Product Watch: Inprise/Borland & IBM Offer Java For Linux. AMD Ships 1.1 Gigahertz Chip. Linux NetworX Unveils Evolocity Cluster.

August 18, 2000

SHORT TAKES

INPRISE/BORLAND & IBM TO OFFER JAVA FOR LINUX

Scotts Valley, CA — Inprise/Borland announced that it is licensing the IBM Developer Kit for Linux, Java 2 Technology Edition, Version 1.3. The Developer Kit will enable Borland JBuilder, Inprise Application Server and VisiBroker customers to build, deploy and manage enterprise applications for the Linux, Solaris and Windows operating systems, using the latest Java technology. “IBM is recognized for delivering fast and reliable Java technology, and we are excited to strengthen our relationship with them,” said Tony de la Lama, vice president and general manager of Inprise/Borland’s Java business unit. “By working with leading companies like IBM and Sun Microsystems, we are able to offer our customers superior solutions for building enterprise-class Java applications for Linux, Solaris and Windows.”

Inprise/Borland customers will be able to take advantage of the latest Java 2 platform, including new IBM technology such as a just-in-time compiler and re-engineered Java 2 virtual machine. By offering the latest Java technology, Inprise/Borland is able to offer customers a complete solution to help them build and deploy scalable and flexible applications, based on the latest industry standards. “IBM is pleased to support Inprise/Borland products with our new Java Developers Kit,” said Rod Smith, vice president of e-business technologies, IBM. “As companies deploy e-business solutions, cross-platform interoperability, achieved by using technologies like Inprise/Borland’s, is essential.” Borland JBuilder, the company’s award-winning Java development environment for creating distributed applications based on the Java 2 platform, is the number one rated Java integrated development environment (IDE) according to JavaPro, JavaWorld and Software Development Magazine. The product supports development on the Linux, Windows, and Solaris platforms. A detailed matrix of features included in JBuilder is located at http://www.borland.com/jbuilder .

AMD STARTS SHIPPING 1.1 GIGAHERTZ CHIP

Sunnyvale, CA — Computer chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said on Monday it began shipping its 1.1 gigahertz processors to major computer companies, and said it expected to meet its goals for shipments in the coming quarters. AMD has been in a seesaw battle with rival Intel Corp. to produce the fastest processors. AMD just beat out Intel earlier this year with a chip running at 1 gigahertz, or one billion cycles per second. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD said the personal computer market outlook is strong, and the company was “on track to meet its goal of doubling shipments of seventh generation PC processors to 3.6 million units in this quarter, and again doubling shipments to 7.2 million units in the fourth quarter.”

AMD said it expected that its total PC processor shipments, including AMD Athlon, AMD Duron, and AMD-K6-2 processors, could approach 7 million units this quarter and 9 million units in the fourth quarter. AMD said its new 1.1 gigahertz Athlon processors are priced at $853, and systems that feature the chips will sell for about $2,500 each. The chips will be used in computers expected to reach the market on Aug. 28. AMD stock was up 4-1/4 at 61-1/4 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock is off its year-high of 97, but is nearly four times its 52-week low of 16-3/8.

LINUX NETWORX UNVEILS EVOLOCITY CLUSTER

Sandy, UTAH — Linux NetworX, Inc., a provider of large-scale cluster computer solutions for Internet, industry and research fields, introduces Evolocity, the first and only fully integrated cluster system with a vertically rack-mounted chassis. Evolocity was officially unveiled Aug. 15 at the LinuxWorld trade show in San Jose, Calif. Evolocity’s unique vertical construction allows for more efficient airflow and temperature control. Initial tests demonstrate that the system runs more than 10 degrees Celsius cooler than standard 1U and 2U systems. “Unlike many 1U designs that often have overheating problems, Evolocity allows for the highest level of density without sacrificing reliability. That translates into even higher availability than previously possible,” said Glen Lowry, president and CEO of Linux NetworX. “Evolocity is packed with power and has the look, feel and performance of an enterprise-level server or supercomputer to meet the demands of both our high- performance and high-availability customers.”

Evolocity is composed of up to 25 computer modules in a standard 19-inch rack. Using many commodity hardware components, Evolocity can easily grow with changing demands, scaling to thousands of modules. Additional benefits include near perfect uptime, ease of upgrades, easy maintenance and reduced total cost of ownership. The system’s unique bezel design facilitates maintenance access to individual modules. Evolocity also incorporates the Linux NetworX cluster management software, ClusterWorX, which allows the cluster to appear as a true single-image system and provides users with remote management access. Additional Evolocity modules are being developed, including an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and non-blocking switches. Each module will be contained entirely in a standard 19-inch rack, creating an even smaller footprint for those concerned with density issues. Evolocity is the first in a number of innovations planned by Linux NetworX to bring the most powerful cluster technologies to customers. Visit http://www.linuxnetworx.com for more information.

