Network World back issues from September 2006:
Infrequently Asked Questions: memory, RPM recovery, monitoring; Most of my memory is gone, my hard drive just became half-sized, and now the RPM command won't answer my queries. Can anyone at linuxquestions.org help?
Sep 01, 2006 ... When people migrate to Linux, one of the first things they notice is that the amount of free RAM seems to be significantly lower than they've been accustomed to seeing. "What's happening with my RAM?" they will frequently ask. Using my system as an example (IBM ...
Teams embrace all-inclusive SOA; Building a service-oriented architecture requires input from all areas of IT.
Sep 01, 2006; ... Byline: Ann Bednarz It take all kinds to build a service-oriented architecture - all kinds of IT people, that is. Application developers, data architects, security specialists and IT directors all have a stake in the design of application services and the ...
SOA testing tools facilitate collaboration.(service-oriented architecture)
Sep 01, 2006; ... Byline: Ann Bednarz Expertise isn't the only thing that distinguishes the players involved in creating a service-oriented architecture. Location, too, is a factor. The teams working on application services increasingly are distributed, which can make it ...
Q&A: Wi-Fi Alliance exec defends about-face.
Sep 01, 2006 ... Byline: John Cox On Aug. 29, the Wi-Fi Alliance unexpectedly announced it would reverse is oft-repeated decision to do no interoperability testing of 100+Mbps wireless LAN gear until final, formal ratification of the 802.11n standard. Instead, the industry group ...
Q&A: ISS founder on IBM and beyond.
Sep 01, 2006 ... Byline: Ellen Messmer Internet Security Systems (ISS) last week entered an agreement to be acquired by IBM for $1.3 billion in cash, a deal expected to close by the end of the year. Network World Senior Editor Ellen Messmer recently talked with Chris Klaus, founder ...
Opinion: Phishers get fancy with Lamborghini e-mail scam.
Sep 01, 2006; ... Byline: Cara Garretson Gee, I thought you were supposed to give something made of iron or wood on your sixth wedding anniversary, not a Lamborghini. As I was shopping online last night for a gift for my husband, I received an e-mail from "bidconfirm @ebay.com" asking ...
Quantum cryptography demo is a security first; Researchers demonstrate combination of quantum data encryption, quantum key distribution.(Brief article)
Sep 01, 2006 ... Byline: Network World Staff Northwestern University researchers have joined forces with BBN Technologies to demonstrate what they are calling the first truly quantum cryptographic data network. The university has combined its quantum noise-protected ...
AT&T gets into the municipal Wi-Fi game.(Brief article)
Sep 01, 2006 ... Byline: Network World Staff AT&T this week won its first municipal Wi-Fi deal. The service provider has changed its stance and is now all for becoming a supplier of free, ad-sponsored fixed wireless service on municipal networks. In the past AT&T has ...
GAO report critical of federal banks' security.(Government Accountability Office)
Sep 01, 2006 ... Byline: Ellen Messmer The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Washington, D.C., Thursday issued an information security report critical of the Federal Reserve banks' computer systems and networks that are used in selling Treasury notes at auctions. ...
BMC users tout business service management technologies; BMC touts benefits of managing IT infrastructure for the sake of better application and service delivery.(BMC Software Inc.)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Denise Dubie SAN FRANCISCO-Corporate IT executives that in the past few years adopted a service-centric approach to infrastructure management report the change delivered cost savings, streamlined operations and in some cases greater revenue for their ...
AutoMate, er, automates.(Network Automation launched AutoMate 6.0 Professional Edition)
Sep 04, 2006 ... Byline: Mark Gibbs To keep you in that state of wild exhilaration after last week's foray into prebuilt virtual machines, this week we have a tool that could make your life easier, a prospect that may induce something akin to ecstasy. Just over two years ...
Cablevision: A neutral net that's not.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Kevin Tolly It is difficult to make it through a day without hearing or reading something about net neutrality. Congress has been debating the issue and, more recently, the Federal Trade Commission has created an Internet Access Task Force to examine the ...
