SHORT TAKES

JYACC, INC. UNVEILS POSSL

New York, N.Y. — JYACC, Inc., an international enterprise software and solutions company, announced the availability of the source code for its POSSL (Panther Open Source Software for Linux) technology and the establishment of a new open source online community, possl.org. CollabNet – a leading provider of collaborative software development platforms and services based on open source tools and principles – is providing its SourceCast environment as the infrastructure for the possl.org community site. POSSL is an enterprise application development environment that simplifies the building of transactional, component-based Web applications. The POSSL technology is based on Panther, a proven development environment used by Fortune 500 companies around the globe to build enterprise-level, mission-critical applications. The Panther software, including an Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) component builder, is most widely recognized as a development environment for IBM WebSphere Application Server. POSSL’s source code license is modeled after the BSD license; it allows unrestricted use of the POSSL code in both open source and proprietary software.

“By initially contributing POSSL to the open source community, we anticipate many future enhancements to the software and look forward to expanded usage of the POSSL development environment for Linux,” said Rich Westle, CEO of JYACC. “The success of Linux has only just begun with applications currently centered primarily on Web servers, e-mail and print servers. With the introduction of POSSL, Linux as a development and deployment platform is positioned to grow rapidly, through the enterprise.” possl.org hosts the source code and open source co-development project for the worldwide POSSL community. possl.org is managed by CollabNet and serves as the coordination point for the development and testing of the software by providing discussion forums, software engineering tools, certified releases and bug tracking. CollabNet is providing its SourceCast collaborative development environment for the site and is working to establish possl.org as an open source virtual community.

JYACC’s initial contribution of the POSSL source code to possl.org is only the beginning. An advisory board elected by the possl.org developer community will ultimately manage the site. Among other things, the Advisory Board will direct the activities and resources of the possl.org organization. They will also make decisions on behalf of the developer community and on the technical direction of the POSSL software. “POSSL enables developers of all skill levels to rapidly develop and deliver 2-tier client/server and distributed, component-based Web applications on Linux. For the first time the open source community has access to a Linux-based application development environment, which supports full-scale enterprise computing,” said Karen Sobel Lojeski, COO and Executive VP of Strategic Planning for JYACC. “CollabNet, instrumental in creating the possl.org environment, is providing us with the open source strategy and community development consulting needed to make possl.org successful.” “We are pleased to be working with the JYACC team on possl.org and to be providing our SourceCast environment to a new group of developers,” said Brian Behlendorf, co-founder and CTO, CollabNet. “The possl.org site allows POSSL developers to use an open source approach to create the next generation of enterprise applications. By using CollabNet’s SourceCast platform, the worldwide possl.org community is able to collaborate on new features and enhancements for the POSSL technology.”

VICOM ARCHITECTURE ENABLES STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION

Fremont, CALIF. — Vicom Systems Inc. unveiled its new Storage Virtualization Engine (SVE), a new storage architecture that delivers interoperability among multiple servers over the Internet. Vicom’s new SVE technology addresses the need for easy sharing and administration of storage resources connected to multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous servers. Through easy-to-use set-up wizards, administrators can easily add, delete or change virtual volumes to keep pace with fast-changing enterprise storage requirements. Changes are implemented without any shutdowns, reboots or interruption to data and network availability, helping to insure that SLA’s (Service Level Agreements) and QoS (Quality of Service) are maintained for direct clients, SSP clients and Internet users. SVE also automates data replication, backup and restore processes and gives administrators total control of host access to storage systems through comprehensive zone management and a virtual firewall.

“Vicom’s Storage Virtualization Engine is another industry first for Vicom,” said Samuel Tam, Vicom President and CEO. “With our SVE, Vicom customers can bring the availability and flexibility of Fibre Channel storage virtualization to their SAN environments while continuing to benefit from their investment in legacy SCSI and SSA storage hardware.” Dave Hill, Research Director, Storage and Storage Management for Aberdeen Group, noted recently that with the data explosion and the resulting need to manage that data, storage virtualization is a must for enterprise applications. “Vicom’s SVE is a powerful solution that provides the tools to share and pool storage efficiently and across diverse storage vendors and operating systems,” Hill said. Vicom’s Storage Virtualization Engine consists of the following hardware and software components: SV Router, SV SAN Monitor, SV SAN Builder, SV Zone Manager and the Copy Services Option, which includes Instant Copy, Stand Alone Back up and Restore, and Remote Copy. The Vicom Systems SV Router creates a distributed processing platform that provides data routing paths among servers, storage devices and network equipment such as switches and hubs. The SV routers execute commands from the SV software – such as the SV SAN Builder and SV Zone Manager – through on-board processors and an SV daemon process that runs on a host machine. The SV routers provide protocol conversion as required, such as between Fibre Channel and SCSI. Operation of the SV Routers can be customized by end users or VARs through a rich, open script language, and through an API. Vicom provides technical support to help users and VARs take advantage of this open system capability.

SANONE LAUNCHES STORAGE-ON-DEMAND PRODUCT

Phoenix, ARIZ. — SanOne, an Alanco Technologies, Inc. company and a leading Storage Area Network (SAN) provider specializing in enterprise storage solutions, service and training, unveiled its storage-on-demand Dynamic Allocation Manager (DAM) product. DAM implements SAN-based storage virtualization to provide simple, centralized storage administration, maximize investments in current and legacy storage hardware, and improve storage utilization by up to 200 percent. Administrators of DAM-managed storage pools can add and assign disk capacity “on the fly,” literally in minutes, without rebooting or disrupting application servers. DAM virtual disk assignments also do not require expensive and error-prone hardware reconfigurations. Storage resources can be tuned and reallocated instantly to meet application needs and peaks in demand.

“The demand for storage is exploding, with 100 percent to 300 percent growth becoming commonplace,” said Mike Flannery, General Manager of SanOne. “The DAM – more – storage virtualization solution enables enterprises to add storage on demand, giving them a powerful competitive advantage.” DAM also maximizes the return on their storage investments, with dramatically improved storage utilization. “The average utilization of direct attached storage is established at 30 percent. A DAM-managed storage network can bring this ratio between 80 percent and 90 percent, generating immense savings and gains in flexibility,” said Flannery. SanOne’s Dynamic Allocation Manager consists of two complements: the DAM Metaserver, and the DAM Metadrivers. The DAM Metaserver, a Windows NT server, implements an asymmetrical out-of-path design for maximum performance and data integrity, and supports a high-availability, dual-server configuration with automatic transparent failover. DAM Metadrivers reside on each server between the application and standard HBA drivers.

SUN AND PARTNERS INTRODUCE JIRO ENABLED PRODUCTS

Palo Alto, CALIF. — Sun Microsystems, Inc., announced that Jiro technology is making it easier to create integrated, intelligent storage management services as evidenced by the arrival of the first Jiro Enabled products from Sun and VERITAS Software Corporation. Sun also introduced the Jiro Enabled Certification Program, the first official process for certifying products for operation in the Jiro Runtime Environment. Based on the Java 2 platform, Jiro technology is an open, freely available set of APIs that provides developers with an infrastructure for building interoperable end-to-end storage management solutions for heterogeneous environments. “Storage providers are racing to deliver network-based solutions that meet the storage demands of the booming Net economy,” said Denise Shiffman, vice president of Sun Network Storage. “Jiro technology, the open APIs for storage network management, provides for fast delivery of integrated solutions. The emergence of Jiro Enabled products and services from key industry partners demonstrates the adoption of an industry-defined model that brings true interoperability options and provides customers with a more efficient, less expensive way to manage networks in the dot-com age.

