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) Gearblog: Even more of Mark Gibbs on cool stuff
2) Microsoft, Sun tiff puts users in bind
3) Share at 50: IBM users still sticking together
4) Test: Juniper scores with WLAN protector
5) IT revs up search engines
6) Test: Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005
7) Nutter’s Help Desk: Remotely turning computers on and off
8) Network World Radio: Interview with a fulltime blogger
9) Technology Update: BFD spots router forwarding failures
10) IBM, CA target mainframe management
11) Vendors target IP video hurdles
12) Wi-Fi remote-access options expand
13) SMBs driving demand for VoIP services
14) Case study: Court ditches mainframe for Windows system
15) Micromuse makes service mgmt. foray
16) Intel: Speed no longer enough for networks
17) How to: Outsourcing IT
18) Vertical report: Financial firms bolster authentication
19) Early adopters share tips at IBM event
20) VoIP apps take center stage at VON
21) Sonic expands its SOA lineup
22) IBM pitches Informix database upgrade
23) Start-up takes aim at automating routine data center functions
24) Start-up promises computing power on demand
25) Adtran powers phones, access points
26) CA sketches security architecture plans
27) Renovator’s Award: Enter your network project
1) Gearblog: Even more of Mark Gibbs on cool stuff
Network World readers keep telling us one of the columns they most often turn to is “Gearhead,” in which Mark Gibbs explains how to do cool stuff. Now you can get even more of Gibbs’s unique insights with his new Gearblog – a frequently updates chronicle of the things Mark is playing with and figuring out.
DocFinder: 6163
https://www.nwfusion.com/weblogs/gearblog/
2) Microsoft, Sun tiff puts users in bind
Nearly a year after promising to make their directory and single sign-on technologies work together, Microsoft and Sun have delivered little – a stalemate that exposes an industry rift over identity standards that is costing users money.
DocFinder: 6164
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-identity.html?tw
3) Share at 50: IBM users still sticking together
Twice a year the Button Man dons his lab coat, weighted down with pins, for a singalong with a few hundred other crooners who share a common affinity for IBM technology.
DocFinder: 6165
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705widernetshare.html?tw
4) Test: Juniper scores with WLAN protector
In our exclusive Network World Clear Choice Test, we found the NetScreen-5GT Wireless to be a clean melding of a trusted, full-featured firewall to a secure wireless access point.
DocFinder: 6166
https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2005/030705-juniper-test.html?tw
5) IT revs up search engines
Companies are using enterprise search tools to unlock key information buried in internal databases and to boost e-commerce.
DocFinder: 6167
https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2005/030705search.html?tw
6) Test: Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005
In our Clear Choice Test, Virtual Server 2005 proved itself well worth the money because it lets you run multiple instances of Windows on the same machine.
DocFinder: 6168
https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2005/030705test.html?tw
7) Nutter’s Help Desk: Remotely turning computers on and off
Ron Nutter helps a user figure out how to “wake” remote PCs for installation of patches.
DocFinder: 6169
https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2005/030705nutter.html?twl
8) Network World Radio: Interview with a fulltime blogger
Jason Kottke is moving to blogging full-time with a National Public Radio-like quest for donations and sponsorships to keep him afloat for at least a year. He joins the program to discuss the move. Listen in
DocFinder: 6170
https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2005/0307radio.html?tw
9) Technology Update: BFD spots router forwarding failures
An IETF draft standard , BFD provides a simple, lightweight and abstract method of detecting the ability of links or systems to forward traffic.
DocFinder: 6171
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2005/030705techupdate.html?tw
10) IBM, CA target mainframe management
IBM and Computer Associates are tailoring wares for mainframe users that the companies promise will make managing the 40-year-old technology easier for novice systems administrators, and cut budget costs associated with maintaining the Big Iron.
DocFinder: 6172
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-mainframe.html?tw
11) Vendors target IP video hurdles
February 2005 may go down as the beginning of the end for the last technical hurdle blocking widespread adoption of corporate IP videoconferencing – the issue of firewall and network address translation traversal.
DocFinder: 6173
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-ip-videoconferencing.html?tw
12) Wi-Fi remote-access options expand
Service providers are expanding the global reach of their Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet networks to offer users better remote access when traveling.
