Product Watch: DRS Receives Orders For Systems. SCO Enhances UnixWare 7. Unix Toolkit Ported To IA64 Turbolinux.

December 1, 2000

SHORT TAKES

DRS TECHNOLOGIES RECEIVES ORDERS FOR SYSTEMS

Parsippany, N.J. — DRS Technologies, Inc. announced that it has received new orders from the U.S. Government to provide UltraSPARC II computer network servers for worldwide field deployment. DRS Technologies, a leading supplier of TEMPEST computer equipment, is teamed with Sun Microelectronics, a division of Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountainview, California, to supply systems incorporating Sun UltraSPARC II microprocessor technology. For these new orders valued at $2.3 million, the company’s DRS Advanced Programs unit in Columbia, Maryland, will design, integrate, test and deliver second-generation TEMPEST rack-mounted servers.

Mark S. Newman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of DRS Technologies, stated, “DRS is a recognized leader in TEMPEST computer systems for special government applications. Our strategic teaming arrangement with Sun Microelectronics has provided us with the ability to integrate the latest commercial computing technology in cost-effective, reliable, field-deployable system solutions for our customer. Through enhancements and upgrades, DRS has reduced product costs while improving portability, processing power, speed, data capacity and display performance to meet critical requirements for a variety of government missions around the world.” DRS has delivered over 3,000 SPARC – based computer workstations, servers and other peripheral equipment to this customer under separate programs for more than five years and has been a systems integrator for the government for over 30 years. These high-performance systems are designed specifically for a variety of unique government applications.

The new rack-mounted servers produced for this award will include the Sun Solaris operating system and a SPARC engine Ultra AXmp motherboard. They will utilize four high-speed UltraSPARC II processors operating at 450 MHz with 18 GB each of data storage and 2 GB of memory. Designed for scalability from mainstream computer workstations to supercomputing servers, the UltraSPARC II meets the demands of today’s intensive, network-centric, multimedia-rich applications. Additional information is available on the company’s web site at http://www.drs.com .

OPENGL PERFORMER 2.4 CHANGES LINUX SIMULATION

Orlando, FLA. — SGI announced the OpenGL Performer 2.4 application programming interface (API) upgrade for both IRIX and Linux operating systems. OpenGL Performer is a powerful API for creating real-time visual simulation and other interactive 3D graphics applications. The software provides sophisticated multiprocess and multichannel management, spanning the spectrum of complex graphics applications. Acting as a bridge between IRIX and Linux, OpenGL Performer provides true cross-platform functionality and investment protection for real-time 3D markets. The OpenGL Performer 2.4 release extends its industry-leading capabilities by adding a host of advanced features such as layered fog, anisotropic filtering, rotorwash and advanced performance-analysis tools and extends scalable performance across the entire graphics product line of SGI systems. And, as always, as part of the full release to help application developers, OpenGL Performer 2.4 includes source code for utilities and sample programs. In addition, this release marks the introduction of a Web-based source code repository where the OpenGL Performer development community can freely share modifications and updates to these sample programs.

“Advanced feature sets, true cross-platform multiprocessing power and unsurpassed real-time performance are what make OpenGL Performer the industry-leading API,” said Ben Passarelli, senior director, Advanced Systems Marketing, SGI. “The release of OpenGL Performer 2.4 continues SGI’s dedication to bringing innovation and performance to the visual simulation industry.” In addition to advanced functionality, the 2.4 version of OpenGL Performer is the first Linux release that contains a multithreaded version of the product, driving true multiprocess performance for OpenGL Performer and the many applications worldwide that run on it. In keeping with the nature of the Linux community, an evaluation version of the single-process OpenGL Performer 2.4 for Linux can be downloaded free of charge on the SGI Web site at http://www.sgi.com/software/performer .

E&S & CG2 JOIN TO OFFER PERFORMANCE ON A PC IG

Salt Lake City, UTAH — Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. and CG2 Inc., announced that CG2’s VTree Pro is the first real-time 3D graphics API to offer full support for simFUSION GigaPixel (GP) technology and sensor API. This support will enable simulation and visualization end users to take advantage of performance previously found only in expensive-to-own, high-end visualization workstations. With VTree running on simFUSION GP, developers will have the ability to double the pixel fill rates of their applications, greatly increasing overall performance. VTree Pro uses its MultiVis technology to synchronize multiple renderings, which are combined to accomplish the increased GigaPixel fill rate. The combination of E&S simFUSION hardware with CG2 VTree Pro provides a premiere low-cost, PC-based system for real-time application development, simulation, and visualization applications. CG2 and E&S will demonstrate this support in the E&S Booth (Booth 602) at I/ITSEC 2000.

