Network World back issues from October 2007:
AT&T acquires Interwise for $121 million; Deal will let AT&T enter market for IP video, Web conferencing.(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Brad Reed In an effort to expand its IP business services, AT&T has agreed to pay $121 million to acquire Interwise, which specializes in Web conferencing. Steve Sobolevitch, the vice president of AT&T Business Development, says that the deal will ...
Microsoft debuts online enterprise services; Exchange, SharePoint, Communications Server available in hosted model; file storage and sharing beta available free to test on Web.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: John Fontana Microsoft on Monday pulled out of incubation its online enterprise services around Exchange, SharePoint and Communications Server and introduced a free document storage and collaboration Web site that begins to answer challenges from Google. ...
Nortel names new CFO; Latest of many Nortel management changes over past year.(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Jim Duffy Nortel this week named a new CFO to replace Peter Currie, who resigned in April.Pavi Binning has been named executive vice president and CFO after a five-month search. Binning's appointment is effective Nov. 12. Binning has ...
How we did it.(access point testing)
Oct 01, 2007 ... dAll throughput and interoperability tests, both homogeneous (client and router from the same company) and heterogeneous (all combinations of all clients and routers), were performed using the same configuration. The basic test geometry consisted of the access point ...
Readers weigh in on management companies to watch; * Some companies to watch suggested by industry watchers.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Denise Dubie For many readers, Network World's series of stories on "companies to watch" seems to miss here and there when it comes to recognizing innovative vendors that address real issues in enterprise networks. The topic came up in our online ...
Screaming MIMO; Blazing performance of 802.11n SOHO gear bodes well for enterprise MIMO.
Oct 01, 2007 ... New 802.11n Draft 2 products targeted at the small-office/home-office market show a dramatic improvement in interoperability and a slight improvement in throughput over the Draft 1 products we tested last summer. Throughput results were well below the theoretical ...
How safe is a VPN?(Virtual private networks)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Ron Nutter I see a lot on the Internet about VPNs but very little explanation about what they are. A lot of hype about using them to gain privacy while connected through a public access point. Yet, I've not seen somebody talk directly about how secure ...
360Hubs: A better portal, er, 'Affinity Hub'; * Portals are back and they've gained depth.
Oct 01, 2007 ... Byline: Mark Gibbs Remember when portals were all the rage? Dozens of vendors had portal solutions but for all their flash these products weren't that slick mostly because they were too simple. They did little to encapsulate and integrate with business processes ...
What's next for 802.11n?(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007 ... One of the more controversial elements of Draft 2 of the 802.11n standard is whether one should purchase products based on it today. Analysts are split on this issue. Those recommending against note that the standard is not finished, and it is possible that the final ...
Inexpensive telepresence for the masses; * Digital Presence from Telanetix.(Telanetix Digital Presence)(Product/service evaluation)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Linda Musthaler A few weeks ago, I wrote about large-scale telepresence systems that allow people to meet face-to-face, virtually. These systems, from companies like HP and Cisco, employ dedicated networks to send huge amounts of video and audio around the ...
Patches from Apple, Ubuntu and more; * Storm: the largest botnet in the world?* Number of malicious e-mails bearing bad links balloons tenfold.(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Jason Meserve Today's bug patches and security alerts: Apple Ships iPhone Security Updates Apple today issued a software update to plug at least 10 security holes in the iPhone, including at least seven fixes for Safari, the device's ...
13 free tools ease IT management; Freeware, open source applications tackle configuration, NetFlow, patch, storage, security and systems management.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Denise Dubie Finding the perfect tool to relieve a pain point or fill a gap can be invaluable to network managers. When the tool is free? Even better. Freeware applications can be a simple utility such as Ping or a more complex set of tools that ...
Walled gardens to come a-tumblin' down? * Chinks appear in traditional U.S. cellular model.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Joanie Wexler The traditional U.S. cellular business model has long elevated mobile network operators to the status of the country's exclusive cell-phone sales channel. However, that model is starting to crack. Historically, U.S. carriers have ...
