag set to a target. Denial of service (DoS) - When an attack is launched against a target system or network that prevents valid,...

How we did it.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2002... Passive monitoring devices were connected to a spanning port on the Cisco Catalyst 3500 switch on our target network. Inline devices were placed between our attacker and target networks, in front of the target networkOs gateway firewall. The...

Staffing for convergence; Joining voice and data pros calls for thought about how you'll ramp up staff and divvy up duties.
September 2, 2002... Staffing for convergence Joining voice and data pros calls for thought about how you'll ramp up staff and divvy up duties. By PHIL HOCHMUTH Converging voice and data onto one network can be a daunting task for any organization,...

Video over IP: The time is (sort of) nigh.
September 2, 2002... Let's take a look at one of the hottest yet least-heralded trends in enterprise networking lately: videoconferencing. Virtually all my large enterprise customers are reviewing their videoconferencing strategies for two main reasons: travel...

NetScreen offers all-in-one security box.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2002... SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - NetScreen Technologies is planning a new product line that will include firewall, VPN and intrusion-prevention software in a single box, giving customers a way to beef up security without adding multiple devices to their...

Force10 aims high with 10G switch.(Force10 Networks E1200, Force10 Networks E600)(Product Announcement)
September 2, 2002... MILPITAS, CALIF. - Force10 Networks this week will debut a box that could help large corporations and carriers build beefier Gigabit and 10G Ethernet capacity than the most high-end switches currently available. The E1200 and E600 switches...

Are numbers prime?(Internet Engineering Task Force's Enum working group links telephone numbers to domain names)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 2, 2002... Internet telephony is beginning to take off. It might be on a sometimes-imperceptible angle of ascent, but things are happening. Hundreds of large companies are experimenting with Ethernet-based phones and voice-over-IP (VoIP) systems. A...

Tool eases Active Directory mgmt.(Javelina Software's ADvantage tool kit)
September 2, 2002... Javelina Software this week will release a tool kit that will help network professionals streamline and automate administration of Microsoft's Active Directory. The company's ADvantage tool kit is client software that lets users perform...

Enterprise Applications Briefs.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2002... PeopleSoft announced a partnership with IBM last week to offer preconfigured servers running IBM's DB2 database and middleware products and business software from PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft said it will begin offering its Accelerated Solutions...

Semper Ethernet.
September 2, 2002... In the history of data networks and the high-tech market, there are few technologies that have a long history of being a dominant force. Ethernet is one of them. It has proven to be resilient in a number of ways. I had the good fortune in...

carrier briefs.(Brief Article)
September 2, 2002... n USinternetworking last week announced it is expanding its performance-based service-level agreements to cover its PeopleSoft ERP applications such as human resources and financial management. The application service provider already offers...

Web service takes college to school.
September 2, 2002... Among 3,654 freshmen entering University of California, Berkeley this fall, 60% submitted a required form stating their intent to register, and paid the associated fee by credit card via the Web - a first for UC Berkeley freshman, who in past...

inf briefs.(Statistical Data Included)
September 2, 2002... n Hewlett-Packard's server business took a beating in the second quarter as the company lost ground to its major rivals, according to data released last week by Gartner. Overall, worldwide server revenue shrank to $10.1 billion in the second...

Intel readies optical parts to lower carriers' costs; Tunable lasers, processor to improve efficiency.
September 2, 2002... SANTA CLARA - Intel's drive into optical networking will produce a transceiver with a tunable laser and a processor that should help carriers send signals reliably over longer distances, both of which could help lower the cost of optical...

SBC service to help prioritize apps.
September 2, 2002... SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - SBC Communications last week unveiled a service designed to help customers ensure their most important applications are given priority when traveling across a WAN. Called Application Performance Management, the offering...

Long-haul carrier gets packets; Infrastructure saves money and sets stage for new services.(Touch America uses Bay Packets' packet equipment)
September 2, 2002... BUTTE, MONT. - The long-distance arm of Touch America has shifted from the old way of supporting voice services to an IP-based platform that can support existing services and a batch of new ones that the legacy technology cannot. The...

Wireless carrier market prime for consolidation; Observers say mergers could result in better coverage for customers.(Industry Overview)
September 2, 2002... With the economy dragging and the federal government preparing to lift spectrum caps, wireless carriers are doing a dating dance that could lead to a market consolidation that analysts have been expecting for some time. The thought is that...

