SHORT TAKES

NEC COMPUTER SYSTEMS DIVISION NAMES NEW VP OF SERVER BUSINESS

Mountain View, CA — NEC Computer Systems Division (NEC CSD) announced the appointment of Stephen Blanchette as vice president of NEC CSD’s Server Business Unit. In his new role, Blanchette is responsible for product development, engineering and product marketing for NEC CSD’s Express5800 line of servers. Blanchette will report to Jeff Cooke, executive vice president and general manager of NEC CSD, the Commercial Division of Packard Bell NEC Inc. and will be based in Boxborough, Mass.

Blanchette joins NEC CSD at a time of tremendous growth in the server market. According to analyst firm International Data Corporation, the server market grew 59.3 percent from the second quarter of 1998 to the second quarter of 1999. Blanchette’s initial focus will be to increase the server business while ensuring on-time delivery of leading products that meet customer needs. Additionally, Blanchette plans to enhance NEC CSD’s service and support for channels and customers.

LINUXCARE NAMES NEW VICE PRESIDENTS

San Francisco, CA — Linuxcare, Inc., a provider of comprehensive Linux technical services for the Global 1000, announced the appointment of key senior executives, including Pat Lambs as Vice President of Service Solutions, Thomas W. Phillips as Vice President of Worldwide Sales, and Joseph A. Longo as General Manager of Professional Services.

“Linuxcare has taken great care to assemble the industry’s leading cadre of Linux gurus, and to build a culture that exemplifies the values of the Open Source movement,” said Fernand Sarrat, Linuxcare’s President and CEO. “The senior executives who have joined the company add a level of managerial experience and insight that truly differentiates us. This is the Linux A-Team.”

NOTED COMPUTER AUTHOR DIES

San Diego, CA — Noted computer author Richard W. Stevens, best known for his “UNIX Network Programming” and “TCP/IP Illustrated” series, died Sept. 1. Stevens was born in 1951 in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), where his father worked for the copper industry. After moving to the United States, Stevens earned a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1973, and a doctorate in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1982.

Stevens was employed as a computer programmer for the Kitt Peak National Observatory and served as Vice President of Computing Services at Health Systems International in New Haven, CT. He moved to Tuscon, AZ in 1990 pursue his career as an author and consultant. He is survived by his wife of 20 years and three children.

ANCOR COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES NEW SALES DIRECTOR

San Jose, CA — Ancor Communications Inc. announced that it has expanded its OEM sales effort by adding Jim Burton as an additional sales director and moving its California sales office to a larger facility in Newark. Burton joins Ancor with more than twenty years of sales and sales management experience, primarily in the computer storage industry. He has held sales management positions at Maxtor and Quantum where his customers included Acer, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics.

“(Burton’s) experience in the storage industry as well as his relationships with key OEMs strengthens our West Coast team,” said Paul Pasqua, Ancor’s vice president of sales. “We look forward to providing better service and developing new relationships with key OEMs in California, Washington, Colorado and Texas.”

OSTA ANNOUNCES NEW LEADERSHIP FOR FILE INTERCHANGE COMMITTEE

Santa Barbara, CA — The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) announced that Hans Mons, technology officer of Philips Electronics will serve as Chairman of its File Interchange Committee. Mons succeeds Isaac van Kempen, vice president of marketing for Divio Inc. and the committee’s founding chairman, who recently retired from the association.

OSTA’s File Interchange Committee is dedicated to promoting interoperability, hardware independence and advanced data interchange in the rewritable optical industry. The committee developed the acclaimed Universal Disk Format (UDF), a file system specification adopted for use on CD-R, CD-RW, DVD and other drives, that assures interchangeability of writable optical media. OSTA developed UDF in response to an immense need in the optical storage industry for a practical, fully compliant implementation subset of the ISO 13346 standard.

— This file compiled by Steve Fisher, HPCwire managing editor. Email: [email protected]

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