InfoWorld.com articles from October 2004

InfoWorld.com archives from October 2004

Gates undaunted by Linux; Microsoft founder also talks up Web services, grid, security.
October 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, during an appearance here Friday at the Computer History Museum, expressed no fear of Linux usurping Windows in the software industry....

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Patching IE for XP only is a smart move; Any attempt to fix the browser for all flavors of Windows would be an exercise in futility.
October 1, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have this gig. Writing something that spawns response from so many people is not only gratifying, it's fun -- even if half those folks are calling you a moron. Such was the level of...

SECURITY ADVISER: Scan this book; Reasonable solutions for RFID fears? Perish the thought ….
October 1, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly RFID is a technology that can be useful or misused, depending on one's perspective. Here in the People's Republic of San Francisco, some folks are upset with the public library. That itself is not news -- the library...

Macromedia readies Captivate for demos and simulations; Former RoboDemo product gets Flash, Breeze links.
October 4, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Macromedia on Monday is announcing Captivate, formerly known as RoboDemo, for recording onscreen activity and building software demonstrations and interactive simulations. New features in Captivate include tighter...

ThinkPad with fingerprint reader is introduced; Combines reader with an embedded security system.
October 4, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to drive biometric devices into the mainstream, IBM on Monday unveiled its first ThinkPad that features an integrated fingerprint reader that will work in tandem with an embedded security system. Built into...

Siebel releases flood of BI applications; Company says it is expanding beyond CRM.
October 4, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Capitalizing on the current trend within the enterprise to reduce the number of applications to support, Siebel Systems on Monday unveiled a package of business analytics solutions that can be deployed by IT as...

Microsoft rolls out embedded Windows XP; XP Embedded contains SP2 and improved default security and networking capabilities.
October 4, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to whet the appetite of developers specializing in mobile and embedded devices, Microsoft on Monday made available a free technology preview of Windows XP Embedded containing Service Pack 2 (SP2) that it expects...

STORAGE INSIDER: Building a SATA bridge; Sierra Logic's new chip aims to span the FC-SATA gap.
October 4, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella There are exceptions, but it seems to be an established rule that startups will come up with the most innovative and daring solutions to various IT problems. I was reminded of that last week during a conversation...

New security products "adapting" to threats; Enterprises getting proactive about security.
October 5, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis As networks increase in size and complexity, security products are growing in sophistication and security threats are becoming more ingenious. According to a recent study by The Yankee Group, more than 80 percent...

IBM goes after SMBs with Unix servers; Boxes aimed at Sun, HP.
October 5, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Continuing its steady push to win over the hearts and wallets of midsize companies, IBM on Tuesday is rolling out two lower-priced Unix-based servers that will go head-to-head with offerings from archrivals Sun...

Search engine for developers is hailed; Prospector would mine code, called "Google for programmers".
October 5, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill An Eclipse IDE plug-in that would provide search capabilities specifically for developers is being readied by a University of California, Berkeley computer science professor. The project, called Prospector, is...

Rackable Systems adds new NAS to line; New agreement with Mountain View Data announced.
October 5, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Rackable Systems has added to its line of NAS solutions with its new S3116-NAS server appliance. The new NAS server is designed for datacenters looking for a high-performance SATA system at an affordable price,...

Tools wrap: Web services, e-commerce, XML touted; Systinet, Amazon, Altova make separate announcements.
October 5, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Systinet, Amazon, and Altova this week are announcing tools geared toward development of Web services, e-commerce, and XML applications, respectively. Systinet is releasing Systinet Developer for Eclipse 5.0, a Web...

HP unveils inkjet and laser printers; Large product launch includes 20 new products.
October 6, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz At TechXNY this week, Hewlett-Packard reminded business users that it is still an active innovator in printers and imaging devices. The company unveiled more than 20 printers and print server products,...

Qwest adds to VOIP service; New offering aimed at enterprise business customers.
October 6, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Qwest Communications on Wednesday announced a continued expansion of its VoIP service portfolio with IP Centrex Prime, an IP-enabled interface that helps enterprise business customers with multiple locations and mobile...

IBM delivers WebSphere 6.0; New version tuned for On Demand, SOAs.
October 6, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Wednesday formally announced the next major release of WebSphere, code-named Vela, which company officials see as an integral building block for both its ongoing SOA (service-oriented architecture) and On Demand...

IBM renews vows to mainframe; zSeries gets marketing push.
October 7, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis IBM shored up commitment to its mainframe computing platform Thursday with a series of new technologies, investments in emerging markets, new industry-focused solutions, and new partnerships. “Over the past 40...

Cognos reassigns new exec after indictment; Official cited in case involving Peregrine Systems.
October 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Cognos this week announced that Andrew Cahill, who was a senior vice president at the company, has been reassigned to other duties at Cognos after being indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with...

