InfoWorld articles from December 2004

InfoWorld archives from December 2004

Enterprises pushing 10GigE to edge - Cisco, Foundry detail 10-Gigabit Ethernet wares.(Gigabit ethernet)
December 6, 2004... Enterprises are propelling 10-Gigabit Ethernet as far to the network edge as possible with Gigabit Ethernet handling bandwidth chores to the desktop. Switches from Cisco, Force10, and Foundry are expanding the reach of 10GigE even farther into...

Edge Dynamics launches new breed of enterprise app - Hybrid software crosses ERP with BI.(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Enterprise software takes an evolutionary step forward as Edge Dynamics and Tibco Software develop software that combines elements of both ERP and BI applications. This week, Edge Dynamics unveils Edge 2.0, a hybrid software that combines...

IBM gives a kick to CICS - New version works with Web services.(introduction of IBM CICS Transaction Server 3.1)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... To modernize its venerable line of mainframe-based CICS middleware, IBM last week introduced an updated version of its CICS Transaction Server that enables IT to extend the product to work better with SOAs (service- oriented architectures)...

HP fine-tunes security management - Company pushes enterprise ID management, SMB security.(small/medium business; introduction of HP OpenView Select Federation)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Hewlett-Packard is bolstering its security portfolio with an identity management product for enterprises and a security management initiative for SMBs. For enterprises, HP last week unveiled OpenView Select Federation, an ID management...

Q&A: OMG talks UML 2.0 - Bran Selic on the pending spec for model- driven.(Object Management Group, Unified Modeling Language)(Interview)
December 6, 2004... The Object Management Group (OMG) is amid a vote on whether to approve UML (Unified Modeling Language) 2.0, the latest version of this specification for model-driven development. InfoWorld Editor at Large Paul Krill spoke with Bran Selic,...

Microsoft, Sun tout interoperability progress - Cooperation efforts target Web services, identity, storage.(alliances and partnerships between Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp.)
December 6, 2004... Microsoft and Sun Microsystems are claiming progress in their interoperability efforts, citing ongoing cooperation on Web services standardization, deployment of Windows on Sun boxes, and forthcoming identity management plans. ...

STRATEGIC DEVELOPER: Bootstrapping the semantic Web - Tim Berners-Lee's quest to give the Web meaning receives aid from unexpected quarters.
December 6, 2004... It's tempting to draw parallels between the careers of Albert Einstein and Tim Berners-Lee. Both men made world-transforming breakthroughs and then pursued even grander visions. Einstein, of course, never found the unified theory he sought for...

REALITY CHECK: High-tech royalty: 'Let them eat cake' - Shortsighted industry leaders have the wrong idea about government's involvement in high tech.(Wi-Fi network )
December 6, 2004... A couple of recent events got me thinking about the proper role of government in fostering high-tech development. One was the passage of legislation by both the Pennsylvania State Senate and House that would prevent the city of Philadelphia...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Code, debug, distribute - Developers know as much about marketing and distribution as marketers ... well, you get the idea.(Nokia's Preminet wireless communications software)
December 6, 2004... I've long thought that there should be a build step in Visual Studio or Eclipse called "distribute." After your code is validated, it burns itself to CD, writes its own manual, prints itself a four-color box, and drives itself to CompUSA. Or,...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Microsoft gets sly, Target aims high - Santa has rocks for someone's stockings.(Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich site purchased by The Golden Palace)
December 6, 2004... For a few weeks, I managed to keep this column a Microsoft-free zone (an increasingly rare situation anywhere). But this week the company we love to hate did not disappoint, giving Santa even more reasons to put rocks in their stockings. ...

EDITOR'S LETTER: Achieving accountability - The CEO should be the company's chief quality officer as well as chief executive.(Dan Warmenhoven says)
December 6, 2004... OK, let's have a show of hands among CEOs: How many of you get pinged when one of your company's products has a trivial problem in the field? No cheating now. You should raise your hand only if lots of individual problem reports cross your desk...

