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Feb 13-16, 2012

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News, Trends and Opinion

Desktop Management

PC Management News Flash

Intel's new flash memory technology is getting flashier. While the high-performance memory announced last fall isn't yet shipping in volume, Novell is seriously considering an architecture using flash on adapter cards for management tasks such as software distribution and metering. Microsoft is showing less interest, since Windows NT (but not Windows95) has a stable microkernel that can be diagnosed even when the rest of the OS is down. A key advantage of using flash memory is that management tasks can be performed prior to system boot or when an OS fails.

While flash memory is known as a slow performer, Intel officials and consultants say Intel's latest technology has roughly the same read/write capabilities as disks. Will card vendors other than Intel opt for such an upgrade? Will users pay for it? Analyst Jill Huntington-Lee says she "would be astounded if Novell was smart enough" to upgrade. Minneapolis-based publisher Brett Waldman, of The Bookmen, says he'd pay more to give his LAN administrator greater centralized control over desktop configurations and versioning.

Software Distribution

Tivoli Wins Battle

Tivoli Systems' Tivoli/ Courier ranked first in a D.H. Brown Associates software distribution study. Next were IBM's NetView DM/6000, Hewlett-Packard's OpenView Software Distributor, Legent Corp.'s DistribuLink Unix and an internal Sun system.

The study, based on 200 capabilities with high-price and configuration penalties, was weighted to emphasize administration. Tivoli lost points for requiring TCP/IP client support and because the manager program requires Unix. The report says IBM's system fans out to Unix, NetWare and OS/2; Legent will be a "formidable" player within a year; Sun's system is apt to become much richer if commercialized; and HP was the low-price leader.

Recruiting

Premium Put On LAN Admin Heads

What is the hottest head being hunted by today's head hunters? The LAN administrator! Bob Mhoon, president of Dunhill Professional Search in Las Colinas, Texas, says LAN administrators are in demand, especially if they're willing to work as full-time employees. The problem is that once administrators have worked as contractors-for perhaps $35 an hour-they seldom want to return to an annual salary. Telephone positions, on the other hand, are quickly vanishing. "More companies are turning over these responsibilities to the network carriers," says Mhoon. On the vendor side, sales positions for Internetworking equipment, are going like hot cakes.

Low-Tech Fixes

Have You Scrubbed Your Inkjet Printer Recently?

We've heard of PC technicians stuffing cotton balls into machines to mute their beeps, but this is the first time we've heard of scouring a printer. Hewlett-Packard is now offering a combined software and a Scotch Brite scouring pad to fix its 510, 520, 550 and 560C inkjet printers with paper feed problems. Users can call (800) 656-2324 to get the kit and an explanation of how the pad is used to abrade the roller. We're told one or two good scourings over the life of a machine should do it.

WorldWide Web

Vendor Shares Web With HP Users

Vendors have been lending user groups meeting space for years. Now, they're sharing Internet Web space. HP Internet access tools provider 3k Associates established a meeting ground for Hewlett-Packard users on its Web server. It is also opening up the server to other vendors to contact clients. The server is at http: //www.ek.com, or call (800) 638-6245.

Network Management

MAXM To Set New Course

MAXM Systems Corp., a company that won its stripes with products and services for integrating network and systems management for some of the world's largest corporations, plans to integrate its MAX/Enterprise with AT&T's OneVision Node Manager by year's end.

Analyst Jill Huntington-Lee believes the joint effort will be especially valuable to the financial community-folks who cherish the speedy fault detection and correction capabilities in MAX/Enterprise. And because MAX/Enterprise has been pigeon-holed as an IBM OS/2, RS/6000 platform, the move to AT&T's Unix-based System 3000 should benefit MAXM. AT&T wins, too, she says, because the deal is attracting applications vendors to its system.

Network Management

Make Room For CSU/DSU Next To The Toaster

If a toaster can be Simple Network Management Protocol-managed, why not a 56-Kbps Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit (CSU/DSU)? American Technology Labs claims to be the first 56/64-Kbps CSU/DSU vendor to support Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) alerts from an Ethernet Attachment Unit Interface (AUI), which conserves limited 56/64-Kbps bandwidth. ATL plans to extend configuration capabilities to the agent later in the year.

Well, what about modems, you wonder? Consultant Edwin E. Mier says he expects to see the number of vendors demonstrating products to grow as remote access becomes more important and the value of alerts and reset capabilities on modem pools is realized.

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