By John J. McLaughlin, FlashBack, Inc. flash@flashback.com.
Back to the comprehensive index of March's new products.
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Product:
COMPstation U10-300
- UltraSPARC desktop workstations
(from $4,995)
Company: Tatung Science & Technology Inc.
(Milpitas, CA)
Telephone: (800) 659-5902, (408) 383-0988
Fax: (408) 383-0886
E-mail: mkt@tsti.com
URL: http://www.tsti.com
Platforms: UltraSPARC
Description:
A new line of desktop workstations that represents the industry's
first Sun Ultra 10-compatible systems. Features the new 300MHz
UltraSPARCIIi PCI processor from Sun Microelectronics. Providing
a SPECint95 of 12.1 and SPECfp95 of 12.9 when equipped with 512KB
of external cache, this 64-bit processor supports five 32-bit PCI
devices at 33MHz to provide plenty of system flexibility. An
additional 64-bit UPA slot is designed for vertical add-ons such
as Creator graphics cards.
The workstation's five drive bays can be outfitted with two, standard 3- 1/2" hard drives; a 5-1/4" CD-ROM drive; a 4- or 8-mm tape drive; and an additional 5 1/4" slot for another peripheral or a 3-1/2" floppy drive. Other standard features consist of a 64-bit slot for Creator graphics cards; extended IDE built into the motherboard; two serial ports; one parallel port; a 100- BaseT Ethernet interface; and 16-bit audio capabilities.
An add-on disk array storage subsystem available from Tatung as an option boosts hard disk capacity to 80 GB, and makes the workstations robust enough to support departmental or small enterprise Internet or Intranet applications. Other options include up to 1 GB of RAM; up to 8 GB or more of hard disk storage; PCI graphics cards; Creator 3D Graphics; ATM connectivity; and Ultra Wide SCSI.
Product: MegaCache-4000 - In-Line I/O Caching System (from $25,000)
Transparent to the host computer, the MegaCache-4000, has easily upgradable cache capacity ranging from as little as 268 megabytes to 8 gigabytes. It uses up to six independent interface modules that have two 40-megabytes-per-second Ultra-SCSI ports each. All ports can attach to either host computers or to disk storage. A combination of up to 12 ports in a 19" rack-mounted MegaCache system accommodates a wide variety of system configurations to suit virtually any single-, dual-, or multi-host system requirement.
For added performance, the MegaCache-4000 architecture features a user partitionable solid-state disk. Placing known "hot files" in this partition prevents them from being flushed out of cache by other temporarily active files. The solid-state disk partition, with its locked-in files that are never flushed, is an excellent location for such files as the logs in an OLTP environment.
Product:
Global Enterprise Management of Storage (GEMS)
- Java-based enterprise storage management
($3,000)
Company: Legato Systems, Inc.
(Palo Alto, CA)
Telephone: (650) 812-6000
Fax: none
E-mail: info@legato.com
URL: http://www.legato.com
Platforms: Windows NT and Unix, Oracle 7.3 and Sybase
Description:
Enterprise-wide command and control for protecting distributed
storage. Allows IT personnel to cohesively administer and
control disparate storage management resources across an entire
organization, ensuring that data is protected and accessible.
Provides the core tools to manage across multiple data zones,
including policy-based administration, software distribution,
media management, and flexible software licensing.
Data zones are the operations controlled by the storage management applications where the actual backups and recoveries occur. Provides a completely scalable solution, and protects the investment in hardware infrastructure of existing NetWorker customers by embracing the corporate intranet. This GEMS release supports the Oracle 7.3 database for both Windows NT and Unix, in addition to Sybase on Unix.
Product: GraphicVUE 3.02 Project Manager - project management package ($485 for floating license)
GraphicVUE 3.02 has the look and feel of Microsoft Project with a less complicated set of features, an easier to use interface and its minimal installation requires only 11MB of disk space.
Product: Intra.doc - Java Server-Based Web Document Management System ($17,995 for a 5-user system)The system turns data into Web-accessible knowledge content by enabling users to conduct searches on any topic, capture the results and build new Web pages on the fly. These pages can then be used to share knowledge across the enterprise and increase an organization's ability to respond to customer inquiries or develop new business opportunities. Every object in the system has its own Universal Business Address or HTTP address; users can manage and control knowledge content anywhere in the enterprise.