“Leading the trend toward true network integration, Sun released Jiro Enabled versions of the Sun StorEdge T3 array, the Sun StorEdge A5x00 array, and Sun StorEdge Instant Image software, while VERITAS Software released Jiro Enabled versions of VERITAS Volume Manager, VERITAS File System, and VERITAS NetBackup software. “VERITAS Software has worked closely with Sun since the beginning of the Jiro technology initiative and will continue in this role,” said Paul Borrill, chief technology officer for VERITAS Software. “Developing Jiro Management Facades (MFs) for VERITAS NetBackup, VERITAS Volume Manager and VERITAS File System demonstrates our commitment toward building a community of open-systems storage management solutions and makes it easier for third parties to develop specific Jiro technology based services for our products.” The Jiro Enabled Certification Program is being conducted by Exodus(R) Performance Labs, one of the industry’s largest testing laboratories. Products that pass Performance Labs’ third party audit are authorized to carry the Jiro Enabled logo and participate in co-marketing activities with other members of the Jiro technology community. Developers who want to enter products into the Jiro Enabled Certification Program can get more information at http://www.sun.com/jiro/enabled .

ESI GROUP ANNOUNCES VERSIONS OF PAM-CRASH 2000

Nantes, FRANCE — ESI Group, a leading provider of virtual prototyping and manufacturing solutions, announces the availability of its flagship simulation software – PAM-CRASH 2000, PAM-FLOW 2000 and PAM-STAMP 2000 – on Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) environments. Tailored for the automotive manufacturing and transportation industry, Massively Parallel Processing meets the high performance requirements of the most computationally intensive applications in the fields of crash-worthiness testing, aero-acoustics, aerodynamics and stamping simulation. Simulation technology has matured over the past years. While finer and more detailed models drastically improve the investigation of complex crashworthiness simulations in the automotive industry, other sectors of the transportation industry, like railroad and aviation, are confronted with large simulation models due to the sheer size of the structure involved. Parallel computing is clearly the most cost-efficient solution. ESI Group’s MPP solution has proven impressive productivity gains, reducing processing time by 15 and costs by 300 over a five-year period.

PAM-CRASH, PAM-FLOW and PAM-STAMP parallel versions are based on a well-known technology called domain decomposition, which minimizes communication to improve and speed-up the overall computation. In massively parallel processing environment, the simulation model is decomposed in several domains, and each domain is assigned to a different processor. Thus, the workload can be distributed on several dozens of processors. ESI Group’s MPP product range provides accurate and cost-effective solutions optimizing customers’ IT resources. Users can now run CPU demanding simulations by simply adding more processors or mobilizing idle workstations. They reach outstanding performance thanks to the state-of-the-art parallelization of the code which runs on various configurations: server, cluster of servers, network of workstations, and supercomputer. As more simulations can be evaluated over the same period of time, users investigate more problems in detail. A competitive advantage that brings high return on investment.

ESI Group’s Virtual Try-Out Space includes a full range of software simulation packages in the fields of Virtual Prototyping, Virtual Environment, and Virtual Manufacturing. PAM-CRASH, the world leading crash simulation software predicts how a vehicle will respond to crash tests. PAM-FLOW, a fully integrated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software analyses most complex aero-acoustics and aerodynamics problems. PAM-STAMP, the world leading stamping tool, simulates the whole manufacturing process.

DK32DJ-72 HARD DRIVE DOUBLES STORAGE CAPACITY

Tokyo, JAPAN — Leading the market in capacity and performance, Hitachi America, Ltd. ( http://www.hitachi.com ), a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, today announced the industry’s highest capacity 1-inch high hard drive at 73.9 gigabytes (GB), the DK32DJ-72. This hard drive delivers two times the current storage capacity within a compact footprint, giving manufacturers the leading edge technology to build larger and more robust systems for network storage in less space. The DK32DJ-72 hard drive will be commercially available in both SCSI and 2 Gb FCAL interfaces for Hitachi’s OEM customers in Q1 2001. The Hitachi DK32DJ-72 hard drive delivers this unprecedented increase in storage capacity within today’s standard power consumption level of 11 watts. The DK32DJ-72 hard drive consumes 27 percent less power than today’s 1.6-inch high 72 GB drives. Customers are able to easily incorporate the DK32DJ-72 hard drive into existing systems without re-engineering the drive chassis or modifying the power supply.

The DK32DJ-72 is the first Hitachi 3.5-inch drive to integrate technologies such as the super plane glass substrate and the head load/unload mechanism which have been used for several generations in the development of Hitachi’s 2.5-inch hard disk drives. These enhancements enable reduced head flying height while improving stability and increasing non-operational shock resistance to 250 Gs. Customers also have the option to increase the drive’s buffer to 16 MB – the industry’s highest available capacity. Raising the standard for overall functionality and performance, the DK32DJ-72 hard drive also sets the standard for low acoustics, operating below 4.0 bels. This feature, combined with the efficient power consumption and tremendous storage capacity ensure that this drive exceeds the needs of consumers working in data intensive work environments. “As an innovator in storage technology, Hitachi is at the forefront of development, providing superior products for its customers,” said Hal Malone, director of 3.5-inch HDD sales for Hitachi America, Ltd. “Hitachi continues to leverage its vast technical resources and set the pace for the storage industry with product milestones like the DK32DJ-72.”

SEAGATE DEMONSTRATES ULTRA320 SCSI TECHNOLOGY

Scotts Valley, CALIF. — Seagate Technology announced that it has demonstrated Ultra320 SCSI disc drive technology that supports the industry proposals for the SPI-4 (Ultra320 SCSI) standard. The demonstration, conducted with a fully-integrated 320 Mbytes/sec SCSI initiator and target controller designed by Seagate, delivered data transfers at 320 Mbytes/sec and was accomplished with the same backplane and cabling used with the existing Ultra160 SCSI standard. Seagate tested numerous industry-leading Ultra160 systems to ensure interoperability between Ultra320 SCSI and Ultra160 SCSI. Ultra320 SCSI technology will enable businesses to move critical data with greater speed and reliability – a must for today’s booming Internet economy. “This demonstration’s significance is not only in the fact that Seagate has furthered its technology leadership position, but that Seagate was able to show that Ultra320 SCSI can be implemented using existing infrastructures, including backplanes, cables, and terminators,” said Tom Porter, executive vice president and chief technical officer, at Seagate Technology. “System integrators will appreciate this easy and cost-saving transition to Ultra320 SCSI, and we expect industry adoption to be rapid as a result.”

Seagate Technology’s demonstration included the testing and implementation of the features found within the proposed ANSI standard. These include free-running clock, pre-compensation, training sequences, and cable deskewing. These features will help ensure that Ultra320 SCSI maintains interoperability and signal integrity in addition to increasing performance. Seagate Technology has been a leader in the development of SPI-4 proposals, standards, and technical discussions for over a year, showing the first 320 Mbytes/sec technology on servers as early as last year’s COMDEX show. In September, Seagate offered an “Open Invitation to the Seagate Signaling Lab” to confirm existing cable and backplane properties and performance compliance with 320 Mbytes/sec transfers. Seagate has since shared the technical data with the SCSI cable and modeling working groups as well as the SPI-4 working group to enable common industry specifications.