Analysts have their doubts about new carrier architecture; IMS: it may not just be a question of when, but if.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Denise Pappalardo Washington, D.C. - IP Multimedia Systems is not a slam-dunk according to a group of industry analysts that gathered at the FierceMarkets IMS executive Summit conference in Washington D.C.aon Wednesday to discuss the future of IMS. ...
Google tools aim at corporate desktop.(Google Apps for Your Domain )
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: John Fontana Google last week released in beta a bundle of online communications tools that corporate users can customize for their domains. They include e-mail, instant messaging and calendars. Google Apps for Your Domain lets users customize the ...
Trapeze bolsters WLAN software security.(Trapeze Networks, wireless LANs)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: John Cox Trapeze Networks has released a new version of its wireless LAN software that it says improves customer security by linking with a third-party wireless intrusion detection/prevention system application. Version 5.0 of the Trapeze systems ...
From Russia, with luck.(global business partners network security concerns)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Winn Schwartau Your global business partners may not have the same network security concerns you have - if they have any at all. On a recent 10-day sojourn in Eastern Europe, I learned a great deal about that region's take on security. It is definitely not ...
Chocolate phone is yummy to use.(LG Chocolate VX8500)(Product/service evaluation)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Keith Shaw The scoop: The LG Chocolate phone (model VX8500), by LG with Verizon Wireless service, about $150 (after $50 rebate and two-year agreement). What it is: A heavily hyped mobile phone, the Chocolate has many multimedia features (music ...
LANDesk users cite product benefits.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: John Dix While you would expect a handpicked customer panel at a vendor user group meeting to favor the vendor's product, it was interesting to hear the breadth of benefits cited by LANDesk customers at the company's Interchange conference in Florida ...
Quest tool aims to tame SharePoint.
Sep 04, 2006 ... Byline: John Fontana Quest Software next week will release management tools to help corporate users bring order to their Microsoft SharePoint rollouts. Quest Site Administrator for SharePoint lets users discover all the SharePoint sites on their network, ...
I for information or imperious?(information technology services industry)
Sep 04, 2006 ... Byline: Mark Gibbs "It makes men imperious to sit a horse; no man governs his fellows so well as from this living throne."- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Elsie Venner What if we substitute IT for men, network for horse, provides service for governs and users ...
How we tested OpenSUSE 10.1.
Sep 04, 2006 ... We tested OpenSUSE 10.1 on a gigabit network with notebooks (Toshiba Satellite with AMD CPU, HP with 64bit CPU, Apple PowerBook G4), desktops (Compaq Presario SR1020NX, others), and on several server platforms (HP DL140 3GHz Xeon 32-bit CPU; Polywell dual AMD Athlon ...
Banks under gun to bolster online security; Federal guidance pushes industry to find safer ways to protect transactions.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Ellen Messmer Banks are scrambling to meet a year-end deadline set by federal regulators to better secure online transactions. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) didn't dictate specific technologies in its "Authentication ...
Running Windows on a Mac without Boot Camp.(Brief article)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Steve Blass Try Parallels Desktop. A 15-day trial version is available after you register on the Web site. After you install the software, use the virtual machine configuration editor to add your CD/DVD drive and a virtual hard drive to the default virtual ...
A closer look at OpenSUSE 10.1; Novell's attempt to keep Linux available to open source community.(Product/service evaluation)
Sep 04, 2006 ... OpenSUSE 10.1, Novell's attempt to keep a general-purpose version of its Linux freely available to the open source community, is both aided by and suffers from the lack of attention from Novell. In our tests of OpenSUSE, we found several items that made this version ...
Microsoft expands support program; Software giant revises 2-year-old Custom Support Agreement.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: John Fontana Companies looking to hold onto support for aging Microsoft software as they plan migrations will now have access to a safety net - but it comes at a price. Microsoft this week made its first revisions to the 2-year-old Custom Support ...