NSF funds "mind-reading" technology; Could enable computers to tell how frustrated/bored you are with this article.(National Science Foundation)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007 ... The National Science Foundation is funding research that could enable computers to respond to your levels of frustration or boredom. In other words, we're talking about "mind-reading" technology. Tufts University researchers are exploiting near-infrared spectroscopy ...
Linux-based Exchange replacement on tap; PostPath rolls out client options, mobile support, management tools add depth to Exchange replica.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: John Fontana Messaging vendor PostPath Monday added a variety of client options and upgraded the mobile support in its Linux-based replica of Microsoft Exchange server. The company released version 3.0 of PostPath Server with support for Blackberry ...
Top 14 VoIP vulnerabilities; The new book "Securing VoIP Networks," the vulnerable side of VoIP.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Ellen Messmer How are VoIP networks weak and vulnerable to attack and catastrophic failure? Securing VoIP Networks, the new book by Peter Thermos and Ari Takanen, looks at VoIP infrastructure and analyzes its vulnerabilities much as the Open Web Application ...
Identity shows galore; * So many venues for identity talk.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Dave Kearns Another Digital ID World has come and gone (this was the sixth annual event) and while much was familiar there was a different feel to the event. It was as if you were visiting old friends but in their new house. The furniture was recognizable, ...
Vonage loses two patent cases in one week; * But there is a glimmer of hope for Vonage.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Steve Taylor, Larry Hettick Vonage was hit twice last week with bad news from its ongoing legal battles. On Tuesday a jury found that Vonage was guilty of infringing on patents owned by Sprint-Nextel. The jury awarded Sprint-Nextel $69.5 million in damages and ...
EBay Desktop application in public beta; Alerts, new bid features make buying easier.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Byline: Jon Brodkin EBay Monday is releasing a free desktop application that makes it easier for buyers to keep track of items and submit bids.The application, named eBay Desktop, features many types of alerts that take some of the work out of bidding on auction ...
Service that broadcasts video from military drone aircraft goes commercial; SkyMarshall service from Marshall Communications uses broadband satellite links.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Tim Greene Satellite provider Marshall Communications' secure service that distributes video gathered by military drone planes is available to commercial customers interested in deploying disaster recovery or first-responder applications. Called ...
Goodbye DPCs, hello (simple) groupware.(deferred procedure calls )(Column)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Mark Gibbs I have a theory: Microsoft is trying to drive me insane. You may recollect that last week I was flummoxed (ohhh, good word and one that I have never managed to use in a column before) by the appearance of a ridiculously high rate of ...
Control vs. usability: What's DRM's future? University of Minnesota researcher sums up digital rights management.(digital rights management)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Scott Bradner Digital rights management is a chimera that content owners use to pretend their content is not digital. As a technology, DRM has had an almost unblemished record of failure and as a business model the record has been just about as bad. About the ...
One company's experience with downtime; * A story of e-mail system downtime.(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Michael Osterman A member of our survey panel sent me information on his company's experience with e-mail system downtime. Here is a lightly paraphrased version of what he sent me: "I just looked through my calendar to see when I last had an ...
ExaGrid, ProStor, OnStor, Emulex upgrade storage gear; * Storage Decisions announcements.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Deni Connor At Storage Decisions last week, ExaGrid, ProStor Systems, OnStor and Emulex unveiled enhancements to their products. ExaGrid announced that its disk-based backup product now provides twice the backup and restore performance of previous versions. ...
3Com adds three IP PBXs for small businesses; New models come from in-house development and a partnership with Digium.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Tim Greene 3Com is broadening its IP PBX offerings with the introduction of three new products geared for businesses with as few as five phones. The company is shipping two versions of its VCX Connect devices. The 100 model supports as many as 100 ...
Vontu upgrades data-loss prevention software; Discovers sensitive information stored on PCs, laptops.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Cara Garretson Vontu on Monday announced an upgrade to its data-loss prevention software that features agent-based discovery of sensitive data stored at a company's endpoints, and also prevents unauthorized copying of that information. Slated for ...
ITIL having hard time living up to hype; Best-practice framework not as critical to success as adopters once thought, survey shows.(Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Denise Dubie Many IT organizations working to improve IT service delivery and management processes depend on the best practices laid out in ITIL, but the framework isn't always seen as the panacea adopters expected. BT INS this week released ...