BROCADE EXPANDS STORAGE NETWORKING FOUNDATION

San Jose, CALIF. — Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., a leading provider of Storage Area Networking infrastructure, announced the SilkWorm 6400, a new 64-port integrated fabric, as the latest addition to its scalable, highly available storage networking solutions. The SilkWorm 6400 is a high port-density Fibre Channel switching solution for networking servers and storage in a storage area network (SAN). The SilkWorm 6400 significantly simplifies the deployment and management of SAN fabrics and is the most cost-effective 64-port Fibre Channel solution on the market today. Comprising six integrated switch modules, pre-configured switch interconnection, and management software, the SilkWorm 6400 is expected to be generally available in the first quarter of CY 2001. Brocade will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast today at 2 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss the new product announcement. To participate, please dial 913-981-4903, then provide the access code: 414425. Brocade also announced its product roadmap which will extend the Brocade storage networking model to deliver 64-port and 128-port networkable “Core” Fibre Channel fabric switches and 2 Gigabit per second speeds across the entire Brocade product line. To be announced in early 2001, the new products will extend the Brocade networking foundation to support the entire spectrum of SAN requirements – from entry level, to the enterprise, to carrier-class – with one networkable infrastructure based on a Brocade’s common distributed fabric operating system, Fabric OS.

“Many SAN customers are looking to scale their initial SAN deployments in size, without increasing the complexity of their storage environments. Larger, networked fabrics are required to meet this need and to establish a flexible, manageable infrastructure for these ever-growing storage environments,” added Nick Allen, vice president, GartnerGroup. “Brocade is committed to helping SAN customers optimize server, storage, and application investments and extend those benefits across the enterprise. SAN capabilities should not be limited by the number of ports of any single interconnection device, but rather be supported by a networking foundation that can grow as information storage requirements do. The SilkWorm 6400 is a cost-effective solution to achieving higher port density in easily-managed storage networks,” said Jack Cuthbert, Brocade vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We are also pleased to announce our product roadmap for extending the benefits of the Brocade networking model for storage to a networkable core fabric switch offering that will support our enterprise customers as they increase the size of their networked storage environments.”

BREECE HILL TECHNOLOGIES INTRODUCES DATA LIBRARY

Boulder, COLO. — Breece Hill Technologies, a leading data storage automation innovator, announced the industry’s first six drive by 100 cartridge tape library supporting DLT, DLT1, Super DLT, and LTO tape drive technologies or interchangeable mixed media drives, in the same library. Companies needing mid-range storage capacity and transfer rates can now choose between digital linear tape (DLT) or linear tape open (LTO) drive technologies. The new 6.100 offers a genuine choice for enterprise functionality in a mid-range library. The new library is designed to deliver reliable, scalable and enterprise-class solutions to large application and database servers, at a mid-range price point. Breece Hill continues to expand its mid range, multi-drive technology storage library offerings, adding onto its already released 4.30/50 tape library, announced earlier. Breece Hill’s new family of libraries is distinguished by a patented universal load plate design, which enables the library to be tape drive technology independent. This feature gives users greater choice and flexibility by allowing them to select the tape drive technology of their choice. The library can also support any mix of linear tape drives and cartridges including Super DLT, DLT1 and LTO, allowing system administrators the advantage of seamlessly migrating to new linear tape drive technologies such as LTO or Super DLT. The universal load plate technology enables drives to be promptly and effortlessly replaced, reducing downtime and saving service costs. The user’s investment is protected since a mounted drive can be quickly and easily swapped between any other Breece Hill libraries.

Breece Hill 6.100 library houses six tape drives of the user’s choice and 100 cartridge storage cells. “The 6.100 product rounds out our family of mid-range tape data storage libraries. These products share the same proven electronics, mechanisms, and firmware which provides users with high reliability and low total cost of ownership,” said Robert Schaefer, Vice President Product Development, Breece Hill Technologies. The new library is fully compatible with any storage area network (SAN) or network attached storage (NAS) architecture. To assist customers, Breece Hill offers a qualification lab where technical and engineering support will replicate the environment in which your network will operate and test all configurations of products with the desired storage application and hardware. Breece Hill’s network qualification program includes architecture development, demonstration, benchmarking, analysis, SAN & NAS training, installation and monitoring. The new 6.100 is the latest mid-range, six drive by 100 cartridge library offering outstanding value allowing the choice of tape drive technologies and mixed media capabilities – features normally reserved to enterprise class libraries. It offers a native data storage capacity of up to 11.00TB, or a compressed data storage capacity of up to 22.00TB, based on Super DLT specifications. The native transfer rates hit 324GB/HR or compressed transfer rates hit 648GB/HR, based on LTO specifications. The library is compatible with all industry leading back up software packages.

INTEL DIALOGIC DELIVERS BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LINUX

Miami, FLA. — Intel Corporation’s Dialogic subsidiary today announced that its broad range of CompactPCI (cPCI) building block products will now include full support for the Linux operating system. Intel Dialogic continues to build on the success of its initial system release for Linux by adding support for its entire family of products. With these enhancements, Linux now joins other fully supported operating systems that include Windows NT, Windows 2000, Tru64 UNIX , UnixWare and Solaris, enabling developers to build communications solutions for next generation networks. Intel Dialogic’s flexible, standards-based cPCI technology, coupled with the openness of Linux is a powerful building block alternative for creating next generation enhanced services platforms. These platforms scale to support thousands of ports per system with reduced deployment and maintenance costs. With Intel Dialogic’s high availability cPCI solutions, service providers can quickly meet the increasing demand for voice-enabled e-business services with the performance and reliability that carrier-grade platforms require. “Next generation networks are evolving towards a more open and modular infrastructure with more replaceable elements than traditional networks,” said John Amein, vice president of product marketing for Intel Dialogic. “Linux and cPCI represent an open, standard combination that we expect many developers and service providers will enthusiastically embrace to implement next generation networks and deliver high value services.” Carrier grade systems to be built using Intel Dialogic cPCI building blocks include Enhanced Media Gateways, Enhanced Programmable Switches, IP Signaling Gateways, and Voice Portals for packet networks. All of these systems were demonstrated successfully at TechSummit this week.

Other applications targeted for these cPCI building blocks include Unified Messaging, Enhanced Services, Intelligent Call Handling, and Call Completion Platforms for traditional networks. Intel Dialogic is working closely with developers and service providers to implement these solutions into their product and network infrastructure. Noble Systems, a provider of complete contact center technology and integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, recently completed the largest single all-Linux installation of their ATOMS predictive dialer, ACD call center management system, using Intel Dialogic voice processing hardware running on Linux. “If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind whether Linux was scalable, those concerns should now be put to rest. The system we developed is capable of processing more than 150,000 calls an hour, completely managing and tracking all call center activity from inbound calls to outbound predictive dialing to all agent and campaign statistics.” said Jim Noble, president and CEO of Noble Systems. Service providers and developers seeking to build next generation voice-enabled applications can choose from a comprehensive set of cPCI solutions, including Intel Dialogic’s family of Voice Processing, Network Interface, IP Telephony, ATM, SS7, Conferencing, Speech, and mixed media building blocks. These platforms have been developed to meet the market needs for uninterrupted services typically associated with traditional networks. Intel Dialogic has implemented its high availability cPCI architecture to comply with industry standards to ensure interoperability with other leading public network solution providers.