In supporting the simFUSION sensor API, VTree offers developers the ability to off-load the sensor graphics processing, for features such as sensor gain, bias, polarity, noise, and automatic gain control (AGC) to the hardware. This allows VTree applications to take advantage of these sensor features without the overhead typically associated with their real-time rendering, thus freeing up resources to be dedicated to other application features. “Offering the power of simFUSION with the advanced capabilities of VTree provides our customers with a comprehensive PC simulation solution,” said David Fluegeman, E&S PC Simulation general manager. “We are excited about VTree Pro’s early support for our GigaPixel technology.” “We are very excited to combine the capabilities of our software with the Evans & Sutherland simFUSION hardware,” said Tim Palmer, chief technical officer of CG2. “The unique hardware capabilities of simFUSION and the flexibility and power of VTree offer superior combinations not previously available in the vis/sim market.”

MULTIGEN-PARADIGM ANNOUNCES SITEBUILDER 3D

Orlando, FLA — At the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), MultiGen-Paradigm, Inc., the leading developer of realtime 3D solutions, announced SiteBuilder 3D, a new 3D geographic information systems (GIS) product. As an extension to ESRI’s popular ArcView GIS(TM) desktop mapping program, SiteBuilder 3D effortlessly transforms 2D map data into realistic and fully-interactive 3D environments allowing users to conduct virtual fly-throughs while simultaneously tracking their position in ArcView. Few tools exist today that can facilitate the simple creation of 3D worlds from a GIS program, but SiteBuilder 3D makes this process simple without requiring high-level technical or 3D modeling expertise. These realtime capabilities are also the same visualization techniques that are used by MultiGen-Paradigm in high-end flight simulators, driving simulators and realtime games.

SiteBuilder 3D can rapidly generate a 3D terrain skin directly from common elevation data sources, including digital elevation models and contour maps. These terrain skins are then draped with high-resolution aerial photography, satellite imagery or any ArcView map. Point, line and polygon features are projected onto the 3D terrain with 3D models and textures that are supplied by SiteBuilder’s model library. Once the 3D scene is created, the user can conduct virtual fly-throughs or walk-throughs in realtime using a computer mouse as a pointing device. Clouds, fog and time-of-day options significantly increase the realism of the 3D scene. By viewing GIS data in realtime 3D, SiteBuilder 3D gives the user a deeper understanding of scale, proximity and view impacts that are very difficult to interpret from 2D maps. “The ability to quickly create a realtime 3D scene directly from your map data significantly extends the power of ArcView GIS,” said Jon Zucker, Urban Simulation/GIS Market Manager at MultiGen-Paradigm. “Now urban planners, military analysts, engineering firms and natural resource managers can easily view their data in 3D, making their GIS applications more compelling.” “Landowners frequently struggle to interpret two-dimensional maps, especially for projects involving complex terrain and structures,” said Chuck Donley, Land Planner at Donley & Associates, Inc. and SiteBuilder beta user. “SiteBuilder provides an essential tool to assist in assessing the visual impact of proposed development projects.”

SCO RELEASES ENHANCEMENTS TO UNIXWARE 7

Santa Crux, CALIF. — The SCO Server Software Division, an independent business unit of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc., announced the availability of two feature supplements for its UnixWare 7 operating platform. The supplements are part of an ongoing effort to provide customers, developers, ISVs and OEMs with a high quality and innovative server operating environment. Both are available as free downloads from http://www.sco.com/download . The first supplement is the UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.1 Data Center Feature Supplement (DCFS). The DCFS provides users of UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.1 with improved support for large database systems and heightened reliability, availability and scalability. The second supplement is the UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.1 Universal Development Kit (UDK) Supplement. The UDK Supplement provides developers with an improved one-stop resource to port applications to UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.1, UnixWare 7 NonStop Clusters Release 7.1.1+IP and SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.6.

“These UnixWare 7 feature supplements show the continuing innovation in our flagship product line,” said John Palmer, vice president of product marketing, for the SCO Server Software Division. “This DCFS shows exceptional promise. First of all, the customer will see unparalleled price/performance that will outpace our big iron rivals. Secondly, our ISV and OEM partners will be pleased that our operating system is perfectly optimized to run large database applications on large multiprocessor systems.” In August 2000, Caldera Systems, Inc. announced plans to purchase the SCO SSD. “UnixWare 7 enhancements are great news for customers using or looking to use the product,” said Darren Davis, vice president of research and development for Caldera Systems, Inc. “Together, Caldera Systems and SCO want to give our customers and partners the best UNIX and Linux systems. With increased UnixWare 7 functionality, we accomplish the goal of providing highly scalable and available large back-end databases on the UnixWare platform.”