As telecom goes, so go its fancy buildings; So much for Global Crossing's digital neural net.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Carolyn Duffy Marsan COLUMBUS, Ind. - One block off the main drag of this all-American town is an architectural gem that is among the landmark buildings built in the bygone glory days of the telecom industry. Known as the SBC Switching Station, this ...
Privacyware going corporate; Host-based intrusion-detection software gains management platform.(Privatefirewall 5.0)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Tim Greene Privacyware next month is scheduled to unveil a management platform for its personal firewall that will make the desktop- and laptop-based software suitable for deployment in corporate networks. Called Endpoint Security Console, the ...
SML improves management automation.(service modeling language)
Sep 04, 2006 ... On July 31, 10 IT vendors published the Service Modeling Language specification to improve the automation of management systems. SML provides a consistent way to describe system information about networks, applications, servers and other IT resources. The authors ...
A giant step for enterprise wireless LANs.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Ira Brodsky Compelling new voice-over-wireless-LAN products signal big changes in enterprise telecommunications. The desk phone could go the way of the phone once bolted to your kitchen wall. Companies can reduce telephone tag and increase productivity by ...
Grids moving into enterprise data centers.
Sep 04, 2006 ... Byline: Jennifer Mears Mention the word "grid" and most IT executives probably think of thousands of CPUs crunching numbers for data-intensive applications such as seismic modeling and drug discovery. Increasingly, however, grids are being considered as platforms for ...
Coming to DVD: data from your company; PowerFile launches DVD archiving appliance.(Brief article)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Deni Connor PowerFile next week plans to roll out a DVD-based storage appliance designed to make archiving data faster and retrieving it easier. The Active Archive Appliance (A3) is less expensive than fixed, disk-based archiving products and makes ...
U.S. telecom "reform" as an object lesson?
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Scott Bradner The framers of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 aimed to ensure real telecommunications services competition for residential and enterprise customers. It's safe to say few observers outside of the shrinking number of remaining major Incumbent ...
Complexity, crisis and corporate nets.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Johna Till Johnson What do corporate networks have to do with the emerging science of complexity theory? More than you would think. In case you don't know, complexity theory is the study of complex adaptive systems, which are self-similar collections of ...
FaceTime secures distributed enterprises' use of IM.
Sep 04, 2006 ... Byline: Cara Garretson FaceTime Tuesday announced a new version of its security and management software for IM communications designed to accommodate distributed workforces. IMAuditor 8.0, slated for availability at the end of September and priced starting ...
Taking care of the network: Some essential tools.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Ron Nutter I just got promoted at a small but growing company. Instead of being responsible for just the servers and some of the user support, I now have to take care of everything related to the network. My predecessor didn't seem to leave much behind ...
Q&A: Citrix positions its acquisitions around an 'access management vision'.
Sep 04, 2006 ... Byline: John Cox Citrix made its name with a specialized software product, Citrix MetaFrame, now called Presentation Server. It was used by a blue chip list of Fortune 500 companies to run Windows applications on servers, accessed by PCs via Citrix's communications ...
CipherTrust blocks bad mail at the network edge with upgraded appliance.(CipherTrust Edge 2.1)
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Cara Garretson CipherTrust Wednesday plans to announce an upgraded version of its Edge appliance that includes new features for blocking annoying and malicious e-mail messages before they enter the corporate network. CipherTrust Edge 2.1, available ...
Sprint Nextel offering wireless software packages.
Sep 04, 2006; ... Byline: Denise Pappalardo Sprint Nextel is rolling out a series of wireless software packages for business customers to better support employees in the field and keep track of assets. The wireless service provider launched the packages, which all fall ...
Letters to the editor: "What users hate about IT pros".
Sep 04, 2006 ... What users hate I read with great interest "What users hate about IT pros", hoping to find a better way to serve my users. I came away with two strategies that I've incorporated into my day-to-day processes: 1) I wait around while my user tries out whatever it was ...