TRIPWIRE OPEN SOURCE, LINUX EDITION, AVAILABLE

Portland, ORE. — Tripwire, Inc., a leading provider of data and network integrity solutions, announced the availability of its Open Source product for the Linux operating system. Delivering on the commitment made earlier this year, Tripwire Open Source, Linux Edition is hosted on VA Linux Systems’ SourceForge, the world’s largest Open Source development center. The software is also included on the recently announced Red Hat Linux 7 Open Source Operating System. Tripwire Open Source, Linux Edition will continue to be integrated into other Linux solutions. “Tripwire Open Source, Linux Edition is a significant contribution of commercial-quality data and network integrity software to the Linux community. As Linux continues its incredible momentum, there is a real need for security applications that allow the customer to create with a foundation of integrity,” said W. Wyatt Starnes, president and CEO of Tripwire, Inc. “Our inclusion on SourceForge and the Red Hat Linux core operating system CD reinforces our commitment to and acceptance by the Linux community.”

“The release of Tripwire Open Source, Linux Edition, is nothing short of outstanding,” said Scott Mann, author of Linux System Security: The Administrator’s Guide to Open Source Security Tools. “This software represents a critical component to security in all Linux computing environments. With this GPL version, the improved Tripwire software is now available to the entire Linux community.” Tripwire Open Source, Linux Edition is functionally equivalent to Tripwire 2.2.1 for the Linux platform. The software is issued under the General Public License, the most widely used and accepted license for Open Source code in the Linux and Open Source community. Tripwire is the principal provider of resources to actively manage the project, and has appointed a gatekeeper to work with the Open Source user and developer communities to continually enhance the software. Tripwire is working with several partners to extend its data and network integrity capabilities to millions of Linux users. Current partners include Caldera, Penguin Computing, Red Hat and VA Linux Systems.

POPULAR POWER LETS USERS SELL COMPUTING CYCLES

San Francisco, CALIF. — Popular Power, a leader in distributed computing, launched a preview release of its Macintosh client software. Mac users can now download the Popular Power software, which harnesses the surplus processing power of Internet-connected computers. Participants donate their unused computing resources to important research projects and will soon have the option of selling that time to companies with large-scale computing needs. Once downloaded from www.popularpower.com, the Popular Power software operates as a screensaver. When the computer is idle a screensaver activates, contacts Popular Power’s server, and is sent a small piece of a large computing task. Once the task has been completed, the system sends results back to Popular Power and receives a new task. The screensaver disappears and Popular Power’s work ceases as soon as the mouse moves or a keystroke occurs. The launch of Popular Power’s Mac client marks the first commercial distributed computing software available for this platform. Popular Power’s general-purpose commercial software differs from that of earlier, non-commercial efforts in its ability to execute different types of jobs, as opposed to single functions.

“Apple is positioning its new G4 as a desktop supercomputer with good reason – the G4 is the first microprocessor that delivers a sustained performance of more than one gigaflop. That kind of power, coupled with the fact that Apple has superior vector processing capabilities, makes the Mac a highly appealing platform on which to run predictive modeling, bioinformatics and graphics rendering,” said Nelson Minar, CTO and co-founder of Popular Power. “In addition to a technological fit, there also seems to be a real ideological compatibility for Mac users and this kind of project,” said Marc Hedlund, CEO and co-founder of Popular Power. “Thousands of Mac owners joined our mailing list and have been on stand-by, waiting for this software to launch. The feedback we’ve received from them has shown a real enthusiasm to join in and start contributing their idle processing time.” Popular Power’s first project, which has been running on participants’ computers since April, is a non-profit research application that uses computer modeling to help better understand and improve influenza vaccines. This application allows participants to donate their time to a meaningful research project, while demonstrating the viability of the system for commercial biomedical applications. Other types of jobs well suited to the Popular Power platform include Web site load testing, financial simulations, computer graphics rendering and search engine indexing.

INNAPHASE TO PREVIEW PHARMACEUTICAL SOLUTION

Philadelphia, PA. — InnaPhase Corporation, the first and only provider of end-to-end software solutions for early drug development teams, announced that it is previewing the second level of its Enterprise Pharmacology Series(EP Series). Known as EP2, the advanced software technology provides research scientists with totally-integrated software solution for the centralized management, analysis, simulation and reporting of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data during Early Drug Development (EDD). The protocol-driven EP2 system incorporates all the latest innovations and advances in technology, building on the success of EP1, the first version offered in the EP Series.

The new EP2 solution will be demonstrated at the upcoming meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in Indianapolis, IN, October 30 to November 2. As early as possible in the development process, pharmaceutical companies must decide whether to send promising compounds into the later stage clinical development. To provide researchers with the information they need to make those critical decisions, InnaPhase made its primary objective the development of advanced software technology to integrate fragmented data into an enterprise-wide database and to provide tools for high throughput analysis and reporting. During EDD, extensive investigations are conducted to determine a compound’s potential, including pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analyses. The EP2 system adds protocol and report management to the EP Series, allows for more flexibility and database connectivity, and is totally protocol driven. For more information, see InnaPhase on the worldwide web at http://www.innaphase.com .

EMULEX TO DEVELOP HOST ADAPTER FOR VERSASTOR

Costa Mesa, CALIF. — Emulex Corp., a leading supplier of Fibre Channel host adapters and largest supplier of Fibre Channel host adapters to Compaq Computer Corp., Monday announced that it has signed an agreement with Compaq to develop a Fibre Channel host adapter to support Compaq’s VersaStor technology. The agreement outlines Emulex’s intent to define and develop VersaStor-ready products. Emulex host adapters will leverage VersaStor’s virtualization API to play a unique role in the SAN by providing a single, uniform storage interface and management model to heterogeneous servers. With a flexible host adapter architecture and the world’s broadest array of operating system support, Emulex is uniquely positioned to enable the wide deployment of VersaStor technology across Fibre Channel SANs.

“As the largest supplier of Fibre Channel host adapters to Compaq, Emulex is a natural partner in the development and deployment of VersaStor technology,” said Mark Lewis, vice president and general manager, Storage Software Business Product, Compaq Computer Corp. “Emulex and Compaq have worked closely together for years to bring leadership Fibre Channel-based products to market, and this agreement marks another significant step in our ongoing relationship.” “Compaq’s VersaStor technology promises to improve the way storage is deployed, used and managed,” stated Mike Smith, vice president of Worldwide Marketing at Emulex Corp. “Compaq is one of our largest Fibre Channel customers and we are pleased to partner on the development of this technology. Our LightPulse architecture provides a unique foundation, enabling us to deliver the performance, flexibility and features required by VersaStor agents.” Visit http://www.emulex.com for more information.

TIVOLI HAS SAN MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Orlando, FLA. — Tivoli Systems said it has the first storage area network (SAN) management solution to incorporate the newly defined American National Standards Institute (ANSI) T11 SAN discovery and management standards. The Tivoli Storage Network Manager, available today, simplifies how information is managed across the multiple platforms and operating environments typical in a SAN and enables customers to use best-of-breed technology to gain competitive advantage. Customers are not locked into one platform or vendor, but can choose individual products that best suit their needs, with the assurance that Tivoli Storage Network Manager will interoperate with them all.