CTO CONNECTION: It's all about open source options - Firefox adds another technology solution to an expanding roster of open source winners.
December 6, 2004... When Firefox 1.0 came out in early November, the praise was deafening. Although the technical accolades heaped upon the capable browser were well-deserved, the biggest factor behind the excitement was simple: freedom of choice. Granted,...

Imprivata OneSign 2.5 simplifies password-juggling - Single sign-on solution arms users with simple, secure access to all their applications.
December 6, 2004... Depending on which study you believe, the average company has anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of applications that require user log-ins. Typically, users are left to manage each password for each account on each system that they access. This...

Product Previews.(introduction of Cisco IP Phone 7971G-GE and FrontRange Solutions IP Contact Center 3.7; enhancement of Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise)
December 6, 2004... Cisco details phone over Ethernet device, Sybase adapts ASE for Linux, FrontRange builds out call center suite, and BitDefender touts enterprise packs By InfoWorld staff Cisco adds phone across Ethernet to roster Cisco Systems...

Budget-beating bandwidth - Dell's PowerConnect 5324 delivers high- capacity switching power and even some enterprise features.
December 6, 2004... Sometimes, a switch is just a switch. Sometimes, it's worth another look. Dell has long been looking to expand its reach beyond servers in the datacenter, hoping to capitalize on the small to midsize business that needs high-capacity switching...

RIA platforms lend apps more Flash - Macromedia Flex and Laszlo Presentation Server bring new tricks to Internet application delivery.(rich internet applications)
December 6, 2004... Building effective applications -- ones that can be distributed and run smoothly over the Internet -- requires circumventing the shortcomings inherent in static Web browser delivery. Many companies are turning to RIAs (rich Internet...

CTO wish list - Executives go on a fantasy holiday spending spree.(chief technology officer)
December 6, 2004... In a cruel gesture only a grinch could love, InfoWorld went to CTOs of major enterprises with checks that would bounce from here to the North Pole. We wanted to know how they would spend a fictional financial windfall of varying amounts:...

Hands-free host protection - Determina's memory firewall thwarts Windows vulnerability exploits without signatures or training.(Determina SecureCore 2.0)
December 6, 2004... Winding their way through an open port and directly into system memory, worms wreak their havoc by slipping malicious instructions into RAM currently being used by the operating system or an application. If a vulnerable OS or application allows...

Corporate input to open source trickles in - Fears surrounding licensing cited as major cause of minor contributions.(surveys of information technology workers about open source software usage)
December 6, 2004... The continued success of the open source movement is entirely dependent on contributions from developers. But according to a study conducted by InfoWorld and IDG in July 2004, although 85 percent of respondents said that they were either...

Bruce Perens: When open source makes sense - Pioneering developer says source code isn't the most important factor.(Interview)
December 6, 2004... Bruce Perens is one of the founders of the open source movement. He operates his own consulting company, sits on the board of Open Source Risk Management, and is senior scientist for open source at George Washington University's Cyber-Security...

BEA, IBM, Microsoft, Novell among companies offering source code access - Major vendors say access to source code gives customers greater transparency and visibility into their products. So what's in it for them?
December 6, 2004... The IT industry has a reputation for forward thinking and new ideas. And yet, when it comes time to reform the way entire companies do business, sometimes it pays to look to history. In the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev, then premier of the...

Intel sheds light on Lyndon.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... Intel discussed plans for Lyndon, the code name for its grouping of a processor and a chip set for the desktop. Lyndon will feature Pentium 4 processors with 2MB of cache and 64-bit extensions to the x86 instruction set. It is targeted at both...

BEA hails app server upgrade.(BEA Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... BEA Systems unveiled Version 9.0 of its WebLogic Server, code-named Diablo. BEA said the application server focuses on simplifying the development of SOAs (service-oriented architectures) that can help reduce development and operational costs....

Thunderbird 1.0 takes off.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... Weeks after the launch of its Firefox 1.0 Web browser, the Mozilla Foundation released Version 1.0 of its Thunderbird e-mail client. Thunderbird 1.0 is aimed at advanced e-mail users and competes with products such as Microsoft's Outlook...