FMC: What's in it for the enterprise? * Fixed-mobile convergence.(Brief article)
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Jim Duffy One of the hotter convergence topics of late is fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) - the ability to merge wired and wireless telecom resources so that users can have what amounts to their desktop phone in that handheld device in their pocket. ...
Xirrus QoS bridges wired-wireless gap; * Xirrus QoS capability works for both switched Wi-Fi and wired networks.
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Jeff Caruso Xirrus this week introduced what it is calling the industry's first QoS capability for both switched Wi-Fi and wired networks. QoS controls are important for supporting time-dependent applications such as voice or video. So, the ...
Compliance concerns C-level execs; * ControlPath survey shows that very few are fully confident that their companies are compliant.(Brief article)
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Amy Schurr If you worry about your organization's regulatory compliance status, you're not alone. A recent survey from compliance management software vendor ControlPath shows that only 28% of respondents are fully confident that their businesses are complying ...
Cisco targets application performance at branch offices; * Cisco debuts branch office wares.
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Denise Dubie Cisco is set to introduce a product suite designed to help enterprise IT managers better manage their branch office operations. Cisco's Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) suite includes multiple technologies - available in a variety of form ...
How do you keep long-term data? * What's your policy for storing e-mails that must be retained?
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Michael Osterman There is some content in e-mail and, to a lesser extent instant messaging systems, that absolutely must be retained on a long-term basis. For example, as messaging systems are used increasingly for sending purchase orders, signing contracts, ...
Legal aspects of managing technology; * Book takes on technology's legal issues.(Column)
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: M. E. Kabay As I mentioned in a recent column, I'm team-teaching the course on Cybercrime and Cyberlaw at Norwich University this semester with Prof. Julie Tower-Pierce. Along with the two books I reviewed in that column, we're using this one: ...
Amazon sells processing power of its compute grid; * Amazon launches beta of compute cluster program.(Brief article)
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: Deni Connor Amazon last week released the beta of a compute cluster from which users can buy processing power for their Web-based applications. The Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, also called Amazon EC2, is similar to Amazon Simple Storage Service ...
Where Novell makes its money; * Peering into Novell's Q3 balance sheet.
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: Dave Kearns Novell reported its third quarter earnings last week (earnings PDF)- third quarter, because the company's fiscal year begins Nov. 1, each year. Overall, it was about what the financial analysts had predicted - revenue of $241 million ...
Juniper multifunction devices give customers choice of antispam, antivirus; * Juniper provides flexible options for security box.
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Tim Greene Juniper is adding more feature options to its multifunction security platforms, making them flexible gateways for branch offices in large corporate deployments. The SSG devices, introduced earlier this year, come standard with firewall ...
What a 1990's technology could teach us today about writing WAN-friendly apps; * Remember the usefulness of Modified Data Tag technology?
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Steve Taylor,aJim Metzler A lot of attention is paid in the industry to network and application optimization techniques such as compression, caching and protocol optimization. This attention is justified as these are all important techniques that can be used ...
Branch office challenges hitting the spotlight: What's your concern? * Factors driving increased interest in the branch office.
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Robin Gareiss The number of calls, e-mails, and general inquiries I've been receiving about the branch office has done the hockey-stick incline in the past few months. At the same time, you've probably noticed a lot of vendors discussing their products, ...
Less power (consumption) to the people; * Buyers want boxes that consume less power.
Sep 05, 2006; ... Byline: Mike Karp The battle going on right now between Intel and Advanced Micro Devices for the hearts and minds of CPU lovers everywhere reflects a similar state of affairs in storage. I'm not referring to the fight for sockets on desktop motherboards, but rather ...
Rube Goldberg variations for data center management; * How data center monitoring software can resemble Rube Goldberg contraptions.
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: John Burke Ridiculously complicated mechanical systems for accomplishing straightforward tasks are often referred to as Rube Goldberg machines. They're funny in cartoons, less so in real life. Unfortunately, as Nemertes is discovering in our ...
