The Buzz Issue Lexicon

• Is this compatible with Ethernet or will I have to purchase specialized gear?
• Do the network interface cards have to be on both ends of the connection?
• Can I test-drive it on my hardware in my network running my code and my applications?
• What additional training do I need to deploy and manage this interconnect?
• Is it compatible with bigger bandwidth? Can I move to faster speeds without buying new gear?

Grid computing

Questions to ask about grid computing:

• What software has been demonstrated to operate on your grid infrastructure?
• What do I need to do to my applications so they can be used across the grid?
• What support will I be given to work with my current enterprise application vendors to move software to the grid?
• What interoperability tests have been done with your software and other virtualization products?

• Is anyone running this software on a grid?
• Is anyone running this software using data virtualization?
• Can this software be modified so that its computational needs are divided among a large multiprocessor system?
• What are you willing to do to adjust your software so that it can be operated on grid?

Holographic storage

• How much archival data do you have?
• Will the initial size of the disks (200G to 300G bytes) be sufficient for archiving this data?
• Are you concerned that holographic media will be removable?
• How long will your storage media last in the long run?
• Are you concerned that, at least initially, holographic storage systems will be proprietary?

InfiniBand

• Is this compatible with Ethernet or will I have to purchase specialized gear?
• Do the network interface cards have to be on both ends of the connection?
• Can I test-drive it on my hardware in my network running my code and my applications?
• What additional training do I need to deploy and manage this interconnect?
• Is it compatible with bigger bandwidth? Can I move to faster speeds without buying new gear?

iWarp

• Is this compatible with Ethernet or will I have to purchase specialized gear?
• Do the network interface cards have to be on both ends of the connection?
• Can I test-drive it on my hardware in my network running my code and my applications?
• What additional training do I need to deploy and manage this interconnect?
• Is it compatible with bigger bandwidth? Can I move to faster speeds without buying new gear?

Near Field Communication (NFC)

• What is the result of the latest trials overseas?
• Which vendors have signed up to support NFC?
• Under what circumstances is NFC a better option than Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or RFID?

Podcasting

• How many employees are performing podcasting at work and what is the drain on my network because of that?
• How might I create a policy regarding podcasting and train users to follow it?
• Can I make use of employee familiarity with podcasting to distribute enterprise information?

Ransomware

Questions to ask about ransomware:

• Do you have any experience in detecting or disarming ransomware attacks?
• Can you offer protection against security attacks that occur quickly? (A variety of attacks can be performed at more than 1 million packets per second.)
• If my company comes under a ransomware attack, how might you be able to help me quickly decrypt the affected files?
• Once a vulnerability is found, how long do you typically take to distribute a patch?
• If I suspect a thwarted ransomware attack, how should I report it to you, and how will you inform the authorities while protecting my confidential information?
• What kinds of innovative technologies do you offer to battle dangers such as Trojan horses and key loggers that work through the Web and often go undetected by, or can even disable, anti-virus software?

RFID

• What experience do you have in designing RFID systems for my industry?
• How will you design redundancy?
• Do your products support the Gen2 RFID standard? If not, when will they, and what are the migration options?
• What independent testing can you show me that verifies your products can work in the conditions of my warehouse?
• How do your products secure my data?
• Have your products ever been integrated with my ERP system? What work is being done in that area?
• How much do the tags cost?
• How will your system help me analyze the data for long-term trends?
• Using your system, how can I securely share RFID with strategic vendors or customers?

Rootkits

• Which of the following detection algorithms is used?

  -The cross-view approach (detects hidden objects to indicate a rookit has been embedded).

  -Direct rootkit detectors (catches hooked entries into IDT/SDT/IRP).

  -Signature-based approach.
• Does the rootkit defender combine cross-view detection with heuristics-based file analysis? (So far, no tools do both, but they should.)
• Can the tool detect the rootkit at time of installation?
• Does work have to be stopped for a full scan of the machine to detect the rootkit? How long does that take? How often should you scan?
• Does the technology detect kernel, memory, BIOS and/or user mode rootkits?
• Can the tool automatically remove the rootkit? Often rootkit removal requires booting into safe mode and then manually cleaning.

SOA service offerings

• How much experience do you have implementing SOA? After you hear the product pitch, request client references similar to your situation to make sure the vendor can deliver SOA beyond implementing its specific product set.
• Are you certified in implementing best-practice processes? Most of SOA is architecture and processes, not technology. Vendors must know more than how to install integration middleware or an enterprise service bus.
• How are you going to equip me to maintain my SOA going forward? Whether it be engineering, training or process certification, IT shops will need tools to evolve, maintain and manage their SOA. An SOA is not a one-off project that a vendor can wrap up in a consulting engagement.
• What work are you doing with standards? SOA depends upon disparate components integrating on the fly. While vendor-specific wares and integration platforms can help, the ultimate goal is for interoperability via standards.

SOBA

• How are you deconstructing monolithic applications and exposing the functions of your software?
• Are you using Web services specifications beyond simple Simple Object Access Protocol wrappers?
• Are you participating in the creation of Web services standards such as those for transactions, reliable messaging and orchestration?
• How do you plan to incorporate these standards into your applications/platforms?

Software appliances

• Is it priced flexibly? Is a pay-as-you-go leasing option available?
• Which modules are available and can I pick and choose just the ones I want?
• Does the product support well-accepted standards, such as the LAMP stack, XML and Web services?
• What self-management, self-healing tools does it use and how will you access the software when more hands-on management is required?
• How is the underlying operating system hardened and what other security measure does the appliance employ?

ZigBee

• Which consumer electronic devices are likely to be ZigBee compliant?
• Will traffic from ZigBee wireless nets interfere with my data wireless nets and what can I do to avoid that?
• What role will IT play in building and supporting eventual ZigBee networks for in-building devices?