UNIX TOOLKIT PORTED TO IA64 TURBOLINUX

San Francisco, CALIF. — Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc. (ICS), the leading supplier of commercial Motif products and support, and Turbolinux, Inc., the leader in high-performance Linux for Internet infrastructure solutions, announced immediate availability of Open Motif for Intel’s forthcoming Itanium processor-based systems. This is the first port of Motif, the industry standard GUI toolkit for UNIX applications, for IA64 Linux on Intel Itanium systems. Most mission-critical applications that run on UNIX use Motif as an integral part of their application. Typical applications that depend on Motif include aircraft ground systems at Boeing, financial applications developed by Credit Suisse and other investment houses, the programming control system at DirectTV, criminal investigation support systems at the FBI, the crew and equipment scheduling system of Southwest Airlines, control systems for the subway systems of Boston and San Francisco and tools developed at Walt Disney, Dreamworks and many other animation studios. Motif is also used extensively by independent software vendors such as Oracle and Rational Software. “Enterprise applications currently deployed on UNIX almost all rely on Motif and this port will greatly accelerate the adoption of Linux on IA64 processor systems,” said Jerry Greenberg, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Turbolinux. “Turbolinux has been a leader in developing Linux for IA64 and we see this step as critical for ISVs in making their applications available on Intel’s next-generation systems.”

“Open Motif on Linux for IA64 is enterprise ready,” said Mark Hatch, Chief Operating Officer for ICS. “The Turbolinux operating system and hardware are stable and ready for porting Motif applications.” Open Motif is available for free downloads at the MotifZone, ICS’s Motif portal site ( http://www.motifzone.net ). This release includes the latest bug fixes to Open Motif provided by other vendors and the open source community. Founded in 1987, ICS was chartered to create software development tools for developers working with the then emerging X Window System. The company’s first product offerings included X training and a version of Motif for systems manufactured by Sun Microsystems. Prior to widespread adoption of Motif by the UNIX workstation vendors, ICS was the leading independent shipper of the Motif toolkit. In 1998, The Open Group chose ICS to provide technical support for its Motif source code licenses. For further information on ICS, its products or services, visit the ICS Website at http://www.ics.com .

RED HAT LINUX 7 AVAILABLE FOR COMPAQ ALPHA

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Red Hat, Inc., a leader in developing, deploying and managing open source solutions for Internet infrastructure, announced today the availability of Red Hat Alpha Deluxe for Compaq Computer Corporation’s Alpha products, which include Compaq’s AlphaServer DS and ES series and all Compaq AlphaStations. In addition, Red Hat Linux 7 is bundled and pre-loaded on selected Compaq ProLiant Servers and selected Compaq Deskpro models. This expanded relationship continues the growing momentum and widespread industry adoption of Red Hat Linux. “Compaq’s expanding commitment to Red Hat Linux illustrates the growing momentum for open source and Internet solutions,” said Bob Cymbalski, vice president product management, Red Hat, Inc. “The combination of Compaq’s AlphaServer and AlphaStation solutions and Red Hat Linux delivers Internet and enterprise computing to our customers.”

“Compaq gives customers the broadest range of robust, industry leading offerings to implement their Linux solutions,” said Don Harbert, vice president and general manager of the High Performance Server Business Unit at Compaq Computer Corporation. “Red Hat’s new Red Hat Linux 7 with features like enhanced security and ease-of-use offer Compaq Alpha users new levels of performance and reliability to meet the computing needs of customers worldwide.” Red Hat Alpha Deluxe is part of Red Hat’s complete family of open source solutions for today’s Internet economy – including e-commerce servers with Stronghold Apache and the growing number of embedded, Internet-enabled devices. Red Hat Linux 7 provides enhanced security, new ease-of-use features and optimized software for new AlphaServers, along with dozens of new enterprise-ready applications, extending its lead as the most powerful and widely used open source server environment in the world. Through the new Red Hat Network–available now to all Red Hat Linux 7 users on a free trial basis (see related press release, September 25 http://www.redhat.com/about/2000/ ) – Red Hat is pioneering a new way to deliver open source products, service, support and information on-line in real-time.