Idera rolls out SQL Server security and compliance monitoring tool.
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: Deni Connor Idera, a vendor of tools for managing and protecting SQL Server installations, Tuesday announced server compliance and security software that lets organizations identify users with inappropriate access rights and permissions. SQLsecure ...
Qwest closes OnFiber deal.(Brief article)
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: Network World Staff Qwest Communications announced Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of OnFiber Communications. The service providers first announced the planned $107 million all-cash deal in May. OnFiber is a privately held company based ...
TIA President Flanigan to retire.(Telecommunications Industry Association)(Brief article)
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: Jim Duffy The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) said this week that President Matthew Flanigan announced his intention to retire at the end of the year. Flanigan made the announcement at TIA's board of directors meeting last month. ...
Redback loses Verizon's edge router deal?
Sep 05, 2006 ... Byline: Jim Duffy UBS Warburg has downgraded the stock of Redback Networks, citing "industry contacts" indicating that Redback has lost an edge router deal at Verizon. UBS lowered the stock from Buy 2 to Neutral 2, according to a research report issued ...
Recent acquisitions point to security becoming mainstream; * Heavyweight vendors snap up security buys.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Scott Crawford In recent weeks, we have seen a significant acceleration of the convergence of security companies with players dominant in broader aspects of IT. EMC's acquisition of RSA Security earlier this summer, for example, was followed by news that IBM ...
The future of ID mgmt. is identity providers and user-centric identity; * The thoughts of MaXware's Marcus Lasance.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Dave Kearns It seems that user-centric, user-controlled identity is claiming more people's attention all the time. Last issue, I told you about an awakening moment that Roger Sullivan of Oracle and Liberty Alliance had. Today, I want to present evidence ...
How one IBMer got out of a career rut; * Darryl Solie rejuvenated his engineering career by moving into a customer-facing role.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Linda Leung Darryl Solie spent 24 years at IBM developing the company's server and storage products. The people he'd communicate with every day were IBM people and he had little contact with customers. He'd gained broad technical knowledge in his role ...
Solutions to the consumer VoIP quality problem; * VoIP providers, service providers and users all have a role in improving VoIP quality.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Steve Taylor,aLarry Hettick Last time, we talked in some additional detail about the root cause of VoIP call quality degradation for users who subscribe to a BYOB (bring your own broadband) VoIP service. Today, we'd like to propose a few alternative solutions ....
How to be an asset to your team: Get to know your company's business; * What drives your business and how can you help?
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Dave Kearns It's been a long time since I actively encouraged network managers to get more involved with the business side of their organizations. In fact, I considered that the job was done and everyone was aware of the need to get out of the server room ...
As telecom goes, so go its fancy buildings; * So much for Global Crossing's digital neural net.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Carolyn Duffy Marsan COLUMBUS, Ind. - One block off the main drag of this all-American town is an architectural gem that is among the landmark buildings built in the bygone glory days of the telecom industry. Known as the SBC Switching Station, this ...
Linux firms among Network World's top 10 open source companies list; * Cleversafe and Digium are two Linux-focused open source companies to watch.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Phil Hochmuth Network World recently scoured the Web and the venture capitalist ranks for the most interesting or promising open source firms. What we came up with is a list of the top 10 companiesayou should know about that deal with free software. ...
Do outsourcers really know the costs of deals they have won? * If both sides are fair when negotiating deals, the customer will benefit in the end.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Dan Twing Back in April, I discussed the issue of companies understanding their own costs in order to make good decisions about outsourcing. One reader recently suggested that I turn the tables and discuss the same issue from the outsourcer's viewpoint. ...
Will the Wi-Fi Alliance certify anything? * Alliance strays in decision to certify non-standard products.
Sep 06, 2006; ... Byline: Joanie Wexler Apparently, adherence to formal standards is no longer a requirement in order for a product to be "blessed" by powerful consortia. Last week, the Wi-Fi Alliance officially announced plans to certify the interoperability of ...