CA improves database, net management

By Jeff Caruso
Network World Fusion, 05/13/99

LAS VEGAS -- Computer Associates is detailing the new version of its Jasmine database and added capabilities to its network management software that it announced earlier this week at NetWorld+Interop Las Vegas.

CA announced the Application Response Option, software that gathers information about how quickly networked applications respond to users' requests. The software is an add-on that can be used with CA's NetworkIT Pro network management tool or the company's Unicenter TNG suite of management software.

CA also expanded another add-on, the Switch Management Option, to manage 3Com switches.

The new version of the Jasmine object-oriented database, Jasmine TND, will have neural network software built into it that can be used by third-party applications. This is the same neural network technology used in the company's software agents, called Neugents.

The software learns the normal behavior of a network or system then reports back to the Unicenter TNG management software when it sees something out of the ordinary.

This ability to learn can be applied to problems other than systems management, says Carl Hartman, vice president of marketing at CA. For example, Neugents could examine statistics and success rates to determine the most successful treatment for a certain medical ailment and advise doctors what treatment to prescribe for their patients, he says.

Jasmine TND will also be the repository used for the next version of Unicenter, which is due out later this year. It will replace the current repository, which has an object interface, but is built on a relational database. Hartman says the repository wasn't originally built to be truly object-oriented because it would have taken longer.

Pricing has not been announced. The current version of Jasmine starts at $1,000, and a typical price for option modules is $5,000. CA executives wouldn't say when these products would be generally available, but the products are expected in a few months.