HARPERBUSINESS SIGNS BOOK BY LINUX CREATOR

San Diego, CALIF. — HarperBusiness, a division of HarperCollins, has announced they will publish a book by Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux computer operating system. Torvalds will give an inside account of how he came to write the open-source, freely-distributed Linux code in JUST FOR FUN: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary, co-written with David Diamond, to be published by HarperBusiness in 2001. JUST FOR FUN: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary will combine autobiography, technological insight, and business philosophy in an account of the phenomenal growth of Linux. Now used by over 12 million people, Linux has challenged the hegemony of commercial operating systems and set a standard for open source principles and cooperative development; its success has been driven by a worldwide community of programmers and users who regularly contribute to its refinement. Torvalds himself continues to control the essential “kernel” software, receiving and orchestrating the contributions of a core group of programmers from around the world.

From his childhood and education in Finland to his commitment in college to the ideal of “free software”; from the early days of Linux development (including the e-mail “flames” from hackers who were opposed to his efforts) to its adoption by technologically-savvy users at Fermilab and NASA; from his consultation work with Intel to his current position with Transmeta, (ironically one of the most secretive companies in Silicon Valley), Torvalds describes the influences, experiences, and philosophy that have driven him to develop and devote himself to the Linux code. “The Linux operating system has offered a real challenge to the power of Microsoft and other proprietary systems,” notes HarperInformation Associate Publisher Adrian Zackheim, “and the principle of freely-shared code offers a range of new business models and development options to the technology industry. The insights and experiences of such a key figure as Linus Torvalds will be invaluable in this changing environment.”

DBADIRECT OFFERS HANDS-OFF DATABASE ADMINISTRATION

Cincinnati, OHIO — dbaDIRECT, a leader in the emerging field of remote database management, announced dbTECHtive for MS SQL Server, a service that assesses and reports the condition of a database within 24 hours of connectivity and indicates if it is running to its highest potential, predicting potential problem areas while making no alterations to the current system. dbaDIRECT previously announced the dbTECHtive service for Oracle and now extends its capability to provide customers with world-class database administration services by offering the dbTECHtive service for the MS SQL environment. “dbTECHtive for SQL Server allows our clients to see a “point-in-time” view of the state of their SQL Server environment to ascertain if there are opportunities for immediate improvement,” said Mark Vorholt, chief technology officer of dbaDIRECT. “For clients, who have not reviewed the technical status of some of their SQL Servers for a period of time, dbTECHtive provides a good benchmark of the overall condition of the environment.”

dbTECHtive’s unique capability to analyze and report the point-in-time condition of a database within 24 hours of connectivity places dbaDIRECT at the forefront of database management technology. The new service provides a comprehensive check-up on crucial database performance issues from physical structure, space availability, and index space allocation to backup, and recovery issues. dbTECHtive specifically identifies and documents potential problem areas that require attention. The primary requirement to utilize dbTECHtive is system-level access to a MS SQL Server database instance. The product will soon be available for Sybase and UDB DB2 database platforms. dbTECHtive supports Unix or Windows NT systems and Oracle version 7.3.X or higher and MS SQL Server 7.0. For further information, please visit dbaDIRECT’s website at http://www.dbadirect.com .

MTI TECH UNVEILS VIVANT STORAGE APPLIANCE

Anaheim, CALIF. — MTI technology corp., a leading provider of storage and business solutions, announced the introduction of the MTI Vivant 25 SAN storage appliance. A new member of the proven Vivant family based on MTI Data Services Architecture, the V25 extends MTI’s market by providing enterprise class availability, performance, flexibility, and integrated Storage Area Network (SAN) capability to a larger marketplace. “The V25’s small footprint and high performance capabilities are especially suited to companies running high availability, clustering applications that require physically separate, redundant Fibre Channel SAN storage servers in a single footprint,” said Russ Ritchie, director of product marketing. “The MTI Vivant 25 allows them to extend the proven advantages of SANs throughout their organizations in a space-efficient and affordable manner.” The MTI Vivant family is one of the industry’s first integrated SAN solutions to be classified as a “Disaster Tolerant Disk System Plus” (DTDS+) by the RAID Advisory Board (RAB). With a reduced footprint, the V25 combines multiple Fibre Channel storage servers into a single cabinet only two feet by two feet.