Product: MpegTV Player 1.0 for Solaris - real-time MPEG Video Player with audio/sync (shareware $10, contact vendor for commercial terms)
Product: NetWorker BusinesSuite Module for Netscape - backup and restore solution (contact vendor for pricing)
Allows the administrator to recover individual mailboxes or the entire server, thus minimizing costly disruptions to the organization. Provides storage management scalability by addressing customer requirements for manageability, availability and performance across an organization's storage network -- ranging from campus environments to entire global networks.
Product: Netscape Application Server 2.0 - Deploy Business-Critical Applications on Intranets and Extranets ($25,000 per CPU on Windows NT, $35,000 on Solaris, HP-UX and IRIX)
Also available for building applications. Netscape Extension Builder is a toolkit that enables customers to develop server extensions to access legacy systems, client/server applications and third-party Internet Services such as ad servers and credit card payment systems. Pre-built extensions are available to access BEA Tuxedo and IBM MQSeries, allowing integration with CICS and IMS systems.
Product: PMDF v5.2 - Enterprise Messaging Solution (contact vendor for price)Added security features include an implementation of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, and support for the Internet's Simple Authentication Security Layer (SASL). Other new functions include a new IMAP message store, to complement the existing IMAP4 mail server, as well as improved Message Transfer Agent (MTA) filtering for added protection from e-mail spam.
Product:
Aqueduct Profiler Version 2.1
- automatically collect data from use of beta apps
(starts at $30,000 per year, depending on project size)
Company: Aqueduct Software, Inc.
(Menlo Park, CA)
Telephone: (650) 463-8700
Fax: (650) 463-8706
E-mail: info@aqueduct.com
URL: http://www.aqueduct.com
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows NT, Solaris, SunOS, HP-UX
Description:
Software management application that increases the value of beta
tests by enabling development teams and IT managers to base
product management and release decisions on quantifiable usage
data versus anecdotal information. The system is linked to the
application program and uses standard email protocols to send
usage data back to the supplier as the application is running.
Results are delivered in spreadsheet and graph formats which can
be incorporated with presentations and documents.
Aqueduct Profiler consists of three key components: the Library integrates with the software application to enable data recording and sending, the Extractor runs at the software team site to receive and compile the usage data into a central database and the Profiler tool provides a data analysis capability on each team member's desktop.
Aqueduct Profiler Version 2.1 implements a new capability for scheduling automatic data retrieval and building of the database. In addition, the Extractor component now allows the database of collected information to be customized on the fly to suit specific application and project requirements.
Product: Cold Fusion Application Developer Kit (ADK) - quickly build web applications (contact vendor for price)
Developer Kit comprises a master CD of Cold Fusion Application Server, online documentation, and a licensing certificate which grants rights to copy and sell applications built with the product. The ADK allows developers to bundle Cold Fusion with an application and install the two as a single product.
Product: OrbixO - transactions, systems management, directory services and security ($11,000 per developer on Unix, $6,500 on Windows NT)
Over 200 organizations recently announced their support for OrbixO.
Title:
Learning the bash Shell
- 2nd edition of Definitive Guide
($29.95)
Author: Cameron Newham & Bill Rosenblatt
Company: O'Reilly & Associates
(Sebastopol, CA)
Telephone: (800) 998-9938, (707) 829-0515
Fax: (707) 829-0104
E-mail: info@oreilly.com
URL: http://www.oreilly.com
ISBN: 1-56592-347-2
Platforms: none
Description:
bash, the Free Software Foundation's "Bourne Again Shell"-- the
shell of choice for Linux users around the world--is both the
default shell for Linux and a replacement for the standard Unix
Bourne shell. Like the FSF's other tools, bash is more than a
mere replacement: it extends the Bourne shell in many ways. If
you are new to shell programming (a skill no Unix or Linux user
should be without), this is an excellent
introduction, covering everything from the most basic to the most
advanced features.