TIMESYS LAUNCHES IDE FOR TIMESYS LINUX/RT DEVELOPERS

San Jose, CA — At IDG’s LinuxWorld Conference this week, TimeSys Corp. demonstrated the TimeWarp Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for its TimeSys Linux/RT operating system distribution. Both products are designed for those systems requiring predictable Quality of Service (QoS) and response times in either hard or soft real-time environments. Such systems are found in applications ranging from telecommunications to space and from digital games and handheld devices to defense. Such applications and systems are usually categorized as embedded rather than reprogrammable, referring to PC systems and associated applications.

Embedded developers generally prefer to use tools that are integrated to provide similar interfaces and a common development environment, rather than assembling assorted tools from multiple vendors. The new TimeSys TimeWarp IDE enables embedded developers to edit, compile, link, download and debug embedded target systems that are running TimeSys Linux/RT. TimeSys Vice President of Technology, Dr. Douglass Locke, said of the new product, “TimeWarp provides a friendly environment in which to develop, deploy and debug TimeSys Linux/RT applications. It has been specifically designed to be easily integrated with other TimeSys tools in the SuiteTime family as well as with third-party tools.”

TURBOLINUX & INTEL SHOW 64-BIT LINUX OS

San Diego, CA — TurboLinux, Inc., the high-performance Linux company and NEC Solutions, one of the world’s leading server manufacturing companies, announced the world’s first public demonstration of a 64-bit Linux operating system on a 16-way Intel Itanium processor based system. AzusA, the NEC code name for its prototype 16-processor Itanium system, will display demonstrations of Mandelbrot and Ray Tracing on the TurboLinux for IA-64 developer’s release operating system, modified by NEC.”NEC has been actively involved with IA-64 Linux Project and has made numerous contributions to the project in the process of the development of AzusA,” said Minoru Terao of NEC Solutions, head of Computer System Division One. “This is the first time ever in the world that 64-bit Linux operating system has been demonstrated on an Intel Itanium system with more than four processors. Due to technical assistance from TurboLinux, we are very excited to be able to show this system at LinuxWorld. NEC will continue to work closely with IA-64 Linux Project member companies as well as the user community in order to make Linux for IA-64 more scalable and reliable.”

“TurboLinux is committed to maintaining its leadership on Linux for IA64,” said T. Paul Thomas, president and CEO of TurboLinux. “Our strategic relationship with NEC is important to our customers and we are pleased to partner with them at LinuxWorld to demonstrate the scalability of our IA64 solutions.” The commercial release of TurboLinux’s IA-64 Linux offerings and the commercial release of NEC’s 16-way AzusA Itanium system will coincide with Intel’s general release of IA-64 Itanium processor based platforms TurboLinux, which was the first company to make an IA-64 Linux distribution available to developers last March, recently announced the fifth upgrade of its TurboLinux for IA64 developer’s release operating system. It is available for download at ftp.turbolinux.com/pub/ia64. The TurboLinux IA-64 release is based on the kernel and tools developed by the IA-64 Linux Project, formerly known as the Trillian project, a group of companies that include TurboLinux, Caldera, CERN, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Red Hat, SuSE, SGI and VA Linux. For more information on the IA-64 Project, visit http://www.linuxia64.org/ .

VA LINUX INTRODUCES BUILD-TO-ORDER SOFTWARE

San Diego, CA — VA Linux Systems, Inc. unveiled the world’s first Build-to-Order Software configuration system enabling online customization of the operating system and applications ordered by VA Linux customers. Build-to-Order Software from VA Linux is the only solution that makes it possible for customers to point, click, select and save the specific Linux and Open Source software components they want pre-installed at the factory and delivered on their servers-all via the Web. VA Linux’s Build-to-Order Software Selector (BOSS) on valinux.com offers a selection of over 700 software packages-an unprecedented level of online configurability-with hundreds more expected to be offered in the coming months.

By providing Build-to-Order Software, VA Linux Systems helps engineering and IT departments dramatically reduce the time and resources spent manually re-installing and re-configuring systems individually. Until now, almost all IT organizations have had to re-configure every server they purchase upon deployment in order to maximize security, add and delete software, and enhance the performance of the particular applications being used by various departments. For application service providers (ASPs), e-businesses and Internet hosting providers, the ability to customize and tune the performance of their Internet infrastructures can be key to establishing and maintaining competitiveness. When rolling out hundreds or even thousands of servers at a time, Build-to-Order Software from VA Linux Systems can offer savings of weeks or even months-including reduced qualification time-by moving custom configuration into VA’s standard factory process. “With Build-to-Order Software, VA Linux is revolutionizing the way that people order and manage their systems, and it’s the very nature of Open Source software and VA’s expertise that make this level of customization possible,” said Dr. Larry M. Augustin, president and CEO, VA Linux Systems. “With Open Source, you’re not forced to accept the one-size-fits-all software loads offered by any single vendor. With Build-to-Order Software, we help our customers harness the power of Open Source to stay ahead by delivering custom-configured solutions that allow them to focus their resources on core aspects of their business.”