PalmSource to add Linux OS.(acquisition of China MobileSoft by Palmsource)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... PalmSource announced it will acquire China MobileSoft, ostensibly to leverage that company's expertise in building a mobile version of the Linux operating system. Copyright (c) 2004 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Oracle upgrades key products - Database, app server, Java tool improved.(enhancement of Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2, Oracle Database 10g Release 2 and Oracle JDeveloper 10g Release 2)
December 13, 2004... At its Oracle OpenWorld conference, Oracle last week announced upgrades to a host of products, including its database, application server and JDeveloper development tool. The company unveiled Oracle Database 10g Release 2, which sports...

Search heads toward enterprise desktops - Autonomy, Google, ISYS, Microsoft aim to address corporate security, privacy concerns.(development of Google Desktop Search, introduction of Copernic Desktop Search 1.2 and planning of ISYS Search Software to enhance its products)
December 13, 2004... Desktop search has its sights set on corporate PCs, leaving enterprise IT wary of potential security issues associated with the highly anticipated tools. Although Google's recent beta launch of Desktop Search put it in the PC search...

REALITY CHECK: Getting serious with Wi-Fi - Managing a single site is easy. But what about 1,001 sites?(management of wireless local area networks)
December 13, 2004... The Radicati Group pegs the penetration of Wi-Fi in the enterprise at 50 percent by 2008. Cut that number in half and it's still huge. So now that Wi-Fi is becoming a standard part of enterprise infrastructure, it's time to get serious about...

STRATEGIC DEVELOPER: The network is the blog - The self-organizing blogosphere offers a unique way to manage the information deluge.
December 13, 2004... Merriam-Webster set the blogosophere buzzing this week with its announcement that the word "blog" was among the most looked-up words of the year. The curious hordes were likely puzzled, however, by Merriam- Webster's definition: "a Web site...

CTO CONNECTION: Life in the IT fun house - As IT operations get more automated, new and different opportunities always arise.(chief technology officer)
December 13, 2004... For IT professionals, working in IT during the past few years has been a frightening whiplash tour through a carnival fun house. In the foyer of this (not so fun) fun house -- known as the 2001 Room -- the gag is simple: A rug is pulled out...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: IBM's power grab - IBM opens Power to stake its claim overseas and get relief from confining U.S. trade policies.(Power.org)
December 13, 2004... In the spring of 2004, before it even shipped the Power5, IBM slapped the rough equivalent of an open source license on the Power5 CPU's design. IBM set Power free not because it has no value to the company but because it has enormous value --...

EDITOR'S LETTER: IBM's still got the Power - Big Blue may be exiting the PC business, but it's not abandoning hardware.(acquisition of IBM Personal Computer Co. by Lenovo Group Ltd.)(Editorial)
December 13, 2004... This wasn't meant to be the "all-IBM, all-the-time" issue. It just turned out that way. We'd been working on an analysis of IBM's Power5 chip for some time. And then, just as we were set to go to press -- BLAM! -- IBM drops a bomb: Big Blue is...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Big Blue leaving PC scene; MSN bleeps the obscene - Seeking the year's dumbest IT events.(acquisition of IBM Personal Computer Co. by Lenovo Group Ltd.; information management of MSN Spaces)
December 13, 2004... Working on my list for Santa this week, but so far Ive only come up with two items: A glow-in-the-dark thong (I've seen some great pix on the Web) and someone to model it. In the meantime, I've got some hot tips to keep me warm. Cultural...

Product Previews.(introduction of Vitria BusinessWare 4.3, Sun Ray 170, Sun Ray Server Software 3, HP StorageWorks Data Protector 5.5, HP StorageWorks MSA 1500 cs and HP StorageWorks Ultrium 960)
December 13, 2004... Vitria BusinessWare 4.3, Sun Ray 170 and Sun Ray Server 3, HP StorageWorks, and Notiva's Retail Collaboration Platform By InfoWorld staff Vitria injects BusinessWare with SOA functionality Vitria on Monday issued Virtia...