ISP liability and 'Net neutrality: an update; * The Verizon Wireless-NARAL case.(National Abortion Rights Action League)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: M. E. Kabay In May 2006, I published two articles in this newsletter on the subject of ISP liability for the content distributed or published via their facilities (here and here). I reviewed the classic cases of Cubby vs. CompuServe and Stratton Oakmont ...
Branch integration; * Cisco will move the market toward all-in-one branch solutions.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Robin Gareiss Cisco is making it a whole lot easier to run a consistent infrastructure at the branch offices with new products that integrate multiple functions into a single physical device. I've written about the benefits of these "all-in-one ...
Activity monitoring and database security.
Oct 02, 2007 ... Over 158 million personal data records have been exposed since February 2005. There is no question that databases are under attack. No longer satisfied with defacing Web sites or committing other malicious acts, today's attackers are increasingly targeting the ...
D-Link switches support IPv6; * Gigabit Ethernet switches include support for IPv6.(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Jeff Caruso D-Link recently shipped two stackable Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet switches that support IPv6 routing and 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections. The two switches are the newest members of D-Link's xStack 3600 line. The DGS-3627 has 24 ports of ...
Digium buys Switchvox; Creator of the open source Asterisk PBX buys a developer of the platform.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Tim Greene Digium, whose open source Asterisk IP PBX spawned a host of start-ups that commercialize the software, has bought up one of them because it has a better user interface than Digium's. Digium has bought Switchvox because users without deep ...
CompTIA is 'Creating Futures'; * CompTIA aims to retrain people for IT jobs.(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Amy Schurr Many experts predict an impending IT worker shortage. CompTIA aims to do something about that with its program to train disabled, transitioning military, at-risk youth and dislocated workers for jobs in the IT industry, and it's timely to tell ...
AT&T clarifies vague service-termination rule; Despite speculation, AT&T says it does not have a policy of cutting off service for customers who use it to criticize the company.(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Brad Reed Relax, AT&T subscribers: The company says it won't cut off your Internet service if you criticize it. In response to speculation on various Web sites about the meaning of a clause in AT&T's latest terms-of-service policy, the company ...
NAC deployment obstacles; * The top obstacles to deploying NAC.(network access control)(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Tim Greene The top obstacles to deploying NAC are the political and operational issues, according to a poll of attendees at a recent Gartner Security Summit. According to the poll 35% had concerns about upsetting the wrong party if NAC hindered ...
Tabbed interface framework masters CDs, DVDs with HTML.(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Steve Blass We need to build a tabbed interface framework for mastering CDs and DVDs containing HTML content. The content does not require server interaction but may contain video and/or animated presentation material. We have Java skills and a legacy ...
Ig Nobel: Honoring weird science at Harvard; Wacky awards are less prestigious, more fun than the real Nobels.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Jon Brodkin Skip the Grammys. The Oscars are boring. It's time to talk about the only award in the history of the Earth that has been presented both to ducks that practice homosexual necrophilia and Dan Quayle. 2007 Ig Nobel prize winners ...
Infinite capacity, Facebook, iPhones and DRM-free music; This is the world that Amazon.com CTO Werner Vogels inhabits. He discussed this and more with attendees of his Network World chat.(Discussion)
Oct 02, 2007 ... Byline: Network World Staff Werner_Vogels: Good morning or afternoon depending on where you're located. Thanks for joining. I'm looking forward to answering as many of your questions as possible in the next hour. Peter K: Where do you see Amazon fitting in ...
Sun combines servers, storage businesses; Unification will promote integrated systems.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Robert Mullins Sun Microsystems is combining its servers and storage businesses to better sell computing systems to data center customers. The announcement was made Monday on the blog of Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, in which he said the move would "radically" ...
Community, personal communications, and civility; * Moderation in all things - including corporate policies.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Steve Taylor, Jim Metzler In the last newsletter, we explored the impact on productivity due to the use of corporate network resources for personal communications. In particular, we set forth a supposition that it is not at all unreasonable to expect that at ...