BEA envisions role of 'application configurator'; Service provisioning and routing would be key in company’s Diamond platform.
October 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill BEA Systems with its upcoming Diamond application deployment platform envisions an IT person taking on the new role of “application configurator” in SOAs (service-oriented architectures). The application...

Microsoft, Sun, Intel push IT management via Web services; Specification also backed by Dell, AMD.
October 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft and Sun Microsystems on Friday are publishing a specification to leverage Web services for managing a broad range of IT systems including PCs and devices on a network. Intel, Dell, and AMD also are involved...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Ease those throbbing migration headaches; Microsoft and other vendors have prescriptions to aid in moving users to new PCs.
October 8, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Looks like PC sales are projected to increase this year, at least according to market watchers, including IDC. That's a little mystifying to me, considering that Redmond isn't releasing a new OS anytime soon. But I...

SECURITY ADVISER: Taking a chance on hackers; Hiring hackers may be the right thing to do -- with proper supervision.
October 8, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly Politician Henry L. Stimson once said, "The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way you can make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust...

Caymas introduces company and products; Gateways designed for enterprise security.
October 11, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Caymas Systems made its formal debut Monday, releasing three identity-driven access gateways designed for control of internal and external access to enterprise data and applications. Caymas was founded in 2002 by...

Plumtree upgrades portal package; Better control of business processes, application integration eyed.
October 11, 2004... Byline: Jack McCarthy Plumtree Software further extended its portal-based, Web applications building and management platform Monday, announcing upgrades to its Content and Collaboration servers, APIs for search and collaboration, and...

Polycom targets high-quality desktop conferencing; Business-grade features delivered through Microsoft partnership .
October 11, 2004... Byline: Jack McCarthy Conferencing and collaboration equipment provider Polycom on Monday announced a series of offerings designed to bring business-quality conferencing features to personal desktops. The products follow up on a...

STORAGE INSIDER: Brocade's SAN Health makes house calls; An expert opinion on SAN performance and configuration isn't far away -- if you use Brocade switches.
October 11, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella It may sound obvious, but the larger a storage network gets, the more difficult it is to keep it well documented and, more importantly, well tuned. Sooner or later, administrators in charge of large storage...

IBM’s Atlantic tools platform set to sail; Executives to roll out plan on Wednesday.
October 12, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill IBM Rational on Wednesday plans to flesh out complete plans for the upcoming IBM Software Development Platform, code-named “Atlantic.” Discussed at the Rational Software Development User Conference in...

IBM brings high-end storage functions to midrange; New products aim at EMC, Hitachi.
October 12, 2004... Byline: Tom Sullivan, Bob Francis IBM on Tuesday announced two new storage products – upper midrange and high-end disk arrays designed for ease of use and lower cost. The DS6000 and DS8000 feature higher physical storage capacities,...

IBM beefs up ISV programs; New programs offer financial support.
October 12, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to both bolster resources available to its network of business partners as well as expand its number of partners, IBM on Tuesday introduced services and support programs that boost financial support for...

Oracle unveils planning and budgeting application; Solution will retire Financial Analyzer and Sales Analyzer solutions.
October 12, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz This week Oracle added a planning and budgeting solution, Oracle Enterprise Planning and Budgeting (EPB), to it enterprise application offerings. The application will over time replace the current Financial...

IBM launches Atlantic; New Rational tools to unify development.
October 13, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Calling it their most significant release in the last four or five years, IBM's Rational Software on Wednesday formally rolled out its Rational Software Platform, code-named Atlantic, intended to better unify software...

NetSuite injects apps with 'upsell' features, improves analytics; NetSuite 10.0 integrates Web sites with CRM, ERP, and e-commerce processes.
October 14, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz, Tom Sullivan ASP NetSuite on Thursday unveiled the latest version of its hosted applications suite with a focus on "upsell" and e-commerce functionality. The NetCommerce Analytics feature lets users see...

IBM tops off Power 5-based server line; New iSeries and pSeries boxes positioned against HP, Sun.
October 15, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Targeting Unix archrivals Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems, IBM on Friday topped off the high end of its Power 5-based line of iSeries and pSeries servers, rolling out three systems all capable of hosting as many as...

Tasman adds new router to lineup; New operating system is introduced.
October 15, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Tasman Networks has introduced a new entry-level WAN access router and security device. The Tasman 1001 also includes new features added to a new version of the company's operating system, including multicast routing,...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft reveals its softer side; The behemoth of the northwest offers SharePoint Services for free.
October 15, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist I took out extra life insurance and amended my will to make sure the Ducati was cremated with me at my memorial service. Then I said goodbye to family and friends and hopped a Continental sardine can bound for Seattle...