SPSS SCIENCE ANNOUNCES SYSTAT 10

Chicago, ILL. — Offering greater accessibility to publication-quality graphs, SPSS Science announced the release of SYSTAT 10 at the Joint Statistical Meetings 2000 in Indianapolis. The latest version of the award-winning scientific software now includes GraphExpress, new technology that enables users to create any SYSTAT graph from within SAS software for Windows with the click of a button. SYSTAT 10 also includes new statistics capabilities, including Mixed Regression and Power Analysis, as well as a broad range of user interface enhancements. The product is expected to ship domestically in September and internationally in October. “For more than 15 years, SYSTAT has delivered an unparalleled selection of research quality statistics written by leading statisticians,” said Ken Kirsten, marketing manager for SPSS Science. “Built upon this foundation is one of the most extensive libraries of statistical graphics tools available on the market. And now, using GraphExpress, SAS software for Windows users can easily access SYSTAT’s award-winning graphics to quickly visualize results during analysis or create professional charts for publication.”

GraphExpress provides a straightforward way to create any SYSTAT graph from the SAS software for Windows environment. Users choose from more than 20 general graphics toolbar buttons that call up intuitive dialog boxes of plot options to create customized graphs. GraphExpress also creates immediate diagnostic plots for common analytical procedures such as GLM, correspondence analysis, factor analysis, and discriminant analysis to immediately visualize analyses. In addition, users can select an image from the wizard-like Graph Gallery to quickly plot their data from existing graph templates. Seamlessly integrated with the latest release of SAS for Windows, version 8.00, GraphExpress syntax can even be added to production jobs.

COMPAQ DELIVERS EXPANDED LINUX SOLUTIONS

San Jose, CA — Furthering its commitment to develop innovative solutions for the Linux marketplace, Compaq Computer Corporation announced new Linux products and partner-based offerings that will enable its Linux customers to achieve new levels of enterprise availability, scalability and management. Building on its broad Linux support ranging from handhelds, portables and desktops to ProLiant and Alpha servers, Compaq will now offer pre-loaded Linux on select ProLiant servers, Linux-certified desktops, expanded Intelligent Manageability tools, and broader Linux version portability and development support. This announcement offers service providers, enterprises and software developers the end-to-end computing platforms and services needed to support increased traffic demands and more complex applications on Linux, such as e- commerce and data analysis.

“Compaq is delivering the most robust Linux solutions, meeting our customers’ need for greater flexibility and expanded choice in developing their e-business platforms,” said Gary Campbell, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Enterprise Servers, Compaq Corp. “By providing comprehensive Linux solutions and support across all Compaq product lines and driving industry collaboration and support for open source development, Compaq offers our customers the foundation needed to build, manage and grow a successful Internet infrastructure.” Linux solution development on Compaq’s ProLiant line of industry-standard servers has evolved from single-system file servers and low-traffic web servers to the deployment of large server arrays to support the Internet- driven requirements of applications such as e-commerce and data analysis. Compaq ProLiant architecture for Linux is delivering the foundation of e-business to customers with high availability, scaleable clustering solutions, multi-system enterprise management tools and ultra-powerful density optimized servers. Developing ProLiant solutions to address these critical customer needs, Compaq is able to offer the most comprehensive Linux portfolio in the industry. Beginning in late September, Compaq will pre-load Red Hat Linux 7.0 on select ProLiant ML330 and ProLiant DL360 models.

CYPRESS SEMICON EXTENDS SRAM PORTFOLIO

San Jose, CA — Cypress Semiconductor Corp. extended its networking-optimized SRAM portfolio to the 18-Mbit density level for next-generation communications applications, including high-speed buffer memory and processor cache applications. The new devices, based on both the No Bus Latency (NoBL) and standard synchronous architectures, target a broad range of networking and telecom segments, including wireless infrastructure, wide area network (WAN), and storage area network (SAN). Cypress offers pipelined and flowthrough versions of these NoBL and standard synchronous devices in 1M x 18 and 512K x 36 configurations at 3.3-V and 2.5-V. The 2.5-V offering addresses the trend toward lower operating voltages: Lower-operating-voltage parts consume less power and are ideal for interfacing with the 2.5-V ASIC devices used in today’s networking systems. The pipelined versions of the devices deliver performance supporting bus speeds up to 167 MHz.

“With the release of its 18-Mbit family, Cypress has attained a leadership position in synchronous, networking-optimized memories and underscored the fact that no one in the memory business has a broader offering of networking-optimized devices,” said Tony Alvarez, senior vice president of Cypress’s Memory Products Division. “Our new memories are a direct response to the needs of our strategic communications accounts, to whom we already provide a broad range of solutions in logic, timing technology, specialty memories, and physical-layer devices.” NoBL SRAMs have an architecture optimized for the most demanding high-speed applications requiring maximum bus bandwidth. They eliminate the latency (dead cycles, or wait states) found in conventional synchronous burst SRAM architectures when transitioning between write and read operations. The NoBL architecture allows data transfer on every clock cycle, regardless of whether a write or read operation is taking place, thereby providing 100% bus utilization. The standard synchronous architecture is used used in many processor based systems, providing the Level 2 cache that is critical to system performance.