Bandwidth management gets personal; * Propel Software unveils Personal Bandwidth Manager at DEMOfall07 conference.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Ann Bednarz There's a cool new product in the works that lets PC users control how they use bandwidth and allocate greater capacity to time-sensitive operations such as IP phone calls, video and online games. Called Propel Personal Bandwidth ...
Telcos spar over service pricing; Critics say granting forbearance petitions would hurt competition.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Brad Reed Representatives from both local and national telecom companies fought over the future of telecom service pricing during a House Energy Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. The companies' arguments stemmed from the FCC's decision last year that ...
Blended threats targeted by Avinti's latest e-mail software; Plug-in works with gateway products to block links to malicious sites.(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: Cara Garretson Avinti on Tuesday announced the beta release of an e-mail gateway plug-in designed to stop malware hidden inside spam. Called NEWT, for Neutralize E-mail-Web Threats, the software is designed to block URLs and IP addresses embedded in inbound ...
IBM puts forms in its Web 2.0 stable.(IBM Lotus Forms 3.0)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Byline: John Fontana IBM Tuesday added another chapter to its Web 2.0 story by releasing the latest version of its electronic forms technology as a server-based component that works with its portal technology and Notes. IBM Lotus Forms 3.0 is designed to ...
Femtocell enables carriers to offer FMC alternatives; * Sprint launches Airave for unlimited calling at home.(fixed-mobile convergence)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Steve Taylor, Larry Hettick Sprint earlier this month announced a service that lets users make and receive unlimited calls at home using any Sprint mobile phone. The service called Airave, is being trialed in selected areas of Denver and Indianapolis, and uses ...
AT&T signs network management deal with IBM; AT&T will take over IBM's outsourced telecom, network management services from IBM Global Services.(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Brad Reed AT&T announced yesterday that it signed an agreement with IBM to serve as the company's provider of outsourced telecommunications and network management services -- an assignment previously handled by IBM's own services division. AT&T ...
Juniper names new enterprise chief; Mark Bauhaus will be responsible for Juniper's security, application acceleration, unified access control and enterprise routing product lines.(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Jim Duffy Juniper Networks this week named Mark Bauhaus executive vice president and general manager of its enterprise-focused Service Layer Technology group. Bauhaus replaces Rob Sturgeon, who left Juniper in March by "mutual decision" after a ...
Cisco announces fast-track membership to IET; * Cisco collaborates with the IET to encourage engineers to broaden their skills - but is it worthwhile for U.S. IT folks?
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Linda Leung In a move to encourage Cisco certified individuals to broaden their skills and to get access to a range of engineering educational and training materials, Cisco has teamed up with the Institute of Engineering and Technology organization to "fast ...
Site seeing; * Some really interesting Web sites worth checking out.(Global Incident Map and Internet Public Library)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Mark Gibbs In this issue of the Network World Web Applications newsletter I have a couple of really interesting Web sites for your delectation. The first is an academic project called The Internet Public Library. IPL is "a public service ...
BlackBerry enters the Wi-Fi game.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Keith Shaw The scoop: BlackBerry 8820, by Research In Motion with AT&T Wireless service, about $300 (after rebates and two-year contract, plus additional monthly voice and data service). What it is: The BlackBerry finally gets into the Wi-Fi game ...
Appliance designed to protect remote offices; Arkeia device boasts 1TB virtual tape library.(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Deni Connor Arkeia Wednesday rolled out a data protection appliance for organizations with remote offices that need backing up. The EdgeFort 300 attaches to the network via Gigabit Ethernet and includes backup software, as well as disk storage and a ...
Wireless sensors dump batteries in favor of "energy harvesting"; Start-up GreenPeak offers low power wireless mesh linked to novel energy sources.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: John Cox Wireless sensor start-up GreenPeak promises you'll never have to change a battery again. For networks that can grow to include hundreds of thousands of radio-powered sensors, that's a big deal. The company's line of sensors, based on the ...
The emergence of identity access management governance; * IAM governance includes identity audit and role management.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Dave Kearns I've been known to lump together Aveksa, SailPoint and Securent under the banners of "entitlements" or "governance" but all three, it seems, are adamant that - far from being competitors - they are actually complementary. I had the ...