Cisco turns up key switch security speeds.(Cisco Systems VPN Services Module, Cisco Systems Network Analysis Module, Cisco Systems Firewall Services Module, Cisco Systems Secure Sockets Services Layer Module)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2002... Corporate customers can secure their network traffic at higher speeds and avoid proliferation of devices with a series of security hardware modules announced last week for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches. The modules perform the...

ask dr. internet.
September 2, 2002... We're designing a frame relay network and a major issue is zero tolerance of downtime. What is the threshold of too much redundancy? We've designed a location where the customer will host his server for remote users to access. The customer will...

Jeepers! Veepers!
September 2, 2002... This week: Talking heads. No, not the pop group - something called Veepers, one of the coolest Web presentation tools we've seen for awhile. A Veepers presentation (called "a Veeper") is a simulation that displays a cunningly animated and...

RBOCs bringing new life to Centrex; IP CENTREX: Extending the PBX.
September 2, 2002... IP Centrex services have been available through competitive service providers for more than a year, but with the regional Bell operating companies now set to launch their own offerings, the technology may finally come into its own. Like...

Cool Tools.
September 2, 2002... Logitech launches new keyboards Logitech recently released three new corded keyboards, aimed at budget-minded consumers, that offer many of the same features as Logitech's Cordless Freedom Optical series. The new keyboards include...

News Bits.
September 2, 2002... A couple of weeks after admitting to a flaw in the cryptography software of its operating system, Microsoft last week said another security flaw involving digital certificates exists in the operating system. A few weeks ago the problem was in...

The Edge briefs.
September 2, 2002... DSET announced a new version of its electronic bonding software for service providers that speeds the ordering of services between service providers. If one carrier needs a local circuit to complete a dedicated line to a customer, the ezAccess...

Law firm revamps after attacks.
September 2, 2002... On the morning of Sept. 11, Alan Winchester, technology partner for the New York office of Harris Beach LLP, was preparing for trial. Winchester was in his Brooklyn apartment when he looked out over lower Manhattan and saw the planes hit. His...

Credit union rethinks disaster recovery.(Municipal Credit Union provides financial services to 300,000 of New York's firemen, police officers and healthcare workers)
September 2, 2002... Municipal Credit Union is one of many organizations that has found it much easier to justify implementing an improved business-continuity program in the past year. "We didn't have any trouble getting money after Sept. 11," says Barry...

Net Buzz.(Microsoft's new licensing program)
September 2, 2002... Throwing curves While the real Buzz is off contemplating how last week's narrowly adverted baseball strike will inevitably come back to bite Joe Fan's pocketbook, Surrogate Buzz is taking this space for another test drive and wondering how...

Beating the drum, Part 2.(Telework Consortium)
September 2, 2002... Three groups vie to fulfill telework's promise Second of a two part series Last week, we looked at how the International Telework Association and Council is remaking itself to appeal to Fortune 500 and Global 2000 firms who don't...

Losing? The war has been lost!(Column)
September 2, 2002... "You are receiving this e-mail as a valued customer of Pier 1 Imports . . . We want you to be the first to know about upcoming events and savings, and we think e-mail is the best way to do that. May we add you to our e-mail list? If it's OK,...

Novell vet eyes Web services challenge.
September 2, 2002... DRAPER, UTAH - Novell co-founder Craig Burton has a long memory when it comes to network issues - and he sees the problem of getting multivendor Web service applications to work together as one that can be solved with a decades-old answer. ...

What has changed.(Sept. 11 attacks changed business strategy)
September 2, 2002... In the year since the terrorist attacks, network executives have pragmatically revisited their disaster-recovery plans and core network technologies, haunted by visions of last Sept. 11. "I don't think anybody viewed the world prior to 9/11...

Opsware automates network mgmt.(Multimaster Service Automation Module )
September 2, 2002... SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - Opsware this week will introduce software that could make it easier for companies to configure networks and servers across data centers. The company, which changed its name from Loudcloud earlier this year, says its...

Car makers rev up new e-commerce initiatives.
September 2, 2002... DETROIT - When it comes to e-commerce, the Big Three U.S. automakers see bumps aplenty in the coming months. For starters, Ford told the audience at the annual AutoTech conference last week that it is tearing out its decade-old Ford...

'New' HP posts mixed results.
September 2, 2002... PALO ALTO - Hewlett-Packard watchers were unfazed last week by the company's posting of a $2 billion quarterly loss in what was its first financial report to include results from the recently acquired Compaq. Eyebrows were raised, however, by a...