Firewall meets switch - SonicWall Pro 1260 combines perimeter security, VPN, and workgroup switching in single 1U appliance.(virtual private network)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 13, 2004... We've been impressed more than once by the combination of performance and manageability in SonicWall's firewalls. We've also been somewhat amazed at the company's ability to include features normally found in high-priced enterprise gear -- such...

IPv6 marches forward - The next-generation Internet Protocol could spark a new generation of embedded and mobile network applications.
December 13, 2004... This just in from the strange-but-true-deployments department: Hundreds of cows and taxicabs in Japan have their own unique IP addresses. Recently, cows in Gifu prefecture were tagged with tiny networked devices to wirelessly track their...

Exclusive: Dell and EMC ease SAN assembly requirements - Aimed at small datacenters, the impressive AX100 is a snap to install and easy to manage.(storage area networks)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 13, 2004... Not long ago, the very idea of setting up a SAN in a small datacenter would have triggered eye rolls and contemptuous comments. SANs were reserved for companies with pockets deep enough to buy millions of dollars' worth of equipment and to hire...

Check Point, McAfee, Sygate, and Trend Micro aim to tighten up loose network endpoints - The InfoWorld Test Center finds that none of these four solutions can stand up to the challenge alone.(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 13, 2004... If you manage IT for a government organization -- be it federal, state, or local -- you don't have the luxury of waiting to harden your network defenses, unlike IT managers of commercial enterprises. Public agencies are legally accountable for...

Senforce enforces client security wisely - Enterprise Mobile Security Manager arms admins with flexibility to tailor group policies.(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 13, 2004... Senforce's EMSM (enterprise mobile security manager) is a centrally managed platform for creating and deploying very granular access control policies to both local and remote users. Like Check Point Integrity and Sygate Secure Enterprise, EMSM...

Trapped! Your future in quarantine - Multivendor approaches to network access control and policy enforcement will be a long time coming.
December 13, 2004... One of the new features in the accompanying review of centrally managed client security solutions provides the ability to cut off offending clients, or even entire LAN segments, from the rest of the network. On one hand, this feature implies...

Apple and IBM Power ahead together - The Power core bears fruit in Apple's CPUs -- and will keep producing for the foreseeable future.(Apple Computer Inc.,)
December 13, 2004... The Power5 hasn't yet arrived in an Apple machine, despite the similarly named PowerPC G5, the Mac's latest, greatest CPU. Apple's G5 is actually based on the Power4 -- except with a single core, a smaller die, less heat, and lower power...

IBM's Power5 processor worth a second look - The Power architecture doesn't get the attention it deserves. With Power5 servers finally shipping, even non-Big Blue shops should take look again.
December 13, 2004... If all things were equal and IBM made its systems as accessible as Dell and Hewlett-Packard do theirs, the IBM Power5 processor could bury Intel's Itanium 2. First introduced last summer, the Power5 is a one-two punch, a triumph of engineering...

Enabling the future of the phone - With its popularity on the rise, VoIP may be IPv6's best chance for gaining wider acceptance in the United States.
December 13, 2004... In the early days of the telephone, users had to put up with multiple, incompatible phone networks, which was not only inconvenient but costly. People often needed two or more phones on their desks to be able to reach other telephone owners,...

2004: A year of high-tech changes.
December 20, 2004... This past year has seen the applications space shrink by one key player, the PC market lose one of its biggest, and the open source movement grow in influence By InfoWorld news staff The year 2004 defied predictions: IBM sold its PC...

CTO CONNECTION: A CTO's downsized holiday wish list - With the holidays upon us, I ask for less than I did last year, but expect better behavior.
December 20, 2004... The holidays are the one time of year when adults can guiltlessly make lists of things they want and have a good chance of having those wishes fulfilled. Last year, I put together a CTO wish list for Santa that went so unfulfilled that I...

