This week on Network World Fusion, 12/20/04

1) Has IE dug itself a hole? 2) Wireless directory draws cheers, jeers 3) A Wider Net: When silence sounds too, well, silent 4) How GM saved a billion dollars 5) Un-wiring the wireless LAN 6) Review: Pedestal aids in security enforcement 7) Review: LANsurveyor 8.5 for Windows 8) Review: SCO’s UnixWare measures up with open source additions 9) Technology Update: FTTP boosts bandwidth in the last mile 10) Management Strategies: In the firing line 11) Wary buyers dampen software sales 12) The other side: Hardware revenue should be up 13) Dell continues network battle 14) Tools help manage domain names 15) ISPs look inward to stop spam 16) Start-ups automate global trade functions 17) Microsoft aims to save $1 billion this fiscal year 18) Siemens exec talks up VoIP

1) Test and buyer’s guide: Anti-spam products

2) Building VPNs on the cheap

3) Nutter’s Help Desk: Building a small VPN

4) The business: Merger mania mounts

5) Case study: Aquarium net does just swimmingly

6) Change management reins in SANs

7) Your career: The data center glass ceiling

8) Small firms struggle with WLAN security

9) Retailers ease search, checkout procedures

10) CA, IBM frame identity management strategies

11) Utility services seen gaining steam

12) PCI-Express on the server fast track

13) Bank of America’s ‘higher standards’ for VoIP

14) Sizing up the Sprint/Nextel deal

15) Nortel working on new security routers

16) Cisco rolls out branch office storage

17) User group to reveal model for IS security future

18) Presence application tool kit on tap

19) Switch start-up enhances aggregation

20) FCC’s network-sharing ruling gets mixed reviews

21) 3Com buys TippingPoint for $430m

22) Avaya messaging server integrates voice and e-mail

23) Network World Radio: Voice over IP

Editor’s Note: All of Network World is taking next week off, so no This Week on Network World Fusion next week. But should you be around, check www.nwfusion.com for our annual Power section – we’ll show you who and what will be making networking news in the coming year. More important, have a happy and safe holiday week!agaffin@nww.com

     — Adam Gaffin, executive editor,

1) Test and buyer’s guide: Anti-spam products

We tested 36 anti-spam products on a live production network for catch rate and false-positive rate. The top 10 finishers were put through an even more detailed evaluation. See which came out on top. And do your own specs comparison: Our buyer’s guide has vendor data on more than 140 anti-spam products and services.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2004/122004spampkg.html

2) Building VPNs on the cheap

Charles Duffy needed a no-cost way of constructing a VPN to link his company’s remote quality-assurance and IT staff to the corporate headquarters at Catalis Health in Austin, Texas. We look at the tools he and other cost-conscious network pros have found to build VPNs.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004cheapvpn.html

3) Nutter’s Help Desk: Building a small VPN

Ron Nutter helps a user who wants to give remote employees access to the central office.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2004/122004nutter.html

4) The business: Merger mania mounts

Three giant mergers and a spate of smaller deals last week reshaped the software and telecom industries, and could portend a period of consolidation and further change in the coming year.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004mergermania.html

5) Case study: Aquarium net does just swimmingly

So you think those guys over in accounting are as slippery as eels, but have you ever considered what your job would be like if the creatures you’re supporting actually did live in the sea? Not that a green moray would clamor for Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop or wireless LAN access, mind you. But what if network availability could affect the well-being of that eel, or a whale pod or a school of snappers? That’s life on the job for Marc Talavera, assistant IT director at Chicago’s world-renowned Shedd Aquarium.

DocFinder: 5163

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004widernetaquarium.html

6) Change management reins in SANs

SAN change management software manages SAN change and growth by identifying and analyzing errors and vulnerabilities before, during and after change implementation.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2004/122004techupdate.html

7) Your career: The data-center glass ceiling

What technical pros need to do to break out of the IT department and into the business world.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/careers/2004/122004man.html

8) Small firms struggle with WLAN security

InterLink’s LucidLink security software provides enterprise-level network security and access control but hides the configuration details behind a handful of easy setup screens.