SECURITY ADVISER: Feds fumble network security again; Digital self-defense is the only response to government inertia.
October 15, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly Most people I know have held at least one terrible job in their lives. But I think I've found the ultimate crap job: being the U.S. government's computer security honcho. The next person to take the post will be the...

STORAGE INSIDER: Storage by the numbers; Findings in a recent IDC report show that the tide is turning for networked storage.
October 15, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella It may not be everyone's idea of fun, but often I have to amuse myself reading storage-related statistics. Actually, my motivation is not exactly finding amusement, but rather -- how shall I put it -- trying to get...

EDS forms alliance to challenge IBM's Global Services business; Cisco, Dell, EMC, Microsoft, and Sun team up in EDS Agility Alliance.
October 18, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis EDS on Monday announced the formation of the EDS Agility Alliance with industry heavyweights Cisco, Dell, EMC, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and Xerox. The partnership will be the foundation for EDS' efforts to regain...

Gartner ITxpo spotlights security, wireless; RIM, Interwoven, CA roll out products at enterprise IT show.
October 18, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Enterprise IT executives attending this week's Gartner Symposium ITxpo in Orlando, Fla., got a peek at several forthcoming products for security, CM (content management), wireless, and SOAs (service-oriented...

Update: Study shows software vendors, users at odds over licensing; Perpetual models still preferred over subscription pricing.
October 18, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Software publishers and users are at odds about software licensing, according a study released Monday. While software publishers aggressively move to subscription-based pricing, enterprises prefer perpetual...

Microsoft pushes SQL Server 2005 back; Company adds 'incremental' beta cycle.
October 18, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Those users and developers anxious to get their hands on SQL Server 2005 will have to be anxious a little longer. Since early this year Microsoft officials said to expect the finished version of the product in the...

Wavelink introduces all-in-one Wi-Fi management; Software aims to centrally mange devices, network, and security.
October 18, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In preparation for the coming tidal wave of Wi-Fi-enabled devices, Wavelink on Monday introduced Wavelink Managed Security, an integrated platform for the management of IEEE 802.11x networks, devices, and security....

Microsoft delivers SP1 for Windows server; New Security Configuration Wizard lets users define specific roles for servers.
October 18, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Setting the stage for what it hopes will be a "breakout year" for its server operating systems, Microsoft on Monday announced it will ship the first Release Candidate of its Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2003...

enKoo adds higher-end device for securing e-mail and applications; Support for LDAP a key feature.
October 19, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Network appliance vendor enKoo has introduced a new remote-access device designed for midsize businesses. The enKoo3000 is a remote-access appliance that allows as many as 200 employees to concurrently secure...

Microsoft ponders licensing for app virtualization scenarios; No utility model is sought by software giant.
October 19, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- Noting two evolving areas of software licensing, Microsoft is pondering how to license when multiple instances of an application are run on a single computer, but is not eyeing a plan for...

Crossroads to develop intelligent iSCSI storage; Systems will be based on iVivity's iDiSXsilicon technology.
October 20, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Crossroads Systems has announced it is collaborating with iVivity to develop new gateway and intelligent iSCSI storage systems. The new products will provide intelligent Crossroads storage routing software in a hardware...

Systinet CEO sees three phases for Web services; Exec also stresses independence for company.
October 20, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Thomas Erickson recently took over as president and CEO of Systinet, one of a growing number of companies focused on the Web services and SOA (service-oriented architecture) management spaces. Prior to joining...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Two syllables of IT terror; Microsoft hopes to ward of the backup bogeyman with its forthcoming Data Protection Server.
October 22, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Backup. If there's a more annoying and ofttimes downright dreaded bisyllabic word in an IT manager’s life, I don’t know it. Unless you include divorce, downsize, or colonoscopy. Yeah, I can count, but...

SECURITY ADVISER: Sometimes education just isn't enough; When training fails to reach the problem user, what's next?
October 22, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly Last week, I started making my perennial pitch for more end-user education as a means of securing the Internet. I'm a firm believer in the efficacy of formal training as well as informal methods. Plus, it appeals to...

Borland focuses on UML modeling; ControlCenter is reconfigured into separate products.
October 25, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Borland Software this week is breaking up its Together ControlCenter package for UML modeling into separate products for developing, designing, and architecting applications. The move is intended to align the...

CTIA shines spotlight on mobile middleware; JP Mobile, Sybase target carriers and enterprises.
October 25, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Mobility will take center stage this week as San Francisco plays host to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's (CTIA) Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2004 fall conference. At the show,...

Microsoft peeks at mobile strategy; Next version of .Net CF will support DirectShow.
October 25, 2004... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz SAN FRANCISCO -- At the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2004 conference Monday, Mike Wehrs, Microsoft’s director of technology & standards for its Mobility Division, disclosed some details about Big...