ANSI certifies voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems across 175 industries, including technology. T11, a standards organization sanctioned by ANSI, has created the FC-MI (Fibre Channel – Methodologies for Interconnects) profile to ensure interoperability and standardized discovery and management, when implementing fibre channel networks. Tivoli Storage Network Manager is the first available SAN management solution to incorporate the newly defined T11 fibre channel SAN discovery and management standards. The lack of recognized industry standards, combined with the complexity of managing non-interoperable systems, has been a major deterrent to customer adoption of SANs. In a recent survey of IT professionals, industry research firm Enterprise Management Associates Inc. (EMA) found that 80% were delaying the purchase or deployment of SAN technology pending introduction of industry standard technology. “Most of the customers we surveyed recognize the need for SANs, but have postponed their implementations while waiting for the introduction of standards compliant solutions,” said Anne Skamarock, a senior analyst with EMA. “With the introduction of solutions such as Tivoli Storage Network Manager, which adhere to industry standards, customers have the assurance that management of their SAN will be consistent and reliable.” Visit http://www.tivoli.com for more information.

CNT SERVICES TURN SAN “HYPE” INTO REALITY

Orlando, FLA. — CNT, a global specialist in storage networking solutions, announced the availability of its field-proven SAN Services, established to enable customers to design and implement storage area networks (SANs) quickly and cost-effectively using the industry’s best SAN technologies. CNT’s SAN Services are highlighted in a new report from industry analyst Steve Duplessie, founder of Enterprise Storage Group, and will be candidly discussed in a presentation at Storage Networking World in Orlando, by EchoStar, the fastest-growing direct satellite television service provider. “While the SAN market is taking off, its growth is still hindered by confusion around the various networked storage strategies, the ongoing evolution of interoperability standards, and a lack of in-house IT resources with networked storage skills,” said Barb Goldworm, independent consultant and Track Chair for Networked Storage at Networld+Interop 2000. “Companies are looking for a partner who can provide the expertise, problem solving capabilities, and ability to deliver successful implementations to help them realize the real-world benefits of a SAN. Professional Services organizations like CNT’s, with a proven track record, can meet the needs of the marketplace, and help users reap the benefits of networked storage more quickly and easily.”

“CNT’s SAN services are the reality behind the hype,” said Gary Johnson, vice president of storage networking services at CNT. “CNT consultants provide the ‘know-how’ to make SANs work by leveraging our technology expertise, our multi-platform and multi-vendor approach, and years of real-world experience in designing and implementing storage networks.” EchoStar, a direct broadcast satellite television products and services company, is developing a new SAN infrastructure with CNT. CNT’s SAN Services organization provided EchoStar with a detailed, comprehensive plan for storage network design, implementation and proof-of-concept testing that enabled improved data protection and operating efficiency without impacting production or sacrificing system reliability. The first phase implementation of this new SAN architecture provides EchoStar with a 24-hour “no-impact backup” environment, and improvements of 500% in storage backup throughput over alternative backup designs.

METRO LINK PORTING X WINDOW SYSTEM PRODUCTS

Fort Lauderdale, FLA. — Metro Link Inc. ( http://www.metrolink.com ), a leader in graphical display software, is porting its X Window System products for use on Intel’s new IA-64 Itanium processor. This software will be ported to the IA-64 Linux and Monterey operating systems initially, with other operating systems to follow. Metro Link’s commercial-grade X server, Motif, and OpenGL products will allow users of high-powered graphics programs to work in a free-software Linux environment rather than in proprietary environments. This support also opens up new opportunities for the many Linux distributors, who have so far focused on the desktop market. The extra power of the Itanium processor brings in customers of high-end workstations, such as those designing graphics animation, architectural renderings and scientific visualization. With the horsepower of Intel’s IA-64 processor and Metro Link’s X Window System products, developers will be able to accomplish more, and at a less expensive price.

“IA-64 Linux will infiltrate the high-end workstation market and revolutionize it,” said Morgan Von Essen, Metro Link President and CEO. “Metro Link’s software code has long been 64-bit clean, so we anticipate no problems in porting our products to the Itanium processor. We look forward to supporting this fabulous new architecture.” Several operating systems have already been ported to pre-production Itanium systems, including IA-64 Linux, Monterey, Novell Modesto, HP-UX, and 64-bit Windows 2000. Metro Link’s X Window System products include Metro-X (an enhanced X server replacement), Metro Motif Complete! (a unique package of three Motif versions that enables all three versions to co-exist on a single machine), Metro Media (video-in-a-window and MPEG playback under X), and Metro Extreme 3D (a hardware-accelerated implementation of OpenGL).

MULTIVIEW CATALYST VERSION 6.0 DEBUTS

Scotts Valley, CALIF. — MultiView Group, part of SurfControl, Inc., announced the availability of its Web-to-host connectivity software, MultiView Catalyst version 6.0. Giving customers point-and-click Web access to their legacy UNIX applications in an “Internet instant,” MultiView Catalyst is the fastest and easiest way to face-lift and Web-enable UNIX applications. New features to MultiView Catalyst version 6.0 include complete printing support, end-to-end security, a Web page design wizard and enhanced monitoring and session connectivity capabilities. According to market research firm Meta Group, by 2004 more than 90 percent of legacy data will be accessible via Internet, intranet and extranet technologies. Furthermore, by 2003 UNIX servers are expected to capture $37 billion in end user spending, according to International Data Corp. (IDC). These statistics represent the widespread effort among IT organizations to move legacy UNIX applications to the Web.

Specifically designed for the UNIX environment, MultiView Catalyst offers UNIX customers the most cost-effective and efficient solution for face-lifting and connecting UNIX applications to the Web. In addition, MultiView Catalyst provides monitoring and usage abilities for assisting application service providers (ASPs) who offer outsourced Web-to-host connectivity services. “MultiView Catalyst 6.0 is a result of direct feedback from corporate and ASP customers who are desiring a more cost-effective solution for connecting legacy UNIX applications to the Web,” said Andreas Mueller, vice president of marketing for MultiView Group. “For the first time, customers can – without delay – face-lift and deliver UNIX applications to any Web browser.” “MultiView Catalyst Version 6.0 clearly offers the most functionality and ease-of-use of any software solution for connecting UNIX applications to the Web,” said systems architect Donald Treon with Prophet 21, a provider of distribution software for wholesale distributors on SQL Server, UNIX, and AS/400 platforms. “With the large numbers of users accessing UNIX boxes via the Web, a dire need exists for a UNIX Web-to-host solution. Yet, almost all of the Web-to-host solutions out there are specifically designed for the IBM market space and lack UNIX focus. None of these products come close to offering the capabilities of MultiView Catalyst for connecting UNIX applications to the Web.” For more information, customers may visit MultiView Group’s Web site at http://www.multiviewgroup.com .

LINUX-MANDRAKE 7.2 IS AVAILABLE

San Francisco, CALIF. — The Linux-Mandrake 7.2 (Odyssey) is immediately available via different Internet servers through http://www.linux-mandrake.com . With this new version, MandrakeSoft confirms its commitment to empowering people by releasing a fully-secured solution which is one of the most complete and easy-to-use operating systems ever. Soon to follow this announcement, Linux-Mandrake 7.2 will be available in three distinct varieties through Macmillan Software including PowerPack Deluxe, a complete package for the serious Linux enthusiast, Professional Suite for the SOHO or professional user, and Complete, the perfect Linux desktop for personal and professional productivity. An OEM Edition dedicated to OEM manufacturers and integrators who require an easy and complete Linux desktop solution will be available via MandrakeSoft.