Helping federal agencies regroup.
September 2, 2002... Within an hour of the first plane striking on Sept. 11, the General Services Administration established a response team consisting of resources from multiple federal technology organizations. Denny Groh, acting associate commissioner for...

Infonet, Genuity push VPN service quality.
September 2, 2002... Users demanding quality of service over their managed IP VPNs soon will have two more service options to consider from Infonet and Genuity. The two companies later this month will separately introduce class-of-service options to their...

Caldera pulls SCO out of its hat.
September 2, 2002... Company repositions, announces bold Web push Las Vegas swarmed with magic practitioners in late August, but one of the biggest tricks was sprung at the Caldera GeoForum: presto, chango, Caldera International became SCO Group. OK, we...

Cisco, Symbol upgrade wireless wares.
September 2, 2002... Cisco and Symbol Technologies, two of the leading makers of wireless LAN products, separately will roll out equipment this week that takes the technology to a new level. Cisco will begin shipping 54M bit/sec products based on the 802.11a...

Report: Telecom market still slow.(Statistical Data Included)(Industry Overview)
September 2, 2002... It was a tale of two markets for optical transport and multiservice SONET gear in the second quarter, Dell'Oro Group reports. The revenue from long-haul optical gear shrank greatly, the analyst firm says, while demand grew slightly for...

HP readies for assault on service providers.(Sebastiano Tevarotto)(Interview)
September 2, 2002... Now that Hewlett-Packard's merger with Compaq is a done deal, the company is moving forward rapidly to build on its already considerable business with service providers. The mantra for HP's network and service provider division is: standards...

Taking the tedious out of storage management; new-style automated hierarchical storage management products add more smarts to managing aging data.
September 9, 2002... Taking the tedious out of storage management New-style automated hierarchical storage management products add more smarts to managing aging data. n By Deni Connor What once was old is new again with policy-based storage...

considerations for data migration and retention.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2002... Considerations for data migration and retention Analysts recommend that corporations decide when to migrate data to less-expensive disk or tape storage based on a number of factors: l Application type. You probably need to keep...

Goodbye, independent consultants?(IBM acquires PwC Consulting)(Editorial)
September 9, 2002... It's been more than a month since IBM announced its $3.5 billion acquisition of PwC Consulting. While the response has been generally positive compared with the overwhelming criticism of Hewlett-Packard's ill-fated attempt to acquire the same...

Spam filters revealing their darker side.(legitimate e-mail may not be delivered)
September 9, 2002... Stepped-up efforts to eradicate spam are creating collateral damage as network executives and others find that aggressive filters can block receipt of legitimate mail and create uncertainty over successful delivery. Antispam filters are a...

IntruVert inspects high-speed IP traffic.(IntruVert's IntruShield 4000 and IntruShield 2600 network management devices)(Product Announcement)
September 9, 2002... SAN JOSE - Start-up IntruVert Networks last week took the wraps off a new line of intrusion-detection systems that can reliably inspect high-speed IP traffic flowing through a system without encountering problems such as inaccurately...

Blue Coat Security Gateway 800; Combining caching with Web security.(Product Announcement)
September 9, 2002... ast month CacheFlow changed its name to Blue Coat Systems, reflecting a new focus on policing the Web. The company's new beat cop is its Security Gateway 800, which combines proxy caching with fine-grained control over Web, Secure Sockets Layer...

Blue Coat Security Gateway 800.(product testing)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2002... To measure cache performance, we used Web Polygraph, an open source HTTP generation and analysis tool. Besides the Blue Coat Security Gateway, our test bed included three pairs of Dell Optiplex GX100 machines with 256M bytes of RAM running...

Voice systems go for a ride; High-tech giants blend voice-recognition software with car services.(2003 Honda Accord features Touch by Voice voice-recognition system)
September 9, 2002... Car shoppers test driving the 2003 Honda Accord this week need not worry about getting lost. If they do, all they have to do is say the word and the car will get them back on track. The automaker will debut the 2003 EX model of the Accord,...

IDS tools smarten up; Customer dissatisfaction with signature-based intrusion-detection systems leads to anomaly-based appliances.
September 9, 2002... Adar Meroz has worked with intrusion-detection systems from leading vendors for the past two years. But the vice president of networking and security for Diskal Systems Group, an Israeli service provider, says he has struggled to get them to...

Browser-based wireless security.
September 9, 2002... For some companies, "wireless security" is more about access control than privacy. In that case, standard security measures like wired equivalent privacy (WEP) just aren't useful. For example, in a conference center or public hot spot, the...