PROCOM INTRODUCES ENHANCEMENTS FOR NETFORCE

Santa Ana, CA — Procom Technology, a leading provider of network attached data storage and access appliances, today announced the introduction of Version 3.2 – a new generation of performance-enhancing software for its mid-range and high-end NetFORCE series of Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliances, which includes the NetFORCE 1500, 2200 HA and 2500 SFT platforms. Providing more value with no increase in price, these enhancements incorporate a superset of the NetFORCE software deployed by Procom on its high-availability NetFORCE 1500, 2200 HA and 2500 SFT NAS appliances for mid-size and higher end e-business and enterprise applications. Version 3.2 will be available in second half of August.

Procom Technology, a pioneer in network attached storage (NAS), has leveraged its position as market leader in CD-caching appliances to address the disk-based needs of workgroup and enterprise applications, including ISPs and e-business. Procom appliances feature proprietary, embedded software for seamless integration of NAS into all major networking environments. Procom’s technological breakthroughs include plug-and-play protected data storage for workgroups and “virtual zero downtime” symmetric fault tolerance filers for enterprise and e-business applications. Major corporations and government agencies worldwide using Procom appliances for access to network-stored data include Aetna, AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing, Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, Lockheed Martin, MCI, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, Oracle Corp, Putnam Investments and other Fortune 1000 companies. Visit http://www.procom.com for more information.

BAYMOUNTAIN UNVEILS BAYCLUSTER

Richmond, VA. — Baymountain, Inc., a leading provider of Linux-based ASP services announced that it will unveil a unique Linux-based server solution called BayCluster. The goal of BayCluster is to provide a fully scalable, reliable and cost-effective alternative for dynamic web site and e-commerce transaction requirements. The solution is currently in beta and will be generally available in October. To learn more, visit Baymountain at booth 3058 during this week’s Linux World Expo in San Jose, California. Server clustering aggregates the power of multiple smaller and more cost-effective servers to do the tasks that traditionally would have required a much larger and more expensive server. Clustering has primarily been used in the scientific community and has recently been heralded in the financial industry where high-performance and high-availability computing is required.

As part of Baymountain’s BayCluster solution, all servers are housed in Baymountain’s own datacenter where reliability is ensured by redundant network connections, a skilled technical staff, UPS and generator backup. “In today’s increasingly competitive Internet-age, businesses simply can not afford for their servers to go down,” said Mark Wensell, Baymountain CEO and founder. “BayCluster eliminates this concern for our customers, and helps them obtain maximum reliability and throughput for a fraction of conventional costs.” Benefits of BayCluster Key benefits provided by BayCluster include the following: Scalability is achieved by the implementation of a load-balancing scheme that distributes the connection load across multiple web servers and data servers. Reliability is achieved through increased fault-tolerance by allowing the failure of any single node to result in the shifting of traffic away from the failed node. Visit http://www.baymountain.com for more information.

MANDRAKESOFT PRESENTS SERVER 1.0 TO SUN

San Jose, CA — MandrakeSoft, the publisher of the user-friendly Linux-Mandrake operating system, announced that its award winning solution, Linux-Mandrake, has been ported to Sun Microsystems’ SPARC and UltraSPARC platforms. This port will significantly expand the reach of Linux-Mandrake within the enterprise. Based on the Linux-Mandrake 7.1, the Corporate Server 1.0 provides all the tools needed to rapidly and easily set up the main server functions. WizDrake assistants will additionally guide the user in setting up a full range of services and applications like e-mail, Web servers, firewalls and routers.

MandrakeSoft is premiering the Corporate Server 1.0 operating system for SPARC and UltraSPARC at its booth 308 in the San Jose Convention Center at LinuxWorld Expo. “With Linux-Mandrake on the Sun UltraSPARC processor platform, our customer base will benefit from our stable and user-friendly operating system running on one of the most reliable and powerful 64-bit processor platforms,” said Henri Poole, Chief Executive Officer of MandrakeSoft. “We are excited to bring Linux-Mandrake to enterprise servers and, ultimately, to the corporate world running on the Sun SPARC platform.” “We are pleased that MandrakeSoft has ported its Corporate Server 1.0 to Sun’s SPARC processor based platforms,” said Fred Rehhausser, marketing manager, Sun Microsystems. “We are glad to see MandrakeSoft leverage Sun’s powerful 64-bit UltraSPARC processor-based technology to enhance its Linux-based server solutions for enterprise servers.”

CALDERA’S “COSMOS” ENTERS CLOSED BETA

Orem, UTAH — Caldera Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CALD), today announced that its Linux management solution, code-named “Cosmos,” is entering closed beta. Cosmos is a browser- and directory-based remote management product for Linux systems within heterogeneous and Linux networks. It utilizes the inherent strengths of both LDAP directories and SQL databases. With Cosmos, administrators can use policies and profiles to manage thousands of Linux systems, without having to individually manage each system. Cosmos will significantly benefit ASPs, ISPs, hosting companies, systems integrators and network administrators – anyone needing to manage multiple Linux servers and workstations. By consolidating management functions for labor-intensive tasks, Cosmos dramatically reduces costs, saves time and increases job efficiency.