Freeware: Here, there and everywhere; * Freeware can ease the strain on IT management budgets.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Denise Dubie With the complexity of networks and applications growing, IT managers don't get a break in terms of the number of things they have to manage -- which represents a huge strain on budgets. And that's where freeware comes in. Freeware is ...
E-mail security, compliance upgraded in Google Apps; Postini acquisition pays off with new features.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Jon Brodkin Google's acquisition of e-mail security vendor Postini is paying off for Google Apps enterprise users, who today are gaining free access to extra security and compliance features. The Google Apps Premier Edition will remain at its ...
Is it truly necessary to upgrade to IPv6? Cornering the market on address spaces.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Johna Till Johnson In economics, someone who hoards resources to drive up the price is rather whimsically referred to as a troll. I was reminded of that recently when one of my colleagues suggested that perhaps the U.S. government's interest in IPv6 is part ...
PricewaterhouseCoopers' spin-off tackles governance, risk and compliance; Brabeion Software uses policy and audit content developed at PricewaterhouseCoopers' to help customers stay compliant.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Denise Dubie PricewaterhouseCoopers' spin-off Brabeion Software this week upgraded its compliance management platform to provide customers with more than 6,000 control tests on ISO and other standards.Brabeion, founded in 2005, commercialized a software ...
Mail service turns to wireless e-mail to improve operations; Postal Service to issue thousands of BlackBerry handsets to managers.(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: John Cox To improve its mail operations, the U.S. Postal Service is turning to ... wireless e-mail. USPS this year will distribute BlackBerry handsets to 5,400 managers and "key staff" nationwide, running on AT&T's cellular network. They'll use ...
The promise and pitfalls of WiMAX; * WiMAX finally enters sphere of reality.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Joanie Wexler In the early days, I faithfully attended the WiMAX World conference. Then, admittedly, I quit going for several years. As an advocate for enterprise IT departments, I wasn't finding pre-standard discussions among WiMAX network infrastructure ...
Stratavia adds predictive analysis to IT automation platform; Data center automation vendor updates its flagship software with predictive analysis to speed problem resolution.(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Denise Dubie Data center automation software maker Stratavia this week announced it had upgraded its flagship product to be able to make decisions based on past actions and further lessen the amount of manual intervention needed in managing data center ...
RenewData rolls out e-discovery service; Service evaluates the content of backup tapes to determine if storage is required.(RenewData Backup Tape Liability Management Service )(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Deni Connor RenewData, a vendor of e-discovery and data migration services, today launched a new service designed to help customers address liability issues associated with the content of backup tapes as well as limit the cost of storing backup tapes. ...
SAP partners with IBM, Sun on identity management; New Web services aid regulatory compliance.(Brief article)
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Jon Brodkin SAP is teaming up with IBM and Sun to combine identity management software with tools that ensure proper segregation of duties, a necessary part of regulatory compliance. SAP built about a dozen new Web services for SAP GRC (governance, ...
Don't buy into WiMAX hype, group says; GSM Association says WiMAX technology not yet mature; sees HSPA as viable alternative.
Oct 03, 2007; ... Byline: Brad Reed The GSM Association says that businesses and investors who found themselves dazzled by the recent WiMAX World convention shouldn't buy into the hype just yet. The reason, it says, is because WiMAX is still in its developmental stages, ...
Eliminating backup tapes can save big bucks; * Backup Tape Elimination Service from RenewData.(Brief article)
Oct 04, 2007; ... Byline: Michael Osterman Most of us are aware of the problem of managing an e-discovery effort using nothing but backup tapes. The process of finding all relevant tapes, extracting their content, indexing it and then putting it into a form that can be processed is ...
ForeScout software scans network endpoints inside and out; * ForeScout's Secure Connector.(Brief article)
Oct 04, 2007; ... Byline: Tim Greene ForeScout, which previously scanned network endpoints externally, is introducing client software that checks out machines as they try to join networks. Secure Connector is a dissolvable agent that is downloaded to client machines and ...