Strategy: Wireless security with 802.1X; Network professionals in search of technology that melds authentication, encryption and wireless LANs will find the IEEE 802.1X specification is up to the job.(Microsoft Net Server)
September 9, 2002... As a Layer 2 authentication protocol, 802.1X doesn't let anyone on the network until they've been properly authenticated. With built-in hooks for setting wireless encryption keys, 802.1X also solves the worst problems of wired equivalent...

ILabs team weighs wireless security options; Testers create largest 802.1X interop lab, demo Web-based authentication and wireless IPSec, and show how WEP can work.
September 9, 2002... The NetWorld+Interop 2002 InteropNet Labs (iLabs) will focus on three technologies this week in Atlanta: wireless security, IP storage and Multi-Protocol Label Switching. Hot-staged in a warehouse near San Francisco, dozens of iLabs...

Wireless IPSec.
September 9, 2002... Wireless IPSec For many companies, wireless networks have the same low-level security afforded on the Internet: not controlled, not authenticated and not trusted. So why not treat wireless LAN users like Internet users and bring them in...

WEP is bad, but better than nothing.(Symbol Technology's NetVision)(Evaluation)
September 9, 2002... WEP is bad, but better than nothing The wired equivalent privacy encryption algorithm has a bad reputation because it's relatively easy to crack and it's difficult to deploy. But sometimes it might be your only option. The iLabs team built...

MPLS and IP storage testing update.
September 9, 2002... MPLS and IP storage testing update The iLabs MPLS and IP Storage teams will continue testing at NetWorld+Interop in Atlanta. For the Multi-protocol Label Switching team, which focused on basic MPLS interoperability last May...

Readers love their NetWare.(Novell's NetWare operating system)(Column)
September 9, 2002... In my 10 years of writing for Network World, no article has prompted as much reader feedback as my July 15 column, "NetWare: It just works" (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 2127). The gist of the argument was that NetWare, well, just works. It's...

What's wrong with WEP?(Wired Equivalent Privacy)
September 9, 2002... Wired Equivalent Privacy is the privacy protocol specified in IEEE 802.11 to provide wireless LAN users protection against casual eavesdropping. WEP refers to the intent to provide a privacy service to wireless LAN users similar to that...

HP blade servers target Web app.(HP ProLiant BL p-Class server)(Product Announcement)
September 9, 2002... PALO ALTO - Hewlett-Packard has introduced new multiprocessor blade servers designed to help users support Web and streaming media applications. The HP ProLiant BL p-Class server are single- or dual-processor blades that use a 1.4 GHz...

Hiring practices under fire.
September 9, 2002... Regarding the story "Resumes pile up, yet key jobs remain open" (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 2129): What really gets me going is the short-sighted, narrow-minded, can't-think-straight hiring manager who is trying to find exactly the perfect...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
September 9, 2002... Hiring practices under fire Several years ago, I went eight months between jobs. My impression at the time was that most companies had delegated their hiring to recruiting firms. This lead to many mismatches and tries at odd fits that left...

HomePlug units easy to use but slow.(HomePlug 1.1 specification product evaluations)(Evaluation)
September 9, 2002... Good news from the networking-over-home-power-line world: Products adhering to the new HomePlug Version 1.1 specification are easy to use, reliable and interoperable. The bad news: Speed ratings for HomePlug (14M bit/sec maximum) are, shall we...

ISCSI delivers storage over Ethernet.
September 9, 2002... ISCSI is a block-level storage protocol that lets users create a separate storage network using Ethernet. ISCSI uses Ethernet as a transport for data from servers to storage devices or storage-area networks.Because iSCSI uses Ethernet, it...

Start-up preps Web optimization service; Netli aims to speed application response times over 'Net.
September 9, 2002... PALO ALTO - Internet infrastructure start-up Netli is working on a way to help companies speed delivery of Web content to their far-flung remote users and business partners. The company will deliver a service that provides remote users...

A happy geek.(Apple OS X 10.2 operating system)(Evaluation)
September 9, 2002... I'm an unabashed Unix geek. I recently installed about the best version of Unix I've ever worked with on all the computers I regularly use. At the same time, I installed the best window-based operating system I've ever used on the same...

Rekindling the thrill of networking.(network management equipment and materials)(Column)
September 9, 2002... If you're like most network executives, it's been a long time since you've gotten a thrill from your work. Between the gloomy stock market, reductions in workforce, and the financial (and ethical) woes of your service providers, it's hard to...

The name game, Caldera style.
September 9, 2002... Shakespeare wrote, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But evidently new Caldera CEO Darl McBride thinks that the right name could make all the difference for a company struggling with identity....

