Review: Middle Managers By Bruce Boardman
We tested five packages that provide fault and performance control
over 1,000 nodes for $10,000 or less. SolarWinds.Net's Orion Network
Performance Monitor won our Editor's Choice Award, thanks to its
stellar feature set. But its rivals held their own.
Feature: Network Management on $1.19 a Day By Bruce Boardman
Finding a product that can adequately manage a 1,000-node network for
less than $10,000 isn't a no-brainer, but the management rewards can
be rich.
Review: Navigating the Shifting 802.11 Sands By Jesse Lindeman & Julio Caraballo
Dual-mode APs like Cisco's Aironet 1200 are an oasis of interoperability for
companies traversing uncertain wireless terrain. Along with Aironet, we
tested five other access points. Find out why Cisco's came out on top.
Workshops
A VoIP Wake-Up Call By Lee Badman
Voice over IP may be slow in coming and encumbered by expensive baggage, but don't write it off. We'll show you how to plan for VoIP, and not be surprised by hidden costs and infrastructure upgrade requirements.
Interactive Buyer's Guide: Firewalls for the SOHO Environment (Update)
For SOHO environments, every connection to the Internet is a potential point of entry for intruders. Use our interactive tool to secure remote sites from outside attacks and from acting as a back door into your central site.
Sneak Previews
Sneak Preview: Optibase Optimizes IT Resources By Sean Doherty
Optibase's easy-to-use and cost-effective solution deploys training materials and corporate communications using streaming media over IP.
Surf's Up By Lori Macvittie
OptiView's SiteCelerate reverse proxy caches and accelerates, easing your Web load.
Protect your Configs with Device Authority(Online-Only) By Bruce Boardman
We tested the beta version of AlterPoint's DeviceAuthority. Read why we liked this infrastructure configuration management product's solid performance and good reporting.
Departments
Last Mile
This edition: Top 11 ways to make a late-night server upgrade more
fun; power readers; and WiFi detectors go head-to-head.
Letters
"Instead of buying the best technology, we're spending too much time
taking bets on the stability of our IT vendors." --Russell Cohen
Centerfold: App Monitoring Minus False Alarms By Kelley Jackson Higgins
Kaiser Permanente is using Heroix's RoboMon software to monitor its
applications, ensuring real problems get resolved.
Career Coach Edited By Lorna Garey
A reader considers attending an IT "Boot Camp."
Quick Takes
This edition, we take a look at Telex Communications Nexus Platinum, Kontiki Delivery Management System and more.
Columns
Down to Business: Vendor or Partner? By Rob Preston
"Ask yourself these questions before deciding whether a vendor is
really 'strategic partner' material.".
BuzzCut: Waiting on 802.11g By Dave Molta
Even though the IEEE 802.11g, high-speed, 2.4-GHz wireless standard is
still in draft stage, some vendors already have shipped .11g-compliant
products.
BuzzCut: FUDbusters By Don MacVittie
What's a FUDBuster? It's our way of alleviating your fear, uncertainty
and doubt over scary IT issues. In this edition, we bust Microsoft's
Government Security Program.
BuzzCut: The Next Windows Server: Not .Net By Don MacVittie
Microsoft has removed the .Net Server name from the forthcoming
release of its server product. Officially, Microsoft is "cleaning up
naming conventions." But there's more to it than that.
BuzzCut: Hollow Victory for the Java Faithful By Lori MacVittie
A federal judge ruled that Microsoft has to include Sun's version of
the Java Virtual Machine in future shipments of Internet Explorer.
Even if this decision stands, it probably amounts to nothing more than
a feel-good victory for the ABM (anyone but Microsoft) crowd.
REPORTS
Analyize In-Line NAC strategies and products.
ANALYTICS Plan and design your enterprise blade server deployments
2009 IT Salary Survey: Meager Raises, Solid Prospects
Though raises are notably smaller than a year ago, and job security’s shrinking, IT careers are looking safer than many others in this economic downturn. Get all the findings in InformationWeek's 2009 IT Salary Survey. Available FREE for a limited time.
REPORTS
ANALYTICS
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