“ASPs are adopting Linux for its open solutions features, performance and price,” said Thomas Karren, senior technology consultant of Wingate Web, LLC. – beta site for Cosmos. “But the one roadblock to mass deployment of Linux systems has been a lack of management solutions. Caldera has now solved that problem for ASPs.” “Management solutions are paramount to the evolution of Linux in the enterprise,” said Ransom Love, president and CEO of Caldera Systems, Inc. “As Linux grows exponentially and is adopted into many computer environments, our strategy is to manage any Linux with Cosmos.” “In 1999, IDC research indicated that Linux had grown 93.3% to hold 24.4% of the paid or revenue shipments of server operating environment software worldwide,” said Dan Kusnetzky, vice president of system software research for IDC. “This made Linux the fastest growing server operating environment.

CEI INTRODUCES ENLITEN AND ENVIDEO SOFTWARE

Morrisville, N.C. — CEI announces EnLiten and EnVideo, two new products that enable engineering and research organizations to use the Internet and corporate intranets to share high-end visualizations throughout the enterprise. EnLiten and EnVideo work in conjunction with EnSight and EnSight Gold, used by 350 organizations worldwide to analyze, visualize and communicate computer-aided engineering and scientific research results. EnSight users include aerospace, automotive, general engineering and chemical companies; national and international research labs; and universities. “These are the first tools that allow high-end visualizations to be easily and cost-effectively shared in a collaborative work environment any time, anywhere, any place,” says Kent Misegades, CEI president. “Until now, there’s been a chasm between the visualization experts and those who could benefit from their work. EnLiten and EnVideo provide access throughout the enterprise to rich animations for collaborative design and engineering; customer, supplier and internal communication; presentations; and marketing and sales applications.”

EnLiten is a platform-independent, rich geometry player that requires no special software skills. It allows interactive collaboration and communication of complex visualizations in areas such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis, crash analysis, and aerodynamics. EnLiten imports EnSight scenario files containing geometry, color, clip planes, isosurfaces, particle traces and animation information. Scenario files can be configured to show only what the originator wants seen by others. EnLiten’s GUI automatically configures itself depending on the content of the scenario file. If the file contains an animation, for example, an appropriate video-player interface appears on the screen. EnLiten plugs into MS PowerPoint, MS Internet Explorer and Netscape. It supports 3D stereo viewing and a full range of computing and display systems, from notebook computers to workstations to semi-immersive environments such as the ImmersaDesk.

SRM PROVIDES STORAGE INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENTS

Marlborough, MASS. — HighGround Systems, Inc., a leading developer of storage resource management software, announced Surveyor SRM, the first web-based storage assessment tool targeted exclusively at storage consultancies. A new member of HighGround’s renowned Storage Resource Manager (SRM) product family, Surveyor SRM helps storage consultancies manage the increasing complexities associated with planning and deploying storage network infrastructures, specifically storage area networks (SANs) and network-attached storage (NAS). The ability to analyze storage resources across different operating system and storage environments is critical when planning a fully functional storage network for the enterprise. Surveyor SRM automates the discovery of key storage capacity, utilization and availability statistics from distributed disks, partitions and file systems in Windows NT, Windows 2000, UNIX and Linux computing environments and delivers standard or customized reports, charts and trends through a common web browser interface.

“Storage vendors, integrators and consultants are trying to capitalize on the growing need for storage services, but they can’t get a clear picture of their clients’ existing storage infrastructures to make accurate recommendations,” said HighGround’s VP of Advanced Marketing Tom Rose. “Surveyor scans the storage network, automatically discovering devices and collecting data that is in turn provided to the consultant in useful report formats. These fast, targeted storage assessments would otherwise take months of customer interviews and manual searches.”

ORCA 3D-MIXING PACKAGE REDUCES SIMULATION TIME

Campbell, CA — HAL Computer Systems, Inc. (HAL) announced the availability of the ORCA mixing package. ORCA is a fully integrated package of software, hardware, and consulting services that simulates mixing processes in a wide range of industries. ORCA brings fast, easy to use simulation technology to the pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, food and beverages, mixing equipment manufacturing, plastic, paper pulp, oil, and personal care product industries. ORCA was jointly developed using the extensive simulation expertise and application software packaging capabilities of ACUSIM Software, Inc., ICEM CFD Engineering, HAL Computer Systems, Inc., and Mixing Consultants, Inc.