Sun Delivers NetBeans 4.1 Access Release; New Version Has Java 1.4 features.
October 25, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Sun Microsystems on Monday gave its NetBeans IDE 4.1 developers a rolling start toward working with the 4.1 version of the product, shipping an early access release that features support for Enterprise Edition 1.4 with...

STORAGE INSIDER: Tivoli Storage Manager's face-lift; New version of backup applications from IBM improves ease-of-use, monitoring, and reporting.
October 25, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella Perhaps it's because of my past life as a mainframe sys admin, but I couldn't help noticing that this month IBM is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its HSM (Hierarchical Storage Management). As you probably...

Microsoft focuses on apps modeling; Technology for Visual Studio 2005 platform to be previewed.
October 26, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft on Tuesday is looking to extend visual modeling of applications in its Visual Studio 2005 platform, with an early release of technology to enable developers to author industry-specific modeling tools. ...

Storage products unveiled at SNW show; McData, Brocade products make debut.
October 26, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis At Storage Networking World (SNW) in Orlando this week, several storage vendors are adding to their arsenal of products and technologies aimed at IT managers dealing with the explosion of data storage. McData has...

Traction bolsters enterprise Weblogs; Software gains WebDAV support, Atom news feeds.
October 26, 2004... Byline: Cathleen Moore Traction Software this week rolled out Traction TeamPage and Communicator 3.5, an updated version of the company's enterprise Weblog software. New in Release 3.5 is built-in support for WebDAV (Web-based...

Ballmer: Windows TCO the way to go; Memo says indemnification an issue.
October 27, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell In the face of growing competition from Linux, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered a four-page memo to customers on Wednesday outlining the economic and security advantages Windows has over Linux, the potential...

Compuware looks to cut risks in apps deployment; Vantage offering is upgraded.
October 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Compuware this week is upgrading its Vantage application service management software to highlight predictive analysis and performance assessment. Called Vantage Pre-production Service Assurance and also known as...

Java integration spec pushed; Sun, JBoss, others on board; IBM, BEA back out.
October 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems and several other vendors on Wednesday will release an early draft of a specification intended to ease integration of Java-based systems, but IBM and BEA Systems have dropped out of participation in the...

MySQL calls open source database enterprise-ready; But analysts stress need for triggers, stored procedures.
October 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill MySQL on Wednesday announced general availability of Version 4.1 of its MySQL open source database, which the company is positioning as production-ready for large-scale enterprise usage. The upgrade features advanced...

From SANs to SATAs, storage vendors continue product march; Storage Networking World show produces a mix of enterprise offerings.
October 27, 2004... Byline: Bob Francis Storage companies continued to demonstrate a wealth of new products and technologies Wednesday at the Storage Networking World in Orlando. Nexsan Technologies demonstrated its SATAblade SATA (Serial ATA) storage...

VMware previews virtual server; Company applies pressure to Microsoft.
October 27, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell Hoping to keep the heat on archrival Microsoft, VMware on Wednesday will give developers a glimpse of an early version of its Virtual SMP product that allows a single virtual machine to work with as many as four...

BEA buzzing about Beehive; Company boosts tools effort, will stay outside Eclipse.
October 28, 2004... Byline: Paul Krill BURLINGAME, CALIF.-- BEA Systems is expanding the open source Beehive initiative but still has no plans to participate in the Eclipse open source tools organization, despite the embrace of Beehive by Eclipse. The...

IBM improves on autonomic toolkit; Autonomic Computing Toolkit 2.0 has embeddable components.
October 29, 2004... Byline: Ed Scannell IBM on Friday gave its autonomic computing strategy is boost unwrapping an enhanced version of a toolkit designed to help developers more quickly integrate a number of self-managing functions into their existing...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft challenges penguin cuddliness with TechNet kindness; TechNet Virtual Lab gives IT a chance to learn and play in the server sandbox.
October 29, 2004... Byline: Oliver Rist Baby back ribs. A nasty name when you think about it, but with meat falling off the bone, a pile of roasted potatoes, a friendly merlot, and the Patriots on TV setting a new record for undefeated … ness,...

SECURITY ADVISER: Home users still the weakest link; The best way into the corporate network may be your employees' broadband connections.
October 29, 2004... Byline: P.J. Connolly I'm not sure how I missed out on National Cyber Security Awareness Month -- I know I have the press release around here somewhere. Then again, when I see the word "cyber," I usually set my brain to "ignore" --...

STORAGE INSIDER: Quantum embraces LTO -- for good; Certance acquisition could give the company an edge on two key tape technologies.
October 29, 2004... Byline: Mario Apicella I should be used to it by now, but the dynamic nature of the storage market never fails to surprise me. Really, there are no persistent realities in a universe in which unrelenting change is the only constant. ...