Welcome to This Week on NW Fusion, featuring breaking news, info, and tips from Network World Fusion, the most comprehensive enterprise networking resource on the Internet. See below for the week's biggest stories and check out our other e-mail newsletters at http://www.nwfusion.com/focus
————————————– 1) Users still bullish on Web services ————————————– We catch up with the companies profiled in last year’s Web Services Early Adopters series (http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/0415webservices.html) to see if they’re reaping the benefits promised. Two out of three give an enthusiastic thumb’s up. DocFinder: 5944 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0519revisited.html
1) Show to spotlight new roles for Linux
2) VoiceCon: My day with Deke
3) Cisco launches IPS offensive
4) Demo show spotlights security
5) Nutter’s Help Desk: Fixing 802.11b link performance problems
6) Technology Update: Modular OS design cuts downtime
7) Fending off the managers: Battle of the budget
8) Acquisitions: IBM builds up software war chest
9) IPS gaining ground over IDS
10) Extending identity management’s realm
11) Ibrix touts suite for clustering Linux
12) Grid gaining enterprise traction
13) Wireless: NextHop to play WLAN leapfrog
14) Fiorina’s ouster draws mixed reactions
15) Novell sets GroupWise direction
16) Customers find different VoIP benefits
17) HP, others tackle data replication, recovery
18) Identity software giveaway aims to increase demand
19) Mobile: Tool ‘mobilizes’ unstructured data
20) Ignite service helps deliver large files
21) Vendor layers-on spam protection
22) Telecom mergers: As industry deals continue, questions arise
23) Case study: Schools learning broadband lessons
24) Start-up aims to extend Active Directory
Sigh. Once again, major carriers have ignored my request not to do anything important on the weekend, after our print issue has gone to bed. But have no fear; we’ll provide extensive coverage of the Verizon/MCI deal at https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2005/0214verizsweep.html?tw. Also this week, we’ll get you the latest news on the gizmos unwrapped at the annual Demo show – the stuff you know you’ll be using soon. Complete daily coverage at https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/demo2005.html?twagaffin@nww.com
— Adam Gaffin, executive editor,
1) Show to spotlight new roles for Linux
This week’s LinuxWorld will focus on the maturity of the operating system, with high availability, workload management and large multiprocessor system news taking center stage.
DocFinder: 5865
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405linuxworld.html?tw
2) VoiceCon: My day with Deke
As senior technology director for networking and telecommunications at the University of Pennsylvania, Deke Kassabian gets paid to figure out the best long-term path for the school’s network. He spends a lot more time on forward-looking and R&D projects
DocFinder: 5866
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405widernetdeke.html?tw
3) Cisco launches IPS offensive
Cisco this week will announce its presence as a player in the intrusion-prevention system market with five appliances and software that adds IPS capabilities to Cisco switches, firewalls and routers.
DocFinder: 5867
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-cisco-rsa.html?tw
4) Demo show spotlights security
Emerging technology moves beyond the perimeter for securing data. Read all about it, then follow the link to the latest daily news from the show.
DocFinder: 5868
https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2005/021405demomain.html?tw
5) Nutter’s Help Desk: Fixing 802.11b link performance problems
Ron Nutter helps a user with a really slow wireless connection.
DocFinder: 5869
https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2005/021405nutter.html?tw
6) Technology Update: Modular OS design cuts downtime
With a modular design, network functions are broken up into distinct processes with standard interfaces. In this architecture, the clearly defined processes operate independently.
DocFinder: 5870
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2005/021405techupdate.html?tw
7) Fending off the managers: Battle of the budget
CFOs and business unit managers are angling to seize purchasing power from IT, but there are ways to fight back.
DocFinder: 5871
https://www.nwfusion.com/careers/2005/021405man.html?tw
8) Acquisitions: IBM builds up software war chest
IBM started off the year by announcing three acquisitions in a span of five weeks. Customers can expect IBM to use the technology and expertise it’s gaining to deliver software with more comprehensive vertical industry focus, along with services designed to appeal to a range of companies, including small and midsize businesses.