MandrakeSoft will be the first publisher to include in Linux-Mandrake PowerPack Deluxe 7.2 – without any additional cost – ViaVoice, the voice recognition system which facilitates dictating documents. “With the many easy-to-use and automated administration tools provided in Linux-Mandrake 7.2, we are offering a complete operating system with powerful office tools, high-performance server applications – all tuned to a high degree of security, stability & usability. This release of Linux-Mandrake will certainly attract many Windows Me, NT & 2000 users to Linux!” said Jean-Loup Gailly – CTO of MandrakeSoft. Linux-Mandrake was born with the objective of offering the world a fully-graphical Linux operating system; ideally, this Linux system would be easy enough for a new user to get up and running quickly, yet complete and powerful enough to satisfy the most seasoned Linux professional. We firmly believe we’ve achieved this goal with Linux-Mandrake 7.2.

MMC AND MONTAVISTA BRING LINUX TO NETWORK ROUTERS

Washington, D.C. — MMC Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Micro Circuits Corp. and MontaVista Software, Inc. announced a joint public demonstration of the industry’s first high-speed Internet Protocol (IP) router reference design based completely on off-the-shelf network processing hardware and open-source Linux-based software. This joint reference design signals a significant advance for the networking industry, allowing a completely new generation of networking and communications equipment vendors to bring products to market more rapidly than ever. MMC Networks is the market leader in network processors for rapid development of multi-gigabit networking and communications products, while MontaVista Software is the leading embedded Linux provider. MMC and MontaVista have combined MontaVista’s Hard Hat Linux for real-time applications with MMC’s complete network processing platforms (network processors, switch fabrics, and traffic management engines), the MMC nPsoft Development Environment – including base system software, IP routing application reference library and developer API – and additional open-source application code.

This marriage of MMC Networks’ high-performance, deterministic hardware and software with MontaVista’s cost effective, functionality-rich Linux platform forms the potential base for a variety of Layer 3-7 service provider WAN and enterprise LAN devices. Network equipment vendors can, in turn, focus precious software resources on adding their own unique value to products ranging from broadband and optical access to IP subscriber management, Web switching and more. “This innovation enables the development of high-speed switching and routing systems based completely on off-the-shelf technology,” stated Jim Ready, president and CEO of MontaVista Software. “By combining MontaVista Software’s expertise in Linux and open-source software for real-time embedded applications with MMC Networks’ market-leading network processors, the networking equipment vendors can enjoy a dramatic time-to-market acceleration.” “The technological advancement demonstrated today allows network equipment vendors to further concentrate on development of their own differentiating system features,” stated Doug Spreng, president of MMC Networks. “Rather than spending time and resources on ASIC design and base system software development, network equipment vendors can put those efforts into creating system differentiation and ultimately garnering a higher stake in their respective markets.”

BEA ADAPTER WEB-ENABLES IBM HOST APPLICATIONS

San Jose, CALIF. — BEA Systems, Inc., one of the world’s leading e-business infrastructure software companies, announced the general availability of BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe 4.1. An enterprise application integration (EAI) solution, BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe enables businesses built on BEA WebLogic Server, the market-leading Java application server, to quickly and easily integrate existing mainframe application functionality and data into Java and Web-based computing environments. Over the last three decades, companies worldwide have invested trillions of dollars to develop mainframe-based applications that remain critical to their business operations. BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe extends and connects their legacy applications and data to the Web, making them accessible to customers, partners and suppliers. Such integration is an essential component of a “future-proof” business – one that is not only agile and adaptable, but also can prevent operational disruptions by leveraging its technology investments for their maximum value.

“Businesses are recognizing that real-time, high performance Web-to-host and host-to-Web transactions can provide significant business performance and competitive advantages,” said Barbara Britton, president of the BEA E-Commerce Integration Division. “With BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe 4.1, companies can seamlessly meet today’s demands for fast and flawless execution of business transactions across mainframe and Java environments, whether accessing existing legacy data directly from a Web site or exchanging information with a partner’s mainframe applications.” BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe 4.1 shrinks the time needed to develop Java-based applications that interact with mainframe programs. BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe 4.1 provides an environment familiar to both Java application developers and mainframe programmers, so no special skills are needed to develop cooperative applications. New with BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe 4.1 is a configuration option that supports a Distributed Communications Resource Manager. This option enhances overall performance and optimizes workload distribution between BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe’s gateway and the mainframe itself. Visit http://www.bea.com for more information.

NEOVISION RELEASES VISUAL IRAD 1.5

Troy, MICH. — The development of business applications for Microsoft’s .NET Platform has just become between 400 and 2400 percent faster, depending upon the programming task at hand. NeoVision Systems, a leader in eBusiness Transaction Automation for the .NET Platform, has just released Visual iRAD 1.5. Using unit of work metrics comparing manual programming to Visual iRAD 1.5, a complex n-tier browser-based form that took a developer 120 hours now consumes only 40 hours. A simple n-tier browser-based form that required 24 hours to complete by hand now takes 1 hour with Visual iRAD. Visual iRAD supports the Windows NT and Windows 2000 platforms extensively. This breakthrough product is a robust .NET application development environment that delivers elegance, speed, and built-in scalability to the web development marketplace.

Rikki Kirzner, Research Director of IDC, assessed the market opportunity by stating, “With all of the pressure to deliver web applications quickly, the emergence of eBusiness Transaction Automation (ETA) tools to help developers is very exciting.” She added, “This class of tools allows developers to bring applications to market in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of traditional coding methodologies.” Business application development teams have been successfully using Visual iRAD for 11 months under a controlled release. The new Visual iRAD 1.5 features have increased developer productivity and power and have distinguished Visual iRAD as a strategic .NET Platform tool. First, complete developer control over n-tier code generation is unparalleled within the industry. Second, automated browser form development from within Microsoft’s leading Visual Basic 6.0 product is unmatched. Visual iRAD’s power delivers measurable competitive advantages to today’s inundated web development teams. “Visual iRAD delivers compelling benefits to the .NET development community,” said Peter Boit, vice president, E-Commerce at Microsoft Corp. “Building robust, browser-based applications can be a lot of work without tools like Visual Studio, Visual iRAD and the .NET Platform.”

DELL LAUNCHES WORKSTATION GRAPHICS CARDS

Round Rock, TEXAS — Dell introduced four new standard graphics cards for Americas-based customers of its Dell Precision Workstations. Dell, one of the world’s leading direct computer systems company and workstation suppliers, also launched its Dell Graphics Plus program for customers with specialized graphics requirements. “Customers buy workstations for critical applications. Many of those applications rely heavily on the graphics subsystem, so having a range of certified graphics offerings is extremely important to them,” said Jeff Clarke, vice president and general manager for Dell Precision Workstations.

“With our direct-to-customer business model, our goal is to deliver the broadest and most capable range of graphic solutions to the market faster than anyone else, either through our standard factory offerings or using the Dell Graphics Plus program.” Dell is one of the first workstation vendors to offer the Fire GL2 graphics adapter from FGL Graphics, a division of S3 Inc. The 64 MB Fire GL2 offers high-end performance at a mid-range price and supports both analog and digital outputs. Dell will be first-to-market with the NVIDIA Quadro2 Pro, a 64 MB card with outstanding price/performance for 2D and 3D applications. The Quadro2 Pro includes optimized drivers for mechanical design and digital content creation applications. For basic graphics needs, Dell Precision Workstation 220 customers can now order the NVIDIA TNT2 Pro, a 16 MB card that offers excellent business application performance.