DocFinder: 6174
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-wifi.html?tw
13) SMBs driving demand for VoIP services
Large corporations have been slow to embrace hosted or network-based VoIP services despite the hype about lower costs and compelling applications. Today, most of the momentum in business VoIP services – customer premises equipment-based managed PBX, hosted IP Centrex and network/softswitch-based voice VPN – is in the small-to-midsize business (SMB) market. And of those services, hosted IP Centrex is the most sought after because smaller companies were traditionally TDM Centrex customers.
DocFinder: 6175
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705specialfocus.html?tw
14) Case study: Court ditches mainframe for Windows system
Debbie Brasher cut the mainframe cord and she is not looking back. The director of technology for the Superior Court Stanislaus County System in Modesto, Calif., has moved on to a Windows-based infrastructure and a set of Web-based applications to host the court’s case management system, which is used to manage civil and criminal cases.
DocFinder: 6176
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-migrate.html?tw
15) Micromuse makes service mgmt. foray
Micromuse plans to unveil next month software bundles designed to help companies more quickly relate network faults to application performance and ensure that performance meets to pre-defined service levels.
DocFinder: 6177
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705micromuse.html?tw
16) Intel: Speed no longer enough for networks
Intel, which faced design problems and product delays, and was forced to play catch-up with rival AMD in 2004, used its Spring Developer Forum to showcase new technologies that it says will simplify the lives of IT managers by making it easier to manage and secure increasingly complex networks.
DocFinder: 6178
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-intel.html?tw
17) How to: Outsourcing IT
Business leaders eye external providers to cut costs, but there are ways to take command of the process while helping achieve corporate goals.
DocFinder: 6179
https://www.nwfusion.com/careers/2005/030705man.html?tw
18) Vertical report: Financial firms bolster authentication
Financial institutions are strengthening their defenses against online fraud by adding security mechanisms that are better suited to prove the identity of customers than are simple, reusable passwords.
DocFinder: 6180
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-financial-security
19) Early adopters share tips at IBM event.html?tw
Finding hiccups in pre-release code is a labor of love for Martha McConaghy. “Our philosophy is, if we find the bugs, you won’t have to,” says McConaghy, who is systems, network and operations manager at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Plus it keeps work interesting, she says.
DocFinder: 6181
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705share.html?tw
20) VoIP apps take center stage at VON
VoIP applications for businesses, including call center programs, multimedia conferencing and IP Centrex, will be dominant themes at this week’s Spring VON 2005 conference.
DocFinder: 6182
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705von.html?tw
21) Sonic expands its SOA lineup
Web services infrastructure vendor Sonic Software this week will introduce its SOA Suite, which includes tools designed to make it easier for corporations to integrate current databases with Web services and to share resources with partners.
DocFinder: 6183
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705sonic.html?tw
22) IBM pitches Informix database upgrade
IBM has released a major upgrade to its Informix database that promises users improvements in performance, administration and security. IBM called the move the most significant upgrade of the database in five years.
DocFinder: 6184
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-informix.html?tw
23) Start-up takes aim at automating routine data center functions
Start-up RealOps is offering customers software designed to streamline their operations and maximize their resources by automating routine tasks and providing an audit trail of actions taken across their data centers.
DocFinder: 6185
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-startup-realops.html?tw
24) Start-up promises computing power on demand
Azul Systems says it has an answer for IT managers wrestling with how to cope with unpredictable spikes in demand that go hand-in-hand with Web-based applications.
DocFinder: 6186
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-azul-systems.html?tw
25) Adtran powers phones, access points
Looking to simplify corporate Gigabit Ethernet and VoIP installations, Adtran is rolling out switches, routers and combination switches with integrated routers that support VoIP handsets and wireless access points all offering in-line power support.
DocFinder: 6187
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-adtran.html?tw
26) CA sketches security architecture plans
Computer Associates last week said it would roll out a series of software packages designed to help users manage corporate security environments.
DocFinder: 6188
https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2005/030705-ca-security.html?tw
26) Renovator’s Award: Enter your network project
Have you overhauled your network and realized a substantial return on the investment, a significant new business opportunity or found a creative way to leverage technology? If so, get in the running for Network World’s new Renovator Award, the top winners of which will be honored at a celebration in Las Vegas during the Networld+Interop conference in May. Entries will be judged by a panel of Network World editors, columnists and industry experts. Winners will be presented an award at the celebration and profiled in a subsequent Network World article. Contest sponsored by Juniper Networks. Grab an entry form at:
DocFinder: 5951