“The Vivant 25 extends our market opportunity for new business,” stated MTI’s COO, Paul Emery. “The V25 requires only half the floor space as many competitors’ solutions. Environments constrained by space or not able to justify expensive, large footprint enterprise solutions or multiple, larger systems for redundancy will find the V25 particularly appealing.” Since its first Vivant launch almost two years ago, MTI has been installing hundreds of integrated SAN solutions over the past several quarters. MTI’s Vivant storage systems provide high availability and flexible, scalable solutions to meet today’s mission critical data consolidation requirements and investment protection for future growth. They also support leading host operating system platforms and databases. The V25 is engineered for high performance On-line Transaction Processing (OLTP) or database applications that are performance intensive, as opposed to storage intensive, in nature. Other applications that will benefit from the high availability and flexibility of the V25 include Microsoft Exchange or e-mail, Web site hosting, host-based file or data sharing, software development, network management, and quality control or development areas.

BROCADE WELCOMES DEVELOPERS TO PROGRAM

San Jose, CALIF. — Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., a leading provider of Storage Area Networking infrastructure, announced the Brocade Fabric Threads developer program. With more than 90 founding members, the Brocade Fabric Threads program is a major initiative to provide leading providers of hardware and software solutions for storage area networks (SANs) with testing tools and resources to facilitate completely interoperable SAN solutions by leveraging the Brocade SAN infrastructure in a heterogeneous SAN environment. Members of the Fabric Threads program gain access to early product releases and extended Brocade technical assistance to simplify the development of SAN-designed applications and technologies that fully exploit Brocade SilkWorm fabric switches and software. Using Brocade SilkWorm switches, customers can connect servers with storage devices through a SAN, creating a highly reliable and scalable environment for storage applications.

Through a self-certification process, Brocade Fabric Developers can ensure that their products are fully interoperable in a Brocade SAN environment and meet important performance and operation criteria. Once testing is verified by Brocade, Fabric Threads developers’ products are deemed interoperable with the Brocade SAN infrastructure. Fabric Threads members receive access to the full benefits of the program, such as inclusion in Brocade’s comprehensive SAN compatibility matrix which is available to OEM partners, Fabric Integrators and Fabric Threads developers. For a complete list of Fabric Threads developers, and for more information about the program, please visit: http://www.brocade.com/partners/ .

INRANGE ANNOUNCES SAN LAB QUICK START PROGRAM

Mount Laurel, N.J. — According to a recent survey of IT professionals conducted by Enterprise Management Associates, the lack of skilled resources and training remain among the top difficulties experienced or anticipated by those implementing or considering storage area networks (SANs). In response to this challenge, INRANGE Technologies announced SAN LAB, a strategic services program that lets customers deploy and evaluate INRANGE’s IN-VSN SAN offerings in pre-production SAN testing laboratories. Building on the success of the INRANGE Interoperability Initiative (I3), the SAN LAB setup can be done either at INRANGE facilities or at the customer site. Consultants familiar with both INRANGE and supported third-party devices are engaged to assist in SAN design, deployment, and characterization. As part of the services available through SAN LAB, for example, users are afforded the opportunity to set-up INRANGE’s 64-port, FC/9000 Fibre Channel Director in a controlled environment and assess its performance and interoperability with other SAN components. The program then provides assistance with all remaining phases of designing the customer’s SAN lab infrastructure including cable plant requirements, configuring the “practice” SAN, and equipping the customer with tools and documentation for supporting and growing the SAN lab.

“There is a critical need for this level of skills building and knowledge enhancement before storage networks are placed into production,” noted William Hurley, Senior Analyst for the Yankee Group. “With all of the promises that SANs hold for today’s businesses – from slashing storage management costs to guaranteeing access to enterprise-wide data – it is imperative that those responsible for their creation experience smooth and timely SAN implementations.” The INRANGE SAN LAB offerings will be available to INRANGE customers, as well as to business partners and their users. “Our strategy of interoperability and connectivity from the HBA through the Director is further enabled when our customers can have pre-production environments configured and profiled in a working manner,” said Mark Edwards, QLogic Senior Vice President. “By leveraging the INRANGE worldwide services infrastructure, we bring both industry-leading technology and business benefits to users of QLogic offerings in one single program.”

PROCOM INTRODUCES NETFORCE 3000 PRODUCTS

Irvine, CALIF. — Procom Technology Inc., a manufacturer of data storage and access appliances and pioneer in network attached storage (NAS), unveiled its new advanced NetFORCE 3000 Series of NAS appliances for enterprise use. Designed to provide today’s businesses with unparalleled reliability, scalability and performance, the NetFORCE 3000 series combines traditional NAS benefits – such as ease of use, ease of installation and true file sharing in heterogeneous environments – with the device interoperability, high availability and other advantages of storage area networks (SANs) to create today’s premier storage platform. Series 3000 Fibre channel-based storage can serve clients on existing local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs) and wide area networks (WANs). With a raw capacity of 4.38 TB per rack-mounted enclosure, the 3000 series filers deliver immense storage capacity and seamless file sharing capabilities, making them the ideal solutions for companies that are attempting to keep pace with increasing data loads, while simultaneously controlling the escalating costs of storage.