DocFinder: 5872
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-ibm-software.html?tw
9) IPS gaining ground over IDS
IT security managers say the dangers posed by computer worms and hacker attacks have compelled them to shift defenses from passively monitoring their networks to actively blocking attacks, even though legitimate traffic sometimes gets blocked.
DocFinder: 5873
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405ids.html?tw
10) Extending identity management’s realm
With the security benefits and administrative efficiencies of user identity management coming into focus for IT leaders, some experts say those same benefits can be extended to routers, switches, applications, Web services and devices by creating a common interoperable identity model for other nodes on a network.
DocFinder: 5874
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405specialfocus.html?tw
11) Ibrix touts suite for clustering Linux
Ibrix is rolling out software that lets IT administrators combine I/O and storage resources into a single massive shared environment that can be managed from a central interface.
DocFinder: 5875
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-ibrix.html?tw
12) Grid gaining enterprise traction
Grid computing is catching on among enterprise IT managers, whose stories prove you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to take advantage of the emerging technology.
DocFinder: 5876
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405grid.html?tw
13) Wireless: NextHop to play WLAN leapfrog
A little-known software vendor will take the first step this week toward helping equipment makers build what it calls the next generation of enterprise wireless LANs.
DocFinder: 5877
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-nexthop.html?tw
14) Fiorina’s ouster draws mixed reactions
When it came down to it, Carly Fiorina couldn’t transform HP into a computer titan to rival IBM or its other major competitors. Read all about it, discuss in our Fiorina forum and listen to an interview with Terry Shannon of Shannon Knows High Performance Computing on the ramifications of the shakeup. (Shannon interview)
DocFinder: 5878
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405fiorina.html?tw
https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2005/0214radio.html?tw
15) Novell sets GroupWise direction
Novell last week tried to dispel rumors of an imminent demise of its GroupWise collaboration platform by laying out a three-year road map for the product.
DocFinder: 5879
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-novell-groupwise.html?tw
16) Customers find different VoIP benefits
Network executives who shared voice/data convergence stories at last week’s VoiceCon show described VoIP as a new kind of juggling act for IT departments, one where both technical and managerial issues must be handled delicately.
DocFinder: 5880
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405voicecon.html?tw
17) HP, others tackle data replication, recovery
A slew of new products and services are rolling out that let customers automate and implement a replication and recovery process for their most important data applications.
DocFinder: 5881
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405datareplication.html?tw
18) Identity software giveaway aims to increase demand
Start-up Ping Identity is looking to jump-start demand for identity software by giving away its server that helps customers link access control systems across network boundaries.
DocFinder: 5882
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-ping-identity.html?tw
19) Mobile: Tool ‘mobilizes’ unstructured data
Mobile software maker Agilix is readying a software development kit for building mobile applications that will let customers collect, index and organize information that can’t use a conventional database: spreadsheets, Microsoft Word documents, .PDF files, PowerPoint slides, Web pages and the like.
DocFinder: 5883
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-agillix.html?tw
20) Ignite service helps deliver large files
Ignite Technologies last week unveiled an electronic file delivery service that the company says will ease delivery of large files for corporate customers.
DocFinder: 5884
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-ignite.html?tw
21) Vendor layers-on spam protection
Tumbleweed Communications last week introduced an appliance called MailGate Edge, a relay server that sits at the edge of a corporate network and deflects malicious e-mail-based traffic before it reaches internal systems.
DocFinder: 5885
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-mail-spam.html?tw
22) Telecom mergers: As industry deals continue, questions arise
The spate of recent telecom deals means that all of the top-tier providers are in some stage of flux, which creates a situation that offers opportunity and risk for corporate network managers. Here are some general tips from analysts who track the industry.
DocFinder: 5886
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-telecom-advice.html?tw
23) Case study: Schools learning broadband lessons
In an effort to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind law, the New Orleans public school system is subscribing to a managed optical Ethernet service from Cox Communications. The network is an example of the technology initiatives educational institutions have undertaken as they look to support an expanding number of computers in the classroom.
DocFinder: 5887
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/021405-schools-optical.html?tw
24) Start-up aims to extend Active Directory
Centrify this week will launch its debut product, software that integrates Linux and Unix platforms and Java-based Web applications with Microsoft’s Active Directory.
DocFinder: 5888