“With the ORCA software running on a multiprocessor Fujitsu server, users can accurately simulate large 3D models in just a few hours rather than days,” said Kim Jensen, president of Dantec Measurement Technology. “Our customers can increase engineering productivity, improve product quality and product yields, and get their products to market much faster.” Dantec, which provides expertise in flow measurement technology and contract measurement services, will be the distributor for ORCA in the United States. “ORCA was designed with a wide range of functionality,” said Nelson Bye, general manager, Workserver Division at HAL. “ORCA is designed to help the general practicing engineer be highly productive and effective without requiring expertise normally acquired with a Ph.D. degree in Mixing Science or CFD. Furthermore, advanced features in ORCA such as transient analysis, thermal and fluid coupling, and user function development allow advanced research level engineers an unprecedented degree of control and flexibility in designing simulations.” Visit http://www.orcamix.com for more information.

TIMESYS SUPPORTS TIMESYS LINUX/RT DISTRIBUTION

San Jose, CA — At IDG’s LinuxWorld Conference this week, TimeSys Corp. Tuesday announced that its TimeSys Linux/RT operating system distribution now offers support for multi-processor system architectures. Unlike other solutions that provide a small RTOS executive beneath the Linux OS, the Resource Kernel within the TimeSys Linux/RT OS directly incorporates real-time technology into the core Linux OS. Thus the distribution supports fixed-priority scheduling (256 priorities), priority inheritance, high-resolution timers and counters as well as a Temporal Firewall to provide guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS).

Chairman of TimeSys, Dr. Raj Rajkumar, explained, “Powerful capabilities of multi-processors are typically not exploited in real-time applications. The TimeSys Linux/RT distribution is the first real-time solution with Linux that allows users to take advantage of the modern, high-performance computing platforms.” Developers have been requesting multi-processor support for the TimeSys Linux/RT distribution since its introduction in May. Multi-processor system architectures were used previously in only very high-end real-time system applications such as those in space, avionics and defense applications. However, they are now finding their place in modern high-performance multimedia applications and telecommunications.

LINEO RELEASES EMBEDIX REALTIME

San Jose, CA — Lineo, Inc., a provider of embedded systems, real-time and high availability Linux-based solutions, announced the beta for Embedix RealTime, a real-time development environment of Linux. Embedix RealTime is used for mission-critical applications requiring guaranteed response time in the telecom, military simulation and industrial control markets. Embedix RealTime provides true hard real-time capabilities for Linux with deterministic, bounded scheduling and interrupt latencies in the tens of microsecond range. This is a key difference from the soft real-time solutions provided by many other Linux vendors. The new overlay installation format of Embedix RealTime simplifies installation, ensuring that real-time Linux developers can preserve the configuration of their existing development machines without needing to perform a complete system re-install or without having to integrate those system patches which enable the Embedix RealTime services, debug and system analysis tools.

In addition to enhanced real-time diagnostic and development tools and expanded product documentation, Embedix RealTime also includes the new Linux Trace Tool Kit (LTT), an invaluable system analysis tool that provides users with the ability to graphically display system events. LTT is an open source Linux tool whose development for real-time tasks was sponsored by Lineo, and is similar to the trace tools provided by proprietary real-time operating systems. Until now, no similar tool has been available for real-time Linux. Embedix RealTime builds upon the previous four RealTime Linux installation CDs produced by Zentropix, Inc., whose merger with Lineo was announced in February of this year. “This release of Embedix RealTime builds upon our earlier work by providing developers with an easy and fast installation method, greatly enhanced debug and real-time system analysis tools, and a complete programmers guide for RealTime Linux,” said Jim Norton, general manager of the industrial solutions group at Lineo. “This new installation CD should prove to be invaluable to those who have been watching RealTime Linux from the sidelines, waiting for a solution which doesn’t require a lot of patience to evaluate.”

MISSION CRITICAL LINUX DELIVERS AVAILABILITY TO IA-64

San Jose, CA — Mission Critical Linux, Inc., the cutting-edge Linux products and services company, has become the first to port Linux HA clustering technology to Intel’s IA-64 architecture. Utilizing a Convolo Cluster built on Open Source Kimberlite technology developed by Mission Critical Linux, high availability is provided to applications such as the Open Source MySQL database and Apache web servers running on IA-64. The combined system is being demonstrated in the Intel Booth at LinuxWorld San Jose and at several other upcoming industry events, including the Intel Developers Forum August 22-24 in San Jose. Implemented as a back-end HA system for dynamic data, the IA-64/Convolo Cluster is seamlessly integrated with an IA-32 Intel web server farm. “The porting of our clustering capabilities to IA-64 is attracting significant industry interest,” said Brian Stevens, Vice President of Internet Strategy at Mission Critical Linux. “The combined technology creates a powerful solution for achieving high availability and raw computing power in high-end databases.”

The system being demonstrated uses a Convolo Cluster to guarantee high availability for front-end, Intel-based servers. The redundant web servers access the main databases through a two-node cluster configuration that uses RAID-protected shared storage disks to ensure the integrity of dynamic data during transactions. The cluster server nodes, which are connected to a shared RAID storage controller, keep track of all dynamic data entering the databases; when one node shuts down or fails, the other node accesses the disk and uses transaction logs to recover the database and continue operation. By leveraging advanced Kimberlite technology, the Convolo Cluster can match the performance of proprietary cluster systems in providing high availability without data corruption in enterprise computing environments.