“Procom is one of the pioneers to bring storage area network back-end to the enterprise class of NAS appliances,” explained Dr. Homayoun Yousefizadeh, Procom’s Senior NAS Product Manager. “The new advancements provide ideal end-to-end storage architecture for our customers by taking advantage of key Fibre channel features such as consolidated backup and ease of scalability. Coupled with our exclusive clustered fail-over server architecture, the NetFORCE 3000 products offer an unbeatable matrix for enterprise storage.” There are two models in the new NetFORCE 3000 series: The NetFORCE 3100HA, an entry-level enterprise featuring fault-tolerant architecture that includes dual-active Fibre RAID controllers and redundant cooling fans and power supplies – and the NetFORCE 3200 Symmetric Fault Tolerant (SFT) appliance for mission-critical applications. The NetFORCE 3200SFT builds on the 3100 design by adding ultra high availability, clustered dual-active server modules that ensure no single point of failure for virtual zero downtime. NetFORCE’s fail-over architecture provides seamless, transparent recovery in less than five seconds even in the event of catastrophic server failure so applications and users are unaffected in the event a problem is manifested.

REDCREEK INTRODUCES THE RED I-CLUSTER

Newark, CALIF. — RedCreek Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative security solutions for network communications and server applications, and Cyber IQ Systems, Inc., a leading provider of fast, scalable acceleration systems for the Internet traffic & content management (iTCM) market, announced today the availability of the RedCreek(R) ReD i-Cluster, a platform for providing redundancy, load balancing, and scalability for Virtual Private Networks (VPN). This exclusive OEM agreement with Cyber IQ Systems and the introduction of the ReD i-Cluster, continues to fill-out RedCreek’s line of high-end security solutions. “As everyone from corporate networks to Application Service Providers (ASPs) seeks to develop Virtual Private Networks (VPN) connecting thousands of sites, RedCreek has seized the innovation lead in providing optimized performance, assurance, and load balancing,” said Steve Peters, President and COO of RedCreek. “We’ve chosen to partner with Cyber IQ Systems, highly regarded for its sophisticated eBusiness products, in developing a platform that achieves a new level in performance.”

The ReD i-Cluster is a solutions package that initially leverages the new Ravlin 7160 gateway, RedCreek’s high-speed hardware platform, and Cyber IQ Systems’ HyperFlow3, an e-site clustering and load-balancing product. Using Cyber IQ technology customized for VPNs, and advanced agent technology developed by both companies, customers can benefit from a system that is resilient and affordable on the front-end and expandable in the future. “Our customers, many of whom are highly-sensitive organizations like security agencies, online providers, and retail customers, are demanding a cluster product,” said Bruce Tucker, CEO of Patriot Technologies in Washington, D.C. “ReD i-Cluster is exactly the solution customers have been waiting for in order to scale their VPNs.” ReD i-Cluster’s distributed redundancy design provides resiliency and the ability to install the platform at different points in the data center outside a single chassis. Clustering and load balancing may be based on traffic load, security associations, response time, round robin, or weighted distribution algorithms.

TECH SOFT AMERICA & SURPAC ANNOUNCE SURPAC VISION

Alameda, CALIF. — Tech Soft America (TSA), provider of premier OEM graphics technology and Surpac Software International (SSI), a leading provider of mining industry software, announce the use of HOOPS 3D Application Framework (HOOPS/3DAF) in SSI’s new flagship product upgrade, Surpac Vision. HOOPS/3DAF serves as the architectural foundation for the rapid development of advanced visualization and collaboration applications for Windows, Unix, Linux or the web. Specific extensions for use in a Java environment, as well as a range of new HOOPS Internet Tools, provide a powerful solution for building client/server web-based applications with high-performance 2D & 3D graphics. More information on HOOPS and TSA is available at http://www.hoops3d.com . Surpac Vision is SSI’s new client/server based visualization application that makes use of the power of servers for computationally intensive operations, with an Internet-enabled visualization client. The visualization client makes use of the Java Swing component for its clean “Windows-like” User Interface and the HOOPS 3D Graphics System for visualization. Surpac Vision users will be able to take advantage of the most powerful machine on the network for data processing, with HOOPS delivering powerful graphics capabilities on their local machine. More information on Surpac Vision may be found at http://www.surpac.com .

