In addition to its distributed nature, Punch employs a binary-level comparison routine that reduces the amount of redundant data sent over the network. Punch introduces the concept of "families" and "adoption certificates" to provide unlimited collaboration options for your network. For large or small networks with hundreds or even thousands of users sharing files, Punch's differential publishing technology can save you tremendous bandwidth, while providing more than adequate collaboration. I tested a beta version in Network Computing's University of Wisconsin lab and was impressed with its overall performance.

Punching Out the Competition Punch uses groups, or families, to share information among users. Any family member can share information with and receive content updates from any other member. By using multiple families, you can create a hierarchy and segment information sources within your network environment.

After I completed the installation, I created an "NWC-Test" family for sharing files; formed an "Internet Information" group to share with my co-workers; and published a number of RFCs in the new group for others to read. I was now ready to share an unlimited number of files with other Punch users on my network.

Next, I modified one of the RFCs by annotating portions of the text. As I published the modified RFC, Punch scanned it for differences, then published the revised portion as a new version of the original.

When another Punch user wishes to subscribe to published material, he or she must first be adopted by a family. Family members control the amount of information that individual users see in the publishing window.

After I finished setting up the second Punch user, I created an adoption certificate and requested adoption from the family I had created on the first client. I browsed published information for that family and downloaded resources that I found interesting. After I selected the latest version of the RFC I had posted earlier, Punch recreated the document consisting of the original version and the differences stored in the newest version.

Punch's management features are somewhat limited. Aside from a content publisher's control over individual information groups, this push product really doesn't offer any administrative utilities or management options.

Kangaroo says it's planning a new standalone GUI, default permissions templates for families and workgroup-wide management utilities in the next version of Punch.

Gregory Yerxa is an assistant NetWare administrator for the Computer-Aided Engineering Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He can be reached at yerxa@cae.wisc.edu.