LINEO ANNOUNCES LINEO HIGH AVAILABILITY CLUSTER

San Jose, CA — Lineo, Inc., a provider of embedded systems, real-time and high availability Linux-based solutions, announced Lineo High Availability Cluster, a solution providing customers with non-stop access to mission critical services. Based on the Linux operating system and on the CompactPCI hardware architecture, Lineo High Availability Cluster provides high availability, redundancy, reliability and scalability to network servers. Lineo High Availability Cluster is designed specifically for ISPs, ASPs and telecomm companies requiring solutions that ensure their customers can connect to services at any time, without interruptions or delays.

“ISPs and telecommunication companies understand all too well the need for highly-available services,” said Hugo Delchini, general manager of the Lineo High Availability Group. “Their customers demand that the services they are paying for be available at all times and Lineo is committed to providing them with a high availability solution that meets their needs.” Lineo High Availability Cluster provides a clustering solution which supports Pentium and PowerPC boards on CompactPCI. The cluster distributes a network-type service, such as Web servers, SMTP, FTP, Radius, Voice over IP or DNS, across a multiprocessor system. Through this distributed scheme, services are able to support a high workload without the risk of CPU or I/O bottleneck. Lineo High Availability Cluster allows hotswapping of redundant hardware components in a cluster, without requiring the cluster to be rebooted. These redundant components include the cPCI bus arbiter board, cluster controller board and the cluster node boards. Visit http://www.lineo.com for more information.

SGI ANNOUNCES NEW OPENGL LICENSING PROGRAM

San Jose, CA — SGI announced a new licensing program for use by open source developers and vendors. The new license will allow use of the OpenGL logo and trademark free of charge for OpenGL implementations that run on open source platforms. Implementations must pass the same strict set of conformance tests as commercially licensed implementations, and the results will be reported on SGI’s Web site. Earlier this year, SGI released the source code to its Sample Implementation of the OpenGL API under an open source license. “The open sourcing of the Sample Implementation and now the usage of the trademark and logo free of charge on open source platforms will allow rapid growth of conformant applications in the LINUX space,” said Bill Mannel, OpenGL Product Manager, SGI.

“This new trademark and logo usage guideline continues SGI’s long-standing support of the open source community,” said Kurt Akeley, cofounder and CTO, SGI. “It also underscores the bright future we see for premier 3D applications in the Linux marketplace.” “The announcement today will propel the broad development of OpenGL class applications on Linux, with a large set of non-commercial developers now being able to leverage the OpenGL brand free of charge,” said Sarang Ghatpande, analyst for D.H. Brown Associates, Inc. The OpenGL Sample Implementation source code is available for download from SGI’s open source developer Web site at http://www.oss.sgi.com . The conformance test code, as well as the logo, trademark and logo usage guidelines will be available at the same site on August 31, 2000.

POWERSYNC 5.0 SOFTWARE OFFERS DATA REPLICATION

San Diego, CA — LinkPro Technologies Inc., a leading developer of Windows network data management software, Tuesday announced an enhanced version of its PowerSync utility designed to give system administrators greater centralized control of data and frequent file changes as they occur across multi-server, multi-platform enterprises. PowerSync 5.0 Real-Time Server (RTS) is a full 32-bit program that performs instantaneous file synchronization, replication and protection in large and wide area networks running Windows NT and 2000 operating systems on NetWare and UNIX servers. This new version of PowerSync is available directly from LinkPro, from the company’s Web site ( http://www.linkpro.com ), or from a growing number of international resellers. The company is offering a free 30-day trial download as part of its product launch.

According to Frank Reinhart, company president, more than 100,000 PowerSync products have been distributed worldwide, from single users to small companies and large corporations that need file backup and restoration, disaster recovery, file load balancing and distribution. Other standard features include automatic scheduling options, the ability to run from a command line, and UNC or mapped drive path selection. A “safe copy” feature prevents loss of data due to network interruption, and a “log file” feature provides comprehensive audit trail and error reporting, he said. “PowerSync 5.0 RTS is an ideal tool for network administrators who are responsible for supporting mission critical Windows NT or NetWare applications running on multiple servers and accessed by many users performing frequent file updates,” he said.

CADFIX NOW IMPORTS NATIVE CATIA CAD FILES

Milford, OHIO — ITI (International TechneGroup Incorporated), a leading provider of product data interoperability solutions, announces the availability of a new CATIA import module for CADfix ( http://www.cadfix.com ) – the industry’s premier CAD model repair and healing software tool. The ability to accept CATIA models directly benefits suppliers who until now have had no option but to invest in full CATIA licenses for CAD-based services to major industrial OEMs. The proven automatic and interactive geometry manipulation tools within CADfix allow users to confidently accept CATIA models and process the data according to the requirements of the target downstream application. The CATIA import module for CADfix includes support for CATIA version 4 files, and covers a comprehensive range of geometrical and topological model entities. “As it stands, CADfix offers an extensive and indispensable tool for rapid processing of CAD formats such as IGES, STEP, Parasolid and ACIS, which, despite being recognized standards, rarely read smoothly into 3D applications,” explains Andy Chinn, CADfix Applications Manager at ITI. “To this, we have added the ability to process a significant proportion of CAD files directly as native imports. The widespread use of the software means that a reliable CATIA import tool is very much in demand for CADfix.”