POLARIS NETWORKS WHEELS OUT ITS FIRST PRODUCT.(Polaris Networks Optical Metro Switch)(Product Announcement)
September 9, 2002... SAN JOSE - Polaris Networks this week will introduce its next-generation digital cross-connect system and software that it says will reduce the provisioning time for popular T-1 circuits. Called the Optical Metro Switch (OMX), the Polaris...

Route control delivers key business.(Qualcomm uses RouteScience Technologies' PathControl device)
September 9, 2002... SAN DIEGO - Route-control technology promises to deliver mission-critical applications with the lowest possible latency and packet loss, all at the lowest cost. So when Qualcomm wanted to quickly deliver the latest version of its popular...

Marconi looks to future; Refinanced debt and product focus may help turnaround.
September 9, 2002... LONDON - When you think of Marconi, you now should think only of switch routers and optical gear. In an effort to regain profitability, the company had revamped itself to focus on only these products and to get rid of side interests...

Storage specialists; Two IT executives share why they pursued storage-area certification programs.(21st Century Insurance)
September 9, 2002... As 21st Century Insurance built its client base, its storage-area network soon ballooned to 15 terabytes of data. The Woodland Hills, Calif., company had little storage expertise in-house and relied on its main storage vendor, EMC, for...

Revamped call centers reduce operating costs; APPLICATIONS: A look at what's new in call center software implementation.
September 9, 2002... Customer service upgrades today are as much about revamping workflow and business processes as they are about new technology. Many companies have core call center technologies, such as call routing, e-mail management, and online chat and...

Service Provider briefs.
September 9, 2002... Global IP service provider Equant recently signed a deal with content delivery network system maker ActiVia Networks, moving Equant a step closer to launching its global managed CDN. Equant plans to launch the service late this year or early...

tricks to networking setup.(network management)
September 9, 2002... Tricks to networking setup Each unit expects to find a router or some other device to provide network information via DHCP. If they don't find it, they will default to Microsoft's default network configuration. It's better if you can let...

How we did it.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2002... How we did it Products aimed at the least technical market should provide the easiest out-of-box experience possible. Quick Setup sheets, good manuals, and products that work as advertised the first time are critical. The primary...

Net.Worker Briefs.(Linksys introduces Instant Wireless Ethernet Bridge)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 9, 2002... Linksys recently announced a bridge that connects Ethernet devices to 802.11b networks. The Instant Wireless Ethernet Bridge lets home networks and entertainment devices swap and store music, games and video files, and share a high-speed...

Microsoft adds wireless notification services.(Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 database marketing strategy)
September 9, 2002... Microsoft has announced an application platform that will let corporations use the SQL Server 2000 database as a foundation for creating notification services for wired and wireless users. With SQL Server 2000 Notification Services, network...

net buzz.
September 9, 2002... The good news one year later We will hear often this week about how the attacks of Sept. 11 have fundamentally and irreversibly changed life in America. True enough. But also true is that the worst fears of many have failed to...

Report: Telecom market still slow.
September 9, 2002... It was a tale of two markets for optical transport and multiservice SONET gear in the second quarter, Dell'Oro Group reports. The revenue from long-haul optical gear shrank greatly, the analyst firm says, while demand grew slightly for...

Cool Tools.(PicturePIN from Pointsec Mobile Security; IBM's ThinkPad X30 notebook; CTX International's H2300)(Evaluation)
September 9, 2002... IBM notebook promises eight hours of battery life IBM recently introduced its ThinkPad X30 notebook, a 3.6-pound notebook that combines IBM power management technology and design features to stretch battery life to up to eight hours (when...

Net storage options grow.(Storactive's LiveServ data storage device)(Product Announcement)
September 9, 2002... Network executives looking for ways to back up data have several new options that promise inexpensive data protection and recovery at faster speeds than their tape-based alternatives. Among the new alternatives is Storactive's LiveServ,...

Ask Dr. Internet.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2002... We recently upgraded our mail server to sendmail 8.11.6 and bind-9.2.1 on Solaris Version 8 from sendmail 8.9.1 and bind-4.9.3 on Solaris Version 2.5.1. The Solaris server is named ultra1.ourname.net, and before the upgrade there were no...

AT&T to host key federal Web portal.
September 9, 2002... AT&T hopes to raise its profile in the Web hosting market following its recent win of a high-visibility contract to support the federal government's Web portal, FirstGov.gov, which is one of the most visited sites on the Internet. ...