This second edition covers all of the features of bash Version 2.0, while still applying to bash Version 1.x. New features include one-dimensional arrays, parameter expansion, and more pattern-matching operations. In addition, bash 2.0 is POSIX.2 conformant. This updated edition covers new commands, security improvements, additions to ReadLine, improved configuration and installation, and an additional programming aid, the bash shell debugger.
Title: TCP/IP Network Administration, 2nd Ed. - A guide to setting up and running a TCP/IP network ($32.95)
Product:
Enterprise Component Broker
- enterprise middleware product
(prices start at $2,640)
Company: Information Builders
(New York, BY)
Telephone: (800) 969-INFO, (212) 736-4433
Fax: (212) 967-6406
E-mail: info@ibi.com
URL: http://www.ibi.com
Platforms: Windows NT, AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, MVS
Description:
Extends the reach of Enterprise Data Access (EDA) middleware
to the world of Java technology. Enterprise Component
Broker, Version 4.1.0, is a Java application server which
lets developers make optimal use of the Java language and
JavaBeans component model from Sun to visually develop and
deploy Internet-based applications. These applications can
seamlessly interact with existing application programs or
enterprise data, including CICS and IMS transactions and
more than 70 proprietary databases or file structures via
EDA middleware.
Implemented in accordance with the object bus specifications of OMG's CORBA 2.0 (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) and supports CORBA interoperability services. Enterprise Component Broker is one of the first Java-based Object Request Brokers (ORBs) to implement Enterprise JavaBeans. Enterprise Component Broker also supports the industry standard IIOP (Internet Inter-ORB Protocol) for communications between Java components, and provides JavaBeans compliant with JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) for communicating with existing transaction systems and data.
Product: JProbe Profiler - Java profiling tool ($499.00)JProbe is designed from the ground up for Java. At its core is a standard Java VM, licensed from JavaSoft, and instrumented by KL Group. This unique approach means that JProbe can accurately measure virtually anything to do with Java program execution from within the VM itself. The instrumented VM paired with JProbe's graphical-based analyzer makes JProbe a powerful Java performance profiling and exploration tool.
Product: NetWeaver - access business-critical applications through corporate firewalls (starting at $20,000)By integrating Internet and enterprise security, and by enabling seamless transactions across corporate firewalls and demilitarized zones, users can securely access their business-critical applications over the Internet. This provides the same level of function, ease-of-use and transactional capability that were previously available only within a corporate Intranet.
Available as either a standalone component or a Web server extension, NetWeaver provides an object-based interface between enterprise applications and Java-CORBA front-ends deployed over the Internet. It integrates public-key Internet security with traditional enterprise security such as DCE, Kerberos and RACF to provide global Single Sign-On (SSO) capability.
Product:
SET Secure Electronic Transaction 1.0
- secure credit card transations over the Internet
(contact vendor for price)
Company: GlobeSet, Inc
(Austin, TX)
Telephone: (512) 427-5114
Fax: none
E-mail: info@globeset.com
URL: http://gsetinterop.globeset.com
Platforms: Solaris, others
Description:
This product suite is now accessible on a Web site to other
SET vendors for interoperability testing,
http://gsetinterop.globeset.com. To verify full
interoperability, vendors can run test messages between
their SET applications and GlobeSet's electronic wallet,
point-of-sale (POS), financial processor gateway, and
certificate authority applications. The test site is
accessible through password to any SET vendor in the
industry.
The SET Secure Electronic Transaction protocol supports secure credit card transactions over the Internet. Software interoperability is critical because a SET transaction requires four different applications: a digital certificate authority (CA) application that generates and issues digital identification certificates, a payment gateway application connecting the merchant to the payment processor's legacy systems, a merchant point-of-sale (POS) application, and a cardholder's electronic wallet.
Product:
Echo
- Web-based knowledge management
(contact vendor for pricing)
Company: InfoMation Publishing Corporation
(Burlington, MA)
Telephone: (800) 250-2624
E-mail: info@infomation.com
URL: http://www.infomation.com
Platforms: Solaris 2.5.1 or higher and Windows NT 4.0
Description:
Web-based knowledge management application that continually
monitors and delivers fresh, relevant news and information
to corporate users. Echo uses standard browsers to retrieve
and integrate highly focused information from a variety of
sources, including the World Wide Web, newsfeeds, Internet
newsgroups and internal company systems, such as Lotus
Domino databases.