STRATEGIC DEVELOPER: Management by objects - Java and Unix/Linux could take a lesson from Windows in basic system management.
December 20, 2004... Last month I wrote about MSH ("monad"), Microsoft's new command shell, and demonstrated the software on my blog. The column-plus-demo drew favorable reactions not only from the Windows crowd, but also from Unix/Linux folk who saw the MSH object...

REALITY CHECK: Delivering the goods - Meeting business managers' expectations is a matter of knowing where to apply technology to best effect.(Column)
December 20, 2004... Originally, I thought I'd end the year with my predictions of what next year held for IT. Apparently, predicting the future direction of technology is easy; just read the pronouncements from vendors, bloggers, and the press. In the real...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Boners, groaners, miscues, and snafus of 2004 - Dell's flameout, PeopleSoft's buyout, and more.
December 20, 2004... It's that time again, when we look back with a mix of amusement and dyspepsia on the events of 2004. For the second consecutive year, Notes From the Field presents the GUI Awards (or "Gooeys") for Greed, Underhandedness, and Imbecility in the...

EDITOR'S LETTER: Deck the racks ... Forget the holly and mistletoe. Around here, we celebrate with reviews, reviews, and more reviews.
December 20, 2004... Weary of holiday cheer? Bloated from sugary snowman cookies? Numb after hearing Mannheim Steamroller or Alvin and the Chipmunks for the 43rd time? This issue will provide fast, sure relief. That's because InfoWorld honors the season with a...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: The economy serves up a hard pill to swallow - The recovery might not have been much of a party, but the champagne is officially flat.
December 20, 2004... The reason you're still reading stories and hearing speeches about the economic recovery is because everyone is praying that things are still crappy enough to get better. Sorry to break the news, but the Federal Reserve System won't suffer...

STORAGE INSIDER: 2004: It was a very good year - Another record year for storage, but the best is yet to come.(Column)
December 20, 2004... I was browsing quickly through a bunch of references, researching thoughts for this year-end column, when all of a sudden -- perhaps due to the accumulated effect of all that reading -- it hit me: This was a very good year, perhaps even an...

Storage There was no shortage of innovation or value from storage vendors this year.(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 20, 2004... By InfoWorld Test Center staff More vendors caught the iSCSI and SATA waves this year, and the result was a flood of more capable storage solutions at lower prices. This year's high-water mark in delivering enterprise-oriented features at...

Security.(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... From intrusion detection to spam, security solutions were high on our list in 2004 By InfoWorld Test Center staff, InfoWorld Test Center staff The porous perimeter and the ominous "unknown threat" registered high IT managers' worry...

Data management.(software)(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... From databases to content management, data wrangling became easier The year in databases witnessed a major upgrade to Oracle, a modest update to IBM DB2, and three Beta rounds of Microsoft SQL Server 2005, aka Yukon. Oracle Database 10g not...

Platforms.(software platforms)(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... Linux progresses nicely with the v2.6 kernel, while mobile middleware makes a move By InfoWorld Test Center staff The year in operating systems began with a bang -- or maybe a resounding squawk -- with the arrival of the v2.6 Linux...

App dev.(application development tools)(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... Source-code analysis and rich Internet application tools shone in 2004 By InfoWorld Test Center staff We're always on the lookout for tools that make building, testing, and maintaining Web apps and services easier for developers, and...

Applications.(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... CRM didn't rise to the top, but Web services management fared well By InfoWorld Test Center staff CRM vendors keep revving their products, but the numbers don't seem to add up. With the possible exception of SalesLogix, we haven't...

Hardware.(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... 64-bit buzz made a lot of noise, but management software still has room for improvement By InfoWorld Test Center staff The world of server hardware revolved around newfangled 64-bit systems this year, with AMD's Opteron generating most...

Networking.(computer networking equipment)(Buyers Guide)
December 20, 2004... VoIP gets the call, wireless security and management improve, and switches grow smarter By InfoWorld Test Center staff VoIP made itself heard in 2004, and we got the message loud and clear. We tested highly scalable IP phone systems...