Steve Carter, Director of R&D for SSI, stated, “Our recent development focus has been on the deployment of sophisticated 3D graphics over networks, including the Internet, for display on one or more remote clients. This, of course, is what Sun had intended for Java 3D and while the specs for Java 3D showed a lot of promise it has consistently failed to deliver. After detailed, extensive research to determine the best 3D graphics system to satisfy our needs we settled on HOOPS and have been quite pleased with the performance, stability and robustness of the HOOPS API.” Added Tony Hampton, SSI’s CEO, “I believe ours is the first such commercial application using Java and HOOPS together. We have been very impressed with the power of the HOOPS solution within a Java environment and the responsiveness of the Tech Soft team. We look forward to leveraging more of HOOPS’ new streaming and collaboration capabilities in future releases. We have no doubt our customers will be impressed with what they see.” “We predict Surpac is the first of many application developers who will make use of HOOPS for high performance graphics within a Java environment and we are pleased to have helped them quickly deliver their breakthrough Surpac Vision product. The release of Surpac Vision is a firm indicator that HOOPS is and will continue to be the choice for high performance 3D graphics over networks, particularly the Internet,” added Ron Fritz, Managing Partner for TSA.

FREEFORM VERSION 3 OFFERS NEW FEATURES

Woburn, MASS. — With the new Version 3 release, the FreeForm modeling system’s creative potential can now be applied to a broader range of modeling work and digital production pipelines. Version 3 expands basic shape creation capabilities beyond sculptural forms while maintaining the fundamental FreeForm touch advantage. In addition, new surface creation tools make the transition downstream to production easier then ever before. When combined with the FreeForm system’s unique ability to create complex blends and highly sculptural details, the result is a modeling package of unequaled power. “We are enthusiastic to be working with FreeForm,” said Gary Pitman, Head of Concept Realization and Engineering for adidas-Salomon. “It is becoming an important element in our new, more streamlined development process.” The FreeForm system allows users to model on the computer using their sense of touch, blending the intuitiveness and expressiveness of physical modeling with the power and productivity of digital modeling. Touch clearly differentiates FreeForm modeling from the slew of other tools on the market today. It’s easier to use, faster to learn and more productive because users can interact directly with their models. “The FreeForm system is unlike any other modeling package,” stated Tom Capizzi, Lead Modeler at Moon Crescent Studios. “The fact that I can touch the models makes all the difference in the world. The limitations of traditional computer modeling are blown away.” FreeForm modeling is currently being used in film entertainment and to design toys, consumer electronics, footwear, furniture, ceramics, jewelry and other products.

New modeling functionality in FreeForm Version 3 broadens the range of forms that can be created. Users can now model in pieces, working on one section of the model in context of the others. Toy makers whose action figures have articulated body parts or footwear designers who create separate outsoles and midsoles now work more fluidly. Lofting and wire cutting capabilities allow product designers to quickly produce compound curvature based on sketch profiles. Tools to create textures or patterns directly on models are of particular interest in the ceramics and jewelry industries. Improving downstream production workflow was another key goal. In addition to supporting polygonal data, FreeForm Version 3 now allows modelers to output the IGES surfaces often required by CAD and animation packages. After completing a FreeForm model, users define NURBs patches by placing curves directly on the model. The power of touch transforms what historically has been an arduous and time consuming task into a quick and easy one. Designers and sculptors in North America and Europe can now output high-quality digital data and send it directly for manufacturing in Asia, where two of the three largest toy manufacturers are implementing processes based on FreeForm modeling. One engineer, impressed with the quality of the FreeForm surfaces stated, “FreeForm makes beautiful IGES data. It was so fast, and I cannot find any gaps anywhere.” For more information, visit http://www.sensable.com .

ARULA SYSTEMS INTRODUCES SECURECONSOLESSL

Cupertino, CALIF. — Arula Systems Inc. announced a dramatic addition to the SecureConsole family of products with the introduction of a solution to remotely manage NT servers. SecureConsoleSSL for Windows NT/2000 extends the family of the SecureConsole products, which is currently being deployed to manage UNIX servers, firewalls, load balancers and other IT networking devices from various manufacturers, including HP, Sun, IBM and Cisco. SecureConsoleSSL for Windows NT/2000 enables immediate and secure console-level access from anywhere, anytime, via any Web browser, and delivers an unmatched level of availability, security, interoperability, and scalability. Using RC4 data encryption and a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) handshake protocol, it provides robust server authentication, encryption of data in transit, and client authentication.