Unlike other native CAD file translators CADfix provides users with an option in those cases where automatic translation may be less than perfect. CADfix contains a powerful repertoire of automatic and interactive tools providing a logical path for the diagnosis and repair of errors and inconsistencies. CATIA is one of the leading CAD modeling systems on the market today, especially in the automotive and aerospace environment, and suppliers to major OEMs are regularly asked to accept customer data in native format. The supplier often has no option but invest in the native CAD system of the customer, which can prove costly if they have multiple customers using different systems. Unfortunately, until now, the alternative has been to risk losing the work altogether. “Toolmakers, Mold & Die, FEA consultants, and model shops are a few examples of suppliers who will benefit from a direct link to CATIA files,” says Chinn. “Often, such suppliers are asked to invest in another full CAD license, and have to make do with inadequate translation tools that can mean days of data rework before they can begin processing the models. With CATIA-enabled CADfix these suppliers can eliminate this wasted effort and concentrate on their work rather than repairing CAD models.”

AGILENT TO DEMONSTRATE FIBRE CHANNEL LINK

Palo Alto, CA — Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that will it demonstrate a prototype InfiniBand-to-Fibre Channel connection that showcases two important technologies for the storage area network (SAN) market. The demonstration will take place in the Intel Demo Showcase at the Intel Developer Forum, August 22-24, at the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, Calif. This demonstration will show a prototype InfiniBand-to-Fibre Channel Router module that connects an InfiniBand subnet to a Fibre Channel SAN. Providing seamless interoperability between InfiniBand systems and Fibre Channel SANs is critical in the establishment of InfiniBand technology. It will allow InfiniBand systems to interoperate with the large, installed base of Fibre Channel SANs. To find out more about the demo, visit http://www.agilent.com/view/demo_info .

“This demonstration indicates that Agilent is well positioned to provide early InfiniBand to Fibre Channel connectivity solutions,” said Bob Whitson, director of worldwide marketing for Agilent’s SAN products. “Our expertise in system I/O and Fibre Channel SANs, along with our recently announced product development efforts with RedSwitch Inc., will enable us to offer leading-edge InfiniBand solutions.” “InfiniBand architecture represents a breakthrough in Internet Data Center capabilities through independent scaling of processing, I/O and storage nodes connected through a common fabric,” said Jim Pappas, director of Initiative Marketing for Intel’s Fabric Components Division. “Fibre Channel connectivity is an important element of a complete InfiniBand solution. Agilent’s early demonstration of working InfiniBand prototypes for both Fibre Channel connectivity and development tools shows that product development for InfiniBand architecture is right on track.”

TEKINSIGHT.COM RELEASES BRIEF ON STREAMING XML

New York, N.Y. — TekInsight.com, Inc. released a technology brief outlining the benefits of its new Streaming XML technology. Streaming XML harnesses tremendous amounts of Internet and PC-based data by streaming it into XML and compressing the format for real-time storage and presentation. Streaming XML is currently being used in several of TekInsight’s PC help desk/support and e-government initiatives. TekInsight engineers realized that no efficient method existed for writing and reading large volumes of arbitrary XML-formatted data. The standard method for reading/writing XML is to use an XML parser, XML DTD (document type definition) and XML DOM (document object model) objects. Since this technology was developed to handle relatively small amounts of data (megabytes, not hundreds of megabytes), it cannot efficiently handle high volumes of data packed with rich descriptive tags necessary for the logging application. Furthermore, tagging data significantly increases the size of the data file, creating a serious storage and transmission problem.

“With our Streaming XML technology, we’ve developed a new method of breaking up the XML data into sequenced, self-contained packets that can be easily understood and processed,” said Alex Kalpaxis, TekInsight’s chief technology officer. “By packetizing and token compressing XML data, a file size can be reduced while still retaining its rich descriptive qualities.” TekInsight’s BugSolver, an Internet-based application failure detection system, utilizes Streaming XML by supplying IT departments with thousands of fields of crash information allowing IT professionals to easily analyze data relating to all aspects of their clients’ networks and systems. This results in enhanced real-time personal service via the Web. Streaming XML compresses the PC failure data and sends it directly to the IT department for diagnosis. The power of BugSolver is in the customized portal that has the ability to perform complex analysis instantaneously at the time of a crash. The information provided by BugSolver is a virtual “snapshot” of the system at the time of the crash containing 30,000 analytical data points on software and hardware problems. BugSolver’s customized reporting benefits will also allow IT departments to store data history and system information of a specific PC or network to help maintain the status.

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