QLOGIC AND NORTEL COMPLETE TESTING

Aliso Viejo, CALIF. — QLogic Corp., the leading SAN infrastructure provider, today announced that it has successfully completed joint testing between its Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) components and Nortel Networks metropolitan-area fiber optic transport technology. The testing demonstrates the compatibility of QLogic’s QLA2200 Series Fibre Channel host adapters and SANbox switches with Nortel Networks OPTera Metro 5200 Multiservice Platform and SAN products from other leading vendors. Nortel Networks OPTera 5200 enables storage service providers (SSPs) to connect Fibre Channel SANs across distances up to and beyond 100 km, making “Metropolitan SANs” possible. Using dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM), OPTera 5200 can aggregate up to 32 separate data channels over a single fibre and transmit this information over 100 km. This dramatic decrease in the cost of native rate Fibre Channel interconnection enables corporations’ SANs to be built seamlessly over metropolitan networks, and underpins the business models for new Storage Service Providers (SSP).

SSPs now have the bandwidth necessary at the right price to provide storage, backup, archive, and disk mirroring services for resource-strapped IT organizations. According to IDC, the SAN services market is projected to grow almost 120 percent (CAGR) from 1998 to 2003. “The interoperability of our high-performance Local Internet solutions with storage networks allows enterprise customers to grow their SANs beyond the walls of individual buildings, maximizing the use of storage devices in different locations,” said Brian McFadden, vice president, Metro Optical Solutions, Nortel Networks. “We will continue to work with QLogic to build solutions that help enterprises make optimum use of their computing resources and protect their business operations and mission critical data.” The interoperability testing – conducted jointly at each SAN provider’s facility – included protocol application and distance testing up to 100 kilometers, utilizing each company’s leading storage solutions. The testing process also included subjecting the interconnected equipment to stressful operating conditions and fiber connectivity disruptions.

ASTRUM SOFTWARE DELIVERS SOLUTION

Boston, MASS. — Astrum Software Corporation, a leading provider of Windows 2000/NT/9X storage resource management (SRM) software, announced the release of the StorCast Interconnect Monitor as the latest member to its SRM family. The StorCast Interconnect Monitor is fully integrated with Astrum’s StorCast suite of products, including the StorCast Storage Asset Manager (SAM) and StorCast Reporter. “SRM is the fastest growing segment in the storage management software market,” according to Steve Widen, Research Director for Storage Software, IDC. Widen continues, “Astrum Software’s release of StorCast Reporter and StorCast Interconnect Monitor provides organizations with an effective solution to monitor, manage and track distributed storage resources throughout the enterprise. As organizations continue to deploy mission-critical Windows 2000 applications, SRM is no longer an option, but a necessity within the IT infrastructure. SRM is an intelligent defense against rising storage management costs.”

The StorCast Interconnect Monitor ensures the availability of all storage devices, storage area network (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS); therefore, securing access to data – an organization’s most valuable asset. StorCast Interconnect Monitor not only addresses storage, it verifies availability of network appliances and systems running various operating systems, such as Windows 2000/NT/9x, UNIX, LINUX, HP-UX, OpenVMS and others. Tom Curlin, Equity Research Analyst, System Area Networks for Morgan Keegan and Company says, “Organizations are facing a relentless rise in the demand for stored information from critical business applications such as email, transaction processing, and data mining. We therefore believe that the future is extremely bright for those best of breed software vendors that help to deliver on the promise of integrated frameworks for information access, availability, and administration across the enterprise. Astrum Software’s StorCast Suite directly addresses this compelling market opportunity with a well-conceived array of tools for organizations seeking to regain control of their storage infrastructures.” With this release, Astrum is redefining SRM and raising the bar to account for the importance of providing a solution to monitor client-to-storage resources in complex distributed enterprises. In the event of an outage, the StorCast Interconnect Monitor will circumvent trouble-shooting and bring the IT staff right to the failure source.

ADAPTEC ANNOUNCES 2GBIT HBA FOR SERVERS

Milpitas, CALIF. — Adaptec, Inc., a global leader in innovative storage solutions, today announced it’s first 2Gbit, low profile, Fibre Channel host bus adapter. The AFC9210LP host bus adapter from Adaptec offers 2Gbit/sec PCI-to-Fibre Channel connectivity, leading the Fibre Channel industry’s rapid transition to 2Gbit technology. The adapter has an MD2 low profile form factor and is backward compatible to 1Gbit devices, making it ideal for enabling a wide array of 1Gbit and 2Gbit Storage Area Networking (SAN) applications. The board’s flexible design will support low-profile and standard PCI brackets which will allow it to be used in rack-mount, pedestal or mixed-server environments.

Demonstrations of the adapter, called the AFC 9210LP, will begin next week at key OEMs, and product sampling will begin in November. Full product availability is slated for early during the first quarter of calendar year 2001. Pricing has not been set yet. The AFC 9210LP features Agilent Technologies’ Tachyon XL2-based 64-bit, 66 MHz chip, with data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbytes/sec in full duplex mode. The product will be offered with two different interfaces: an optical small form factor pluggable LC connector and an HSSDC copper connector. It will support Windows 2000, Windows NT, Linux, Netware, Solaris for X86, and SCOUnixware. “Adaptec’s focused efforts over the past nine months have created a market leadership opportunity through our low profile 2Gbit HBA, with more 2Gbit products to come,” said Peter Aylaian, marketing manager of the Fibre Channel Group at Adaptec. “Adaptec views the upcoming market shift to 2Gbit technology as a critical point for all suppliers, and we intend to fully support them with the products, service and support tools they need to make a smooth transition.”

SUSE LINUX FOR S/390 AVAILABLE NOW

Nuremberg, GERMANY — SuSE Linux, an international technology leader and solutions provider in Open Source operating system software, announced the general availability of SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390. SuSE’s Linux distribution for the mainframe allows enterprise customers to scale Linux from PC clients to host systems. “We are glad to be the only company today delivering a worldwide Linux distribution for IBM S/390 servers,” said Roland Dyroff, CEO of SuSE Linux AG. “SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390 is the result of the unique partnership between SuSE and IBM. SuSE’s technological leadership and expertise in combination with IBM’s strength and reliability make SuSE Linux for S/390 systems the operating system of choice in the enterprise server environment.”

With the general availability of SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390, SuSE supports more IBM server platforms than any other commercially available Linux distribution. “It’s great to have the SuSE Linux for S/390 distribution generally available and ready for our customers to put into production,” said Nancy Roath, IBM Vice President Enterprise Server Brand Marketing. “SuSE’s Linux for S/390 and our S/390 and zSeries servers together provide an industrial strength that’s ready to support mission critical server applications.” SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390 supports IBM’s G5 and G6 servers as well as the popular IBM Multiprise 3000. There are three methods for installation of SuSE Linux. First, in a logical partition (LPAR). Secondly, as a guest under the operating system VM (Virtual Machine), and finally, within the Virtual Image Facility (VIF), which allows users to implement several thousand independent Linux images on one machine. “We used the same source code base and build process for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390 as on our other platforms,” explained Marcus Kraft, development manager for SuSE Linux on S/390. “This quality attribute makes SuSE Linux unique.” With common APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), software developers can create applications on a PC and migrate them easily to their preferred target platform. Administrators benefit from common setup and configuration. “It was a major effort to ensure we have a well tested, real Linux distribution, not just some code that runs on S/390,” said Kraft. Additional information about SuSE can be found at http://www.suse.de/en/ .