Through its corporate Intranet, Internet and extranet solutions, Echo enables employees, customers and business partners to manage corporate knowledge more effectively for their competitive advantage. InfoMation is pursuing a vertical market strategy with Echo. The first target market is the insurance industry. The company has established partnerships with key content providers, including Financial Times Information, News Alert, Information, Inc., Phillips Publishing International, Inc., and Telecommunications Reports International, Inc.
Additionally, Echo organizes content into a unique feature called the Library, which is a collection of pre-defined subjects targeted to a specific vertical market's needs. Companies can expand and refine the Library to include additional searches tailored to their business.
Product: Enterprise Server 2.0 - Locate, Visualize & Retrieve Data Across a Networked Enterprise (contact vendor for price)
Corporate users are not media constrained: they can locate and reutilize corporate information of all kinds, whether it is a graphics presentation, spreadsheet, text file or training video. This reduces meantime to knowledge and enables corporations to leverage the value of their intellectual assets. It analyzes and indexes more than 95 percent of all data found on file and Web servers in corporate environments.
Users can search for relevant information and data assets across intranets, extranets and other corporate networks and visualize them through low-bandwidth thumbnail previews and additional meta data.
Magnifi Enterprise Server 2.0 is a browser-based solution capable of working with any client/server system. It provides extensive administrative control via an HTML interface, enabling administration from any computer on the network.
Product: JAMIS Timecard - web time sheet system (contact vendor for price)Access via touch-tone telephone (Interactive Voice Response) was recently released as a fully-integrated capability. This is an enterprise-class client/server application that provides fast, comprehensive record keeping of employee and contract labor. Organizations with commercial or government contracts, and those that employ Activity-Based Costing techniques, can improve the efficiency of their time recording activities.
It has been implemented in production systems by commercial and government contractors. It can be interfaced with any job cost accounting or financial system, so it can be used by most companies. It has been designed for organizations that require accurate and timely recording and tracking of employee labor against projects, jobs, and activities.
Product: PathWay Client NFS version 6.0 - NFS for Microsoft Windows ($100)PathWay Client NFS is fully integrated with the Windows NT 4.0 operating system and is installed as a network service. By running as a native application, PathWay performs at peak efficiency and is able to exploit many of the 32-bit environment features including multi-threading, where multiple requests are serviced simultaneously, and pre-emptive multitasking, where the client prioritizes tasks as necessary.
Utilizes many of the Microsoft conventions such as Windows Explorer and File Manager point and click access, drag-and-drop file transfer. PathWay Client NFS is dynamically reconfigurable for increased productivity and system availability, thus system reboots are not required. PathWay Client NFS supports use of Microsoft's Windows Explorer and Network Neighborhood console interfaces for browsing and accessing remote file systems and printers located on any Unix and/or other NFS connected system.
Product: WebSniffer - real-time Web early warning system ($1,000 per server)
The system automatically identifies problems and generates alarms when performance deviates from acceptable levels. Network protocol communications are analyzed at the Web server to determine Web site availability, Web server response time, and the site's "abandonment" rate; i.e., the frequency of users hitting the "Stop" button. The product then automatically pinpoints problem origins and correlates network information with Web server host information (e.g. CPU, memory and disk performance) for fast problem resolution.
Product:
CoWare N2C
- system-on-a-chip software and services
($20,000 per seat for 100 users)
Company: CoWare, Inc.
(Santa Clara, CA)
Telephone: 408-992-1175
E-mail: info@CoWare.com
URL: http://www.CoWare.com
Platforms: Solaris, HP-UX
Description:
Tools and methodologies that provide an entirely new top-down,
silicon-proven solution for developing complex, system-level ICs.
The CoWare N2C system includes 10 design and integration
functional modules that provide order of magnitude improvements
to SOC methods used today. Collectively, these new methods and
tools provide dramatic improvements in design productivity, fab
utilization, and customer satisfaction.
