Features

Review: Hardened Linux Puts Hackers EnGarde By Patrick Mueller When it comes to Web-facing servers, security is Job 1. And when it comes to OSs for those servers, you can't get much safer than hardened Linux. We put four security-enhanced Linux distributions through their paces and found that Guardian Digital's offering combines comprehensive security with high-level usability. Online-Only Sidebar:  MAC Antiattack

Wireless LANs Reach the Last Hurdle By Dave Molta WLANs have become faster, more manageable and more interoperable. Now, new hardware and software solutions provide real security in the wake of WEP's downfall. Online-Only Sidebar:  Links to WLAN Security Research

Review: Elite Solution Secures WLANs By Cornell W. Robinson III and Dave Molta SMC's well-rounded EliteConnect System came out on top in our tests thanks to its excellent client support, extensive feature set, and superior configuration and management tools. But its rivals can move quickly in a rapidly evolving wireless environment.

Workshops

Workshop: MPLS VPNs -- The Real Deal By Bruce Boardman As xSPs increasingly provision enterprise WAN circuits using MPLS, enterprises will likely be negotiating end-to-end SLAs for these services. Here's what you should know about the technology.

Buyer's Guide: Read and Burn, Baby, Burn By Steven J. Schuchart Jr. Are you having trouble choosing the right DVD burner for your company? Here's a guide to DVD technologies and standards.

Online Only: Interactive Buyer's Guide: DVD Readers and Burners For data management and storage needs, our latest guide focuses on DVD products.

Sneak Previews

Online Only: JP Mobile's SureWave Mail Supports New Synchronization Standard By Cornell W. Robinson III You know the headache you get when users ask you how they can send and receive e-mail from their Palms, cell phones and PCs? Well, JP Mobile's new synchronization product, SureWave Mail, could ease your pain.

Here Comes the Bride -- Getting Hitched to Bluetooth By Richard Hoffman We tested a Palm Bluetooth SDIO card and D-Link Bluetooth USB adapter, and found they allow almost universal wireless connectivity for Palm PDAs. Online-Only Sidebars: The Future of Bluetooth Man Cannot Live by Bluetooth Alone

Forgent VNP Ends Your Videoconferencing Nightmares By Darrin Woods Rest easy about configuring your videoconferencing system. Forgent's improved video network platform includes a smart graphical interface for creating calls.

Empirix's FirstAct Promises Greater Things to Come for Evaluating Web Services By Lori MacVittie Now even nontechnical users can test Web services. Although FirstAct requires the installation of third-party software, the upside is its inclusion of excellent WSDL support.

Departments

Quick Takes This issue, we look at these hot products: Avocent SPC800 and SPC1600 Digital V6 Kaveman PWR8 Speedcom Wireless SpeedLAN 9000 Radware Configware Insite

Centerfold: Firm Plots Legal Battles From Makeshift VPN Sites By Kelly Jackson Higgins Law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal calls it the war room. Evan though it's a temporary office, it works just like any other site on the firm's VPN.

Letters "Every one of these ventures...was defeated by people spouting nonsense instead of getting down to business." --David Hyman, DLH Associates

Columns

The Business of IT: IT Burnout or Office Space Case? By Jonathan Feldman Recently several people have said they'd rather stick needles in their eyes than stay in the IT field. I mean, once you've configured firewall No. 8,308, it's kind of hard to get excited about configuring No. 8,309. Is job rotation, a la the U.S. Army, the answer?

The Inside Story: Bending Your Ear on Security By James Hutchinson With all the backlash against Microsoft for selling bug-infested code, let's expand the target and question every vendor that pushes insecure software and hardware. Get out there and talk security with all who will listen and even those who won't.

BuzzCut: ZENworks -- Addition by Subtraction By Ron Anderson Novell is adding features through subtraction by removing ZENworks' reliance on Client32. You might decide that the benefits of doing without Client32 outweigh security risks, but make this decision with your eyes open.

BuzzCut: An Apple of Your Eye? By Michael J. DeMaria It's clear Apple shelled out some good R&D money on Xserve. Is it enough to persuade companies to buy Macs instead of Linux on Intel?

BuzzCut: WiFi and Bluetooth Together? It's Blue 802. By Dave Molta When it comes to wireless, coexistence is an ambiguous term, especially where 802.11b WiFi and Bluetooth are concerned.

Top of the Stack: Broadband Growing Out of Control By David Willis "A successful remote-office broadband policy starts with the recognition that IT cannot control public networks."

Down to Business: Wrestling With Indecision By Rob Preston "How many of your company's strategic IT projects are in limbo because no one in authority is willing to make a difficult or unpopular decision?"

BuzzCut: Sun Looks to Linux now...for RISC Customers Later By Lori MacVittie Sun is finally catching on to what IBM and Hewlett-Packard figured out more than a year ago and what Microsoft has known all along: Mind share now equals market share later. Hence, there's no longer a reason to put off a move to Linux APIs.