“SecureConsoleSSL for Windows NT/2000 demonstrates the universal nature of the Arula Management Platform,” said Chandra Venkatraman, founder and president of Arula Systems. “The technology inherent in the Arula Management Platform allows us to rapidly create and deploy new applications.” Arula Systems has partnered with Heroix Corp. to provide a robust solution for remote NT management. “Heroix is a leader in providing software solutions for eBusiness infrastructure management,” said Juggy Krishnamurthy, vice president of engineering at Arula Systems. “The combined solution delivers remote system management functions such as reboot, registry modifications and task management to customers using Windows NT/2000 platforms, all via the Web.” “We have been extremely impressed with the collaborative management aspects of the product,” stated Alex Cocuzzo, general manager of U.S. Operations for Infosquare.com. “SecureConsoleSSL for Windows NT/2000 enables remote access to our NT servers for administration and reboot. Moreover, service personnel can access any of our servers from any location whenever the need arises. These administrators frequently use the collaborative management and SecureChat features to work together to solve our system problems. Of all remote management solutions we explored, only SecureConsoleSSL for Windows NT/2000 had this functionality.” Heroix can be reached at http://www.heroix.com .

INCERT PORTS TRACEBACK FAILURE RECOVERY AGENTS

Cambridge, MASS. — InCert Software Corporation announced that with support from Sun, it plans to port its TraceBack software diagnosis solution to the Solaris Operating Environment. The new port is designed to enable Sun customers and Solaris Operating Environment application developers to embed InCert TraceBack Agents in deployed applications to help them quickly identify and repair application failures, maximizing availability. Working with Sun, InCert will extend its technology, which has proven successful on other platforms in e-commerce, financial and manufacturing industries, to the Solaris platform. By using InCert TraceBack Agents, Sun customers will be able to further harness the capabilities of the total environment for mission-critical applications.

InCert’s TraceBack availability solution inserts agents into application programs prior to release. These agents, which add virtually no runtime overhead, continuously monitor application performance in production environments and create a dynamic history of program execution. In the event of a software failure, InCert TraceBack provides a step-by-step analysis of all application activity leading up to the event. “InCert’s TraceBack Agents provide the continuous software monitoring and failure analysis that users need to help enable maximum application availability and uptime,” said Rob Gingell, chief technology officer of the Software Systems Group at Sun Microsystems, Inc. “Bringing proven technology, such as InCert’s TraceBack Agents, to the Solaris platform will extend Sun’s suite of risk management solutions which help our customers ameliorate risk in their mission-critical environments.” InCert TraceBack captures failure-related information throughout the development, test and production processes, thereby eliminating the time- consuming and costly step of replicating the failure. Additionally, by capturing failure-related information in production environments, InCert TraceBack immediately provides support staff and developers with the information they need to get their customers’ applications up and running quickly – improving customer satisfaction and reducing support-related costs. Additional information about InCert and its suite of software products is available on the company Web site at http://www.incert.com .

MATHSOFT INTRODUCES MATHCAD 2001

Cambridge, MASS. — MathSoft, Inc. announced the release of Mathcad 2001, a major new version of the most widely used software application for applying mathematics. This release offers high performance, new development tools, complete simulation capabilities, and full support of MathML (Mathematical Mark-up Language), the first XML standard to be approved by the World Wide Web Consortium. “We designed Mathcad 2001 to meet the time-to-market and productivity needs of our customers and to help them fully leverage the Internet,” said Chris Randles, general manager and senior vice president of the Engineering and Education Products Division. “Mathcad 2001 is a seminal release that will strengthen our leadership position in engineering and technical markets.”

“Mathcad 2001 is a powerful asset for all stages of the engineering process,” said David Knapp, optical design engineer at Raytheon. “From first order layout to hardware test data analysis, this release is easy to work with, powerful in functionality and synergistic with other design tools.” The Mathcad 2001 release focuses on four strategic areas: improved performance and expanded functionality, improved compatibility and interoperability, enhanced web publishing and documentation capabilities, and new application development tools. Mathcad 2001 supports the broad range of tools engineers commonly use in their work. This version is designed to serve as the centerpiece of the engineering desktop, providing a useful, highly integrated platform that lets engineers build projects using Mathcad and other applications. Mathcad 2001 is compatible with the Microsoft Office Suite, and readily interoperates with most of the common engineering tools, including Excel, Visio 2000, AutoCAD 2000 and MATLAB. In addition, this release of Mathcad allows for real-time data acquisition from National Instruments analog I/O boards. Mathcad 2001 makes it easy to integrate Mathcad solutions and functionality into large projects spread across different applications, and then save them within a common document format.

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