CoWare N2C is designed to co-exist with most of the software tools that IC companies use now. It facilitates the transparent use of HDL simulators, instruction set simulators (ISS), integrated software development environment (IDE) tools, and real time operating systems. Synthesis tools receive the output from CoWare N2C to begin the implementation flow of the system-level logic.
Product: Interconnectix tool suite - high-speed board design solution (Tau: $35,000, Floorplanner: $58,000, Multiboard: $15,000, Optimizer: $35,000, Synthesizer: $75,000)
Enhancements to the solution include a complete "what-if" analysis that allows for signal integrity, timing and layout exploration in a "sandbox" environment even before a design schematic is available. It also supports user-definable corner-case analysis, allowing users to evaluate best- and worst-case timing and signal integrity parameters throughout the design process.
Product: Part Adviser - solid-based simulation software ($10,000)Designers also get feedback on how modifications to wall thickness, gate locations, special features like ribs, and material selection can affect the manufacture of their part. They can then refine their design for manufacturability. It offers part designers a visualization of filling pattern and a unique "Confidence of Fill" plot, which provides green, yellow, or red indicators to illustrate the moldability of a plastic part.
Product: PowerFLOW Release 3 - solve fluid flow problems (starts at $20,000)PowerFLOW delivers fast, efficient setup, using a fully automatic grid generation that saves time and cost. It provides time-accurate results from realistic transient behavior simulations, which results in enhanced functional designs.
PowerFLOW's approach to fluid flow, the technique for using digital simulations to understand flow behavior around objects, is a breakthrough technology being adopted by competitive engineering departments at automotive companies worldwide. For example, PowerFLOW's realistic parametric digital wind tunnel has proven to save these departments significant time and money associated with conceptual, pre-prototype body designs. Now, PowerFLOW's ability to quickly setup, simulate and accurately predict internal flow behavior is being deployed at major auto makers such as Ford Motor Company.
Product: SignaMask OPC - IC layout correction tool ($250,000)SignaMask OPC's optical and process models are decoupled and modeled separately for the greatest possible flexibility and efficiency. This approach enables IC designers and lithography engineers to ensure the highest fidelity of layout patterns during the transfer from physical design tools through the mask manufacturing process, and finally to the structures themselves on the actual silicon wafers.
Successfully addresses issues of pattern accuracy, database capacity and capability, runtime performance, and ease-of-use in a reliable methodology. Uses an algorithmic TCAD approach and proprietary variable threshold resist (VTR) model that provide the requisite pattern accuracy without compromising the capacity and runtime needs of today's lithography engineers.
Product:
USENIX Association's 23rd Annual Technical Conference
- advanced computing systems association event
(see web site for prices)
Company: USENIX ASSOCIATION
(Lake Forest, CA)
Telephone: (714) 588 8649
Fax: (714) 588 9706
E-mail: conference@usenix.org
URL: http://www.usenix.org/events/no98/
Platforms: none
Description:
The program for the USENIX Association's 23rd Annual
Technical Conference is now set. To be held at the New
Orleans Marriott Hotel, June 15-19, 1998, the conference
features tutorials, an expanded products show, and three
days of technical sessions. This year, a special track,
FREENIX, showcases the latest developments and interesting
applications in freely redistributable software. FREENIX is
co-sponsored by The FreeBSD Project, Linux International,
The NetBSD Foundation, and The OpenBSD Project. USENIX is
the advanced computing systems association for technical
professionals based in Berkeley, California. For the
complete program, visit the Web site.
At USENIX, attendees master important technologies in 22 tutorials on June 15-16. Courses, led by quality instructors, include System Administration, Linux, Performance Tuning, Cryptography, Unix Programming, Perl, Network Programming, Security, Web/Intranet Performance, Windows NT, Sendmail, Solaris, Java, and more.
The 3 days of Technical Sessions begin provocatively but entertainingly with a Keynote by the "Amazing Randi." The annual USENIX Conference is well known for its tradition of refereed papers that report up-to-the-minute research linking closely to the commercial world. Invited talks concentrate on the extremely practical, then take a look into the near future of clustered computing and wearable computers.
SunWorld takes no responsibility for claims made by the vendors or manufacturers of the products.
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Last updated: 14 March 1998