This week on Network World Fusion, 08/11/03

————————————– 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) ‘Big bang’ to jolt Microsoft users

2) NetWare at a crossroads

3) UCSF’s up-tempo upgrade

4) Wireless Wizards: Chosing between antennae and beam steering

5) Review: EMC offers high-end NAS features at a mid-range price

6) Review: WholeSecurity Confidence Online Enterprise Edition

7) Review: Cisco Catalyst 3750 stackable switches

8) Security Notes: When the watchdogs call

9) Are you sick of the MCI/AT&T case yet?

10) Nutter’s Help Desk: Back-up bandwidth

11) Wireless Notes: Apps getting more sophisticated

12) Technology Update: IPFIX fine-tunes traffic analysis

13) Management Strategies: SAN smarts

14) Research exec explains how IBM brings research to reality

15) GigE switches drive more-for-less trend

16) Router/Switch Notes: Nortel’s blade run

17) Server Notes: Chalk one up for AMD

18) SBC turns up the heat in hot-spot competition

18) LinuxWorld bustles despite SCO flap

20) Proficient device aims to pick best VPN route

Editor’s Note: Users – can’t live with ’em, can’t shoot ’em. One Fusion reader basically expressed that sentiment last week. Is he right, or is it time for him to consider a new line of work? Discuss at https://napps.nwfusion.com/compendium/archive/003279.html – then follow the links below for the week’s key news and analysis.agaffin@nww.com

     — Adam Gaffin, executive editor,

1) ‘Big bang’ to jolt Microsoft users

Microsoft might be hyping its next-generation Longhorn software as a “big bang” event, but the company is being quiet about the fact that the products will require corporate customers to perform multiple, carefully planned upgrades reminiscent of the difficult migration from Windows NT to 2000.

DocFinder: 7163

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811longhorn.html

2) NetWare at a crossroads

Novell’s Linux push amplifies doubts about the future of the classic NOS.

DocFinder: 7164

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811novell.html

3) UCSF’s up-tempo upgrade

In the first of a periodic series, Jeff Fritz, director of Enterprise Network Services at the University of California at San Francisco, discusses upgrading the school’s “third-rate network.” In part 1: Getting funding was the easy part; now to deal with prickly design issues.

DocFinder: 7165

https://www.nwfusion.com/research/2003/0811ucsf.html

4) Wireless Wizards: Chosing between antennae and beam steering

The Wizards help user pick the best design for a campus with lots of cubes, walls and corridors.

DocFinder: 7166

https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2003/0811wizards.html

5) Review: EMC offers high-end NAS features at a mid-range price

See how the Celerra NS600 network-attached storage system fares in our test.

DocFinder:

https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2003/0811revemc.html

6) Review: WholeSecurity Confidence Online Enterprise Edition

Confidence Online provides a layer of protection for known and unknown Windows clients remotely connecting to your network.

DocFinder: 7167

https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2003/0811prodpeek.html

7) Review: Cisco Catalyst 3750 stackable switches

Cisco beefs up its stackable switch line with StackWise interconnect technology.

DocFinder: 7168

https://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2003/0811revcisco.html

8) Security Notes: When the watchdogs call

Senior Editor Ellen Messmer discusses the General Accounting Office’s blunt review of a key federal e-commerce Web site, and asks: How well would your e-commerce operations stand up to scrutiny?

DocFinder: 7169

https://www.nwfusion.com/topics/security.html

9) Are you sick of the MCI/AT&T case yet?

Senior Editor Denise Pappalardo poses the question. Read her thoughts, then follow the links to even more opinion on MCI, from Johna Till Johnson (the scandal isn’t what it appears to be); Mark Gibbs (MCI is beyond repair; break it up) and John Dix (MCI could still make it).

DocFinder: 7181

https://www.nwfusion.com/weblogs/wan/003282.html

10) Nutter’s Help Desk: Back-up bandwidth

Ron Nutter helps a user who needs low-cost, but reliable backup connections for remote offices.

DocFinder: 7170

https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2003/0811nutter.html

11) Wireless Notes: Apps getting more sophisticated

Senior Editor John Cox discusses a recent survey that shows that while most wireless apps are still pretty basic (e-mail and calendaring), they are beginning to be supplemented by more sophisticated vertical apps.

DocFinder: 7171

https://www.nwfusion.comtopics/wireless.html

12) Technology Update: IPFIX fine-tunes traffic analysis

IT departments will no longer have to match routers supporting proprietary export formats with applications that have been developed specifically to support those formats.

DocFinder: 7172

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/tech/2003/0811techupdate.html

13) Management Strategies: SAN smarts

IT managers say hands-on experience is the most effective way to learn about storage-area networks.

DocFinder: 7173

https://www.nwfusion.com/careers/2003/0811man.html

14) Research exec explains how IBM brings research to reality

We talk to Robert Morris, director and vice president of IBM Research, to discuss how his team determines where to find tomorrow’s technologies.

DocFinder: 7174

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811ibmqna.html

15) GigE switches drive more-for-less trend

User demand is up, while smaller, more-efficient Gigabit components help bring switch prices down.

DocFinder: 7175

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811gigabit.html

16) Router/Switch Notes: Nortel’s blade run

Senior Writer Phil Hochmuth takes a look at a move by Nortel and HP to deliver Gigabit Ethernet to HP’s server blades.

DocFinder: 7176

https://www.nwfusion.com/topics/routers.html

167) Server Notes: Chalk one up for AMD

And Senior Writer Jennifer Mears looks at IBM’s decision to use AMD Opteron chips in its eServer line.

DocFinder:

https://www.nwfusion.com/topics/servers.html

18) SBC turns up the heat in hot-spot competition

The carrier becomes the latest RBOC to plan a Wi-Fi service rollout.

DocFinder:

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811sbc.html

19) LinuxWorld bustles despite SCO flap

Any suspicions that The SCO Group’s legal battle over Linux would put a damper on corporate adoption of the open source operating system were pretty well laid to rest last week at a bustling LinuxWorld show featuring major systems vendors touting their latest Linux wares.

DocFinder: 7178

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811linuxworld.html

20) Proficient device aims to pick best VPN route

Proficient Networks is introducing a low-cost appliance that is designed to let customers direct VPN traffic to the best Internet connection at sites with more than one Internet link.

DocFinder: 7180

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0811proficient.html