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

1) Showtime for Linux

1) IETF to lead anti-spam crusade

2) Linux pressures Windows but experts disagree on cost benefits

3) The 3Com saga

4) Wireless Wizards: Will Microsoft take the LEAP?

5) Nutter’s Help Desk: The future of NetWare

6) Confessions of a cryptovirus fiend

7) A Wider Net: The makings of a do-it-yourself supercomputer

8) Wrangling for a refund on the federal telecom excise tax

9) Technology Update: NAS gateways allow IP access to SANs

10) Management Strategies: Gearing up for the CISSP exam

11) Satellite broadband improves for teleworkers

12) Software enhances digital rights management

13) Emergency service challenges VoIP

14) Gric beefs up enterprise offerings

15) Technology to tie together servers swells

16) Adtran keeps trying to undercut Cisco

17) Utility computing services catching on

18) Data recovery rules at storage show

19) WLAN vendors take stand in Virtual Showdown

OUR TWO NEWEST WEBLOGS: Net.Worker Managing Editor Toni Kistner applies her daily magic to Telework Beat Notes, while columnist James Gaskin keeps up with the small and home office in Small Business Tech Notes. https://www.nwfusion.com/weblogs/telework/ and https://www.nwfusion.com/weblogs/sbt/

1) IETF to lead anti-spam crusade

The Internet’s premier standards-setting body is making its first attempt to develop messaging technology aimed at reducing the amount of spam flooding corporate e-mail servers.

DocFinder: 1558

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412marid.html

2) Linux pressures Windows but experts disagree on cost benefits

The cost of deploying and running Linux vs. Windows has been a hot topic lately, fueled by a number of high-profile Linux adoptions and evaluations by government entities in Europe, Asia and the U.S., and Microsoft’s own licensing woes.

DocFinder: 1559

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412mslinux.html

3) The 3Com saga

3Com turns 25 this June, but the Ethernet pioneer probably won’t spend much time celebrating – it’s too busy fighting to stay relevant.

DocFinder: 1567

https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2004/04123com.html

4) Wireless Wizards: Will Microsoft take the LEAP?

The Wizards take a look at whether Microsoft will embrace LEAP, Cisco’s answer to the shortcomings in WEP.

DocFinder: 1580

https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2004/0412wizards.html

5) Nutter’s Help Desk: The future of NetWare

Ron Nutter advises a user on whether he should pursue a CNE.

DocFinder: 1581

https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2004/0412nutter.html

6) Confessions of a cryptovirus fiend

Senior Editor Ellen Messmer reads “Malicious Cryptography: Exposing Cryptovirology,” and says we better start preparing for the day virus writers and hackers start employing cryptography in a big way. But she also wonders: Should security experts be writing such tell-all books?

DocFinder: 1582

https://www.nwfusion.com/weblogs/security/004782.html

7) A Wider Net: The makings of a do-it-yourself supercomputer

Making a supercomputer these days is a lot easier than you might think.

DocFinder: 1560

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412widernetsupercomputer.html

8) Wrangling for a refund on the federal telecom excise tax

The federal excise tax on telecom is under siege as customers charge that carriers are misapplying it to non-distance-sensitive services.

DocFinder: 1568

https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2004/0412telecomtax.html

9) Technology Update: NAS gateways allow IP access to SANs

A NAS gateway bridges the NAS and SAN worlds by connecting IP networks to Fibre-Channel-based storage. These highly optimized file servers help corporations preserve their storage investments.

DocFinder: 1569

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2004/0412techupdate.html

10) Management Strategies: Gearing up for the CISSP exam

A Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner shares study tips for obtaining the hot certification.

DocFinder: 1570

https://www.nwfusion.com/careers/2004/0412man.html

11) Satellite broadband improves for teleworkers

We’re at a point where most business people take home-office, high-speed access for granted. But teleworkers and salespeople who operate beyond broadband’s reach remain a problem.

DocFinder: 1571

https://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/news/2004/0412netlead.html

12) Software enhances digital rights management

Rights management vendor Liquid Machines last week released the latest version of its data-protection software that lets customers extend corporate document access controls to partners and suppliers.

DocFinder: 1572

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412liquid.html

13) Emergency service challenges VoIP

While support is improving for Enhanced 911 emergency services on corporate VoIP systems, IT professionals and analysts say the technology is not yet standardized across platforms and can be tricky to use in mixed-vendor environments.

DocFinder: 1573

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412voip911.html

14) Gric beefs up enterprise offerings

Gric Communications this month will update its Mobile Office remote-access system so users can more easily connect to corporate networks using either wired or wireless high-speed Internet links.

DocFinder: 1574

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412gric.html

15) Technology to tie together servers swells

As anticipated, the cluster of five dual-processor Intel-based IBM x345s, connected using an InfiniBand I/O switching fabric, is a less-expensive setup than the two six-way Unix boxes. What’s been surprising, though, is the new system’s performance.

DocFinder: 1575

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412specialfocus.html

16) Adtran keeps trying to undercut Cisco

Adtran is expanding its assault on low-end network gear for businesses, joining 3Com, Enterasys Networks and others hoping to relieve Cisco of some of its cost-conscious small- and midsize business customers.

DocFinder: 1576

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412lowend.html

17) Utility computing services catching on

Pay-as-you-go services offer a glimpse into the utility computing world that HP, IBM, Sun and others envision and that they started to promote a few years ago. Utility computing services give companies a way to start exploiting new technologies before all the pieces of an ideal system for automating data centers are deliverable.

DocFinder: 1577

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412utility.html

18) Data recovery rules at storage show

The problem isn’t really about backing up data, it has more to do with recovering it. That was the word from last week’s Storage Networking World conference in Phoenix.

DocFinder: 1578

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412storage.html

19) WLAN vendors take stand in Virtual Showdown

The Network World Virtual Showdown on WLAN switches that brought six vendors together in a weeklong debate resulted in a flood of information, which highlights product differences in key areas such as security, network management, architectures and pricing.

DocFinder: 1579

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0412vsroundup.html