DocFinder: 5167

https://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/news/2004/122004netlead.html

9) Retailers ease search, checkout procedures

A wine connoisseur has something specific in mind when searching for a “dead arm” vintage. But can a Web site’s search engine understand the subtlety of that query?

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004-ecommerce.html

10) CA, IBM frame identity management strategies

Two of the biggest vendors in identity management, Computer Associates and IBM, each expect to make substantial changes in the coming year to their respective software suites for access control, secure single sign-on and provisioning.

DocFinder:5169

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004netid.html

11) Utility services seen gaining steam

Savvis Communications, a Web hosting company that earlier this year purchased the assets of bankrupt carrier Cable & Wireless, is reporting significant customer interest in its new utility network services.

DocFinder:5170

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004savvis.html

12) PCI-Express on the server fast track

As high-speed interconnects and virtualization software make their way into enterprise data centers, IT managers need to take a close look at how their servers are keeping pace.

DocFinder:5171

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004pciexpress.html

13) Bank of America’s ‘higher standards’ for VoIP

If any corporation is ready for VoIP, it’s Bank of America. The bank has spent three years building an all-optical, multigigabit WAN backbone with Broadwing and Sprint, and upgrading its LAN switches to support QoS and in-line power. Now the company plans to deploy 180,000 Cisco IP telephones and replace 363 PBXs across 5,000 branches with centralized IP PBXs, with the help of Electronic Data Systems. Steve Venezia, managing director of the network computing group and network services at Bank of America, spoke recently with Network World Senior Editor Phil Hochmuth.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004bofa.html

14) Sizing up the Sprint/Nextel deal

The $35 billion Sprint/Nextel Communications merger announced last week answers a lot of questions for those who wondered when further consolidation of the wireless service market would happen. The formation of the third-largest wireless provider (behind Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless) also raises a new set of questions, which we take a whack at here.

DocFinder:5173

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004-sprint-nextel.html

15) Nortel working on new security routers

Nortel is working on security routers for businesses looking to move away from dedicated, stand-alone security hardware to software and hardware combinations incorporated in switches, routers and even desktops.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004switchsecurity.html

16) Cisco rolls out branch office storage

Cisco last week rolled out storage and caching appliances that let customers better manage and protect data in remote offices.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004newcisco.html

17) User group to reveal model for IS security future

An influential user group is nearing release of a blueprint for a policy-based security architecture it hopes will become an industry model for securing corporate information systems.

DocFinder:5176

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004-nac-security.html

18) Presence application tool kit on tap

Instant-messaging gateway and security vendor Akonix next month is set to release tools to help corporate customers integrate presence information into their enterprise applications.

DocFinder:5177

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004akonix.html

19) Switch start-up enhances aggregation

Hammerhead Systems last week enhanced its multiservice switch with software the company says will improve a customers’ ability to aggregate Layer 2 services, such as Ethernet, as they migrate to Multi-protocol Label Switching.

DocFinder:5178

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004-hammerhead.html

20) FCC’s network-sharing ruling gets mixed reviews

The FCC last week adopted new rules about what parts of incumbent telephone carrier networks must be shared with competitors, backtracking on an earlier decision that force incumbents to share local switching facilities in the residential market.

DocFinder:5179

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004-fcc.html

21) 3Com buys TippingPoint for $430m

3Com’s plan to acquire TippingPoint Technologies for approximately $430 million in stock gives the company more security clout as it grows its menu of gear targeted at large business networks.

DocFinder:5180

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/1220043com.html

22) Avaya messaging server integrates voice and e-mail

Avaya last week launched Version 2.0 of its Modular Messaging voice mail platform, with unified messaging features and support for more users on a single IP-based server.

DocFinder:5181

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/122004avaya.html

23) Network World Radio: Voice over IP

This week’s program looks at the adoption of voice over IP technology in the corporate world. Joining the program is Daryl Schoolar, senior analyst at In-Stat/MDR, a market research company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Schoolar recently published new research that examines growth in the VoIP sector. Listen online or download the MP3 for the trip home.

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https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2004/1216radio.html