EXABYTE INTRODUCES FAMILY OF LIBRARIES

Boulder, COLO. — Exabyte Corporation, a performance leader in network backup storage, announced two new products in its family of multi-technology tape libraries and autoloaders. The design of this family of products currently accommodates MammothTape and LTO Ultrium technologies and will soon include DLTtape technology. The newest members of the family, the 215M MammothTape library, powered by M2 (Mammoth-2) tape drives, and the 110L LTO Ultrium autoloader, powered by LTO Ultrium tape drives, represent the most cost-effective automation solutions available today. Complementing these offerings is the company’s 430M MammothTape library that began shipping in September. The 215M will ship in November 2000, and the 110L began shipping in October 2000. List prices start at $10,000.

“Exabyte has a long legacy of producing quality tape libraries and autoloaders. We wanted to bring together the value and affordability of our low-end product set with the capacity and usability of our high-end products to provide affordable, high performance automation solutions for multiple technologies,” said Peri Grover, senior product marketing manager at Exabyte. “This new family of products provides users with an easy entry into affordable automation with the lowest possible cost of ownership. Features also allow for implementation in SAN applications, either now or in the future.” Both the 215M and the 110L occupy just one cubic foot and five units of rack space. The convenient 1/2 rack width allows two libraries to fit easily side-by-side, or one library to fit on a desktop or on top of a server, maximizing valuable data center space and increasing installation flexibility. The 215M tape library and the 110L autoloader both feature a removable data cartridge magazine, providing for easy, secure loading and unloading of cartridges to facilitate offline storage. Available options include Fibre Channel and Ethernet connectivity for optimized use in SAN applications and bar code capability, reducing inventory time and facilitating media management.

SONY DEVELOPS OPTICAL DISK STORAGE SYSTEM

San Diego, CALIF. — Sony Corporation announced the development of an optical data storage system, provisionary named the “5.25-inch Ultra Density Optical (UDO) Format,” with more than 40GB of recording capacity. Sony is positioning the UDO format as the successor to the Magneto-Optical (MO) disk system, and will now work to finalize the format by the spring of 2001 for product launch in late 2002. Sony has been actively involved in the development of rewritable data disks, beginning with the 5.25-inch MO disk system (650MB) in 1988. Since then, Sony has doubled (1.3GB) the capacity in 1993, quadrupled it (2.6GB) in 1996, octupled it (5.2GB) in 1988, and is now working to develop 9.1GB system at 14 times the original capacity.

MO systems have gained popularity in the data storage market for features such as random access, high transfer rate, large capacity and long term reliability. In addition to PCs and workstations, MO systems are widely used to store data for LAN/Web servers and for storing medical image data and official public documents. In 1999, 120,000(a) units of the 5.25-inch MO system were shipped globally (Source: IDC report). In anticipation of the ever-growing size of digital data in the network era, the market is now requesting an even higher capacity disk storage system with the 5.25-inch form factor. This is especially the case for data servers used for archival purposes, where large volumes of data must be quickly accessed and transferred. In light of this market demand, Sony decided to develop the “5.25-inch UDO format,” a next generation storage system based on a high density optical disk technology. By utilizing violet laser at 405nm wavelength and a land-groove recording system, the new format realizes 40GB of recording capacity. Dimensions of the external cartridge are the same as the current 5.25-inch MOs, which will facilitate future upgrades and expansions of the library systems. Sony is also developing a “Write Once Media Format” for archiving official public documents.

ROADMAP ANNOUNCED FOR PLASMON 12-INCH TRUEWORM

Minneapolis, MINN. — Plasmon has announced the roadmap for 12-inch optical TrueWORM technology products that would extend capacity of its drives and media from the current 30GB to 240 GB per disc by the year 2005. Simultaneously, FileNET announced its commitment to support the future products planned through its Panagon software and OSAR libraries. Plasmon, a leading provider of removable data storage products, plans to release the next generation 60 GB drives and single layer media by mid-2002, move to 120 GB and dual layer media by the end of 2003 and 240 GB by mid-2005.

“FileNET has agreed to support Plasmon’s roadmap because our business focuses on customers who are concerned that their e-content and critical data are stored safely and can be accessed quickly and easily. TrueWORM technology combines unalterability of data, which meets data security requirements, with the highest near-line speed and capacity at the lowest possible cost per megabyte,” said John Greene, senior product manager for FileNET. The technology supporting these large capacity gains is based on implementing violet lasers. Due to the shorter wave length of violet lasers as compared to red lasers used with DVD and CD optical recording today, there is a 2.6 X improvement in areal density – narrowing the gap between the media’s pits and lands. Plasmon is also developing dual layer media, which will bring the second major capacity gain. By 2005 Plasmon will reduce the thickness of the cover layer on the glass substrate from 1.2 mm to 0.1 mm and incorporate a process that uses dual actuator lenses to allow backward read compatibility, which is used in DVD-ROM drives to read CD-ROM media. Visit http://www.plasmon.com for more information.

SAMSUNG SDS LAUNCHES WISEVIEW 3.2

San Jose, CALIF. — Samsung SDS America, the U.S. division of Korea’s $1 billion information technology company Samsung SDS, announces WiseVIEW 3.2, a multipurpose file viewer capable of displaying and converting many different types of files. WiseVIEW eliminates the need to purchase numerous desktop applications by supporting hundreds of popular image and office productivity file formats. Last year, Samsung SDS successfully launched WiseVIEW in Japan. WiseVIEW replaces the need for hundreds of desktop applications by supporting the most common image and office productivity suite file formats. It can be installed on a corporate intranet to enable employees to share virtually any document or image file without the need for the original application. WiseVIEW is easy to use due to its seamless integration with browsers, yet it also has powerful 3D modeling file viewing capabilities for advanced CAD users.

“For desktop users, WiseVIEW eliminates the need to rush out and buy a costly application in order to view a file. The savings are even higher when groups of users need to work on a file together,” said Jiyoung Chang, Vice President of the e-Solution Division of Samsung SDS America. “For CAD users, the exceptional ability to view and compare complex model data makes WiseVIEW an essential addition to their toolbox.” WiseVIEW offers powerful functionality for displaying and manipulating complex 3D CAD models. Users can display CAD models in real time, and manipulate them in numerous ways for use in applications such as CATIA, IGES, STEP, VRML, and STL. The ability to save 3D CAD images in a variety of formats makes it easy for CAD designers to share images across multiple platforms and applications. WiseVIEW is ideal in areas such as PDMS (Product Data Management Systems), EDMS (Electric Document Management Systems) and KMS (Knowledge Management Systems). ActiveX controls enable WiseVIEW to totally integrate with other systems. Features such as Markup, Watermark, Print Header & Footer and Batch Printing provide additional versatility for handling files and documents. In addition, WiseVIEW users can work in collaboration with other people on the network using the Audio/Video conferencing capabilities of Microsoft Netmeeting. For more information, please visit their Web site at http://www.sds.samsung.com .

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