New Products

HEROIX Introduces RoboMon UNIX

HEROIX has introduced RoboMon UNIX for automating computing facilities in multiplatform environments. RoboMon UNIX is a client/server system administration tool supporting most UNIX operating systems, including AIX, Digital UNIX, HP-UX, Solaris, and SunOS. RoboMon is designed with an open architecture, enabling integration with network managers, such as OpenView and NetView, as well as help desk applications and other software.

RoboMon uses rule-based automation, with more than 80 built-in sensors, to detect and address problems. RoboMon's analysis capabilities allow users to automate system, network, application, and database tasks with the goal of improving system availability and reliability. RoboMon collects more than 1,000 UNIX performance statistics which are analyzed by its rule engine in realtime. RoboMon can take actions to correct a problem, or it can notify appropriate personnel (using real time event display, email, paging, and network managers). RoboMon provides escalation capability, that is, it evaluates the results and tries new actions until the problem is solved.

RoboMon's native collector is supplemented by the RoboMon Omni Collector, which can gather data from data files or real-time sources, such as a log file, a pipe, a database, or an application. RoboMon ships with a comprehensive out-of-the-box rule set, and provides a Motif interface, allowing tailoring and site-specific extension.

RoboMon for UNIX pricing ranges from $500 to $9,500. For more information, contact HEROIX Corporation, 120 Wells Avenue, Newton, MA 02159; (800) 229-6500 or (617) 527-1550; FAX: (617) 527-6132; Internet: info@heroix.com.

PLATINUM Technology Upgrades UniVision and AutoSys

PLATINUM Technology, Inc., has announced UniVision 2.1, the latest version of its performance and management system for UNIX servers and relational databases in distributed computing environments. UniVision collects data which can be used for identifying problems and tuning performance in databases and servers. PLATINUM also announced AutoSys 3.2, an upgrade of their job management and scheduling tool,and AutoSys/Xpert 1.0, an add-on tool for AutoSys 3.2.

UniVision monitors more than 100 performance measures, and consists of DBVision, an agent for monitoring relational databases; ServerVision, for servers; and a GUI console for controlling and coordinating the monitoring and management functions provided. In version 2.1, consoles and agents no longer need to reside on the same server. Proprietary network services allow consoles to interact with distributed agents. Version 2.1 also adds extended retrieval for accessing detailed information about database or server objects; several new performance measures; a CPU alarm; a general limit alarm; and the ability to execute UNIX commands on any monitored server from one command window on the console.

AutoSys 3.2, PLATINUM's job management and scheduling tool, adds support for SNMP and a utility for migrating from UNIX job scheduling utilities such as cron. AutoSys/Xpert 1.0, an add-on tool for AutoSys, provides various graphical views of complex job execution environments. It offers both real-time monitoring modes and simulator modes, for predicting the impact of jobs on system load.

UniVision supports AT&T GIS, HP 9000, IBM RS/6000, Sequent, and Sun computers. It currently supports Oracle databases, with future development plans calling for support of Informix and Sybase. Pricing starts at $8,000 per console and $3,500 per agent. AutoSys pricing starts at $9,000 for the scheduling server, and $500 for each job execution client. AutoSys/Xpert pricing starts at $20,000. For more information, contact PLATINUM Technology, Inc., 1815 S. Meyers Road, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181-5241; (708) 620-5000.

Pacific Internet unveils Plug-and-Play WWW Server

Pacific Internet has introduced a turnkey Internet server solution for supporting online corporate-wide communications or an Internet World Wide Web (WWW) site. Named "Web-in-a-Box," the open architecture, Intel Pentium system is a UNIX-based Web-server, with the necessary hardware and software to establish one or more Web sites and set up home pages.

Web-in-a-Box includes Web server software and various Internet utilities, including TCP/IP, email, ftp, gopher, and news services. Fully configured, the Web-in-a-Box server can handle up to 250,000 hits per day and 500 hits per minute. Web-in-a-Box includes Web statistics software that tallies and logs the number of accesses to a page. Web-in-a-Box also includes WYSIWYG HTML authoring tools for use in creating Web pages.

The Web-in-a-Box Model W-10 provides a 90MHz Pentium, 32Mb RAM, 16-bit Ethernet card, 1Gb disk drive, a 28.8Kpbs modem, and pre-configured UNIX Internet software. Options exist for including T1 or 56Kbps WAN routers.

Web-in-a-Box pricing begins at less than $5,000. For more information, contact Pacific Internet, 600 Corporate Pointe, Suite 100, Culver City, CA 90230-7607; (310) 410-9700; FAX: (310) 410-9727.

AIWA Delivers Automated Tape Backup Systems

AIWA America, Inc., has announced two computer network products for automating nightly tape backup operations -- including tape insertion, removal, and tape rotation of 17 tape cartridges. The models are the AIWA AL-D210 and the AL-D220 Autoloaders. The autoloaders are designed to work with network servers supporting Novell Netware, IBM OS/2, Windows NT, UNIX, and Macintosh.

The AL-D210 is a SCSI-based autoloader with a single tape drive that's based on Digital Data Storage-2 (DDS-2) 4-millimeter technology. The AL-D220 provides two tape drives for increased data transfer. Each AIWA autoloader can contain a total of 17 cartridges, 16 for data and 1 cleaning cartridge.

The AIWA AL-D210 Single Drive AutoLoader costs $6,995, while the AIWA AL-D220 Dual Drive AutoLoader costs $8,995. For more information, contact AIWA America, Inc., 800 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, New Jersey 07430; (201) 512-3700; FAX: (201) 512-3704.

Alphatronix Announces Storage Management Software

Alphatronix has announced an integrated suite of storage management applications based on an object-oriented architecture. The tools allow centralization of management and administration while supporting local data and storage applications. The Inspire suite addresses such storage management needs as backup, direct access, HSM, storage fault tolerance, and storage administration.

The Inspire suite is open-systems based and includes the following components: Inspire Storage Administrator; Inspire Backup; Inspire On-Line; Inspire Migrator; and Inspire Storage Fault Tolerance. All Inspire applications share a common graphic user interface and all applications can share storage peripherals.

The Inspire suite runs on Solaris 2 servers, which may be directly attached to TCP/IP networks for heterogeneous, multiplatform support. It joins Alphatronix' existing storage management products for SunOS, IBM AIX, Open VMS, Netware, Macintosh, and Scitex environments. Prices for the Inspire suite start at $6000 and are based on application and capacity needs. For more information, contact Alphatronix, 4022 Stirrup Creek Drive, P.O. Box 13978, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-3978; (919) 544-0001; FAX: (919) 544-4079.

BGS Updates BEST/1 for UNIX

BGS Systems, Inc. has upgraded its BEST/1 Performance Assurance for UNIX product to release 4. The major enhancements include a real-time performance monitor; integrated Oracle and Sybase facilities; and support for SunOS 4 and Solaris 2.x. BEST/1-Monitor provides real-time intelligent alert and display subagents. Alarm conditions can be forwarded to the BEST/1-Monitor console(s) or to frameworks such as SunNet Manager, NetView/6000, and OpenView. BEST/1-Monitor can be used standalone or combined with BEST/1-Visualizer and BEST/1-Predict. BEST/1-Visualizer is a performance database with purpose built graphics for displaying trends and performance comparisons. BEST/1-Predict is a what-if modeling tool for sizing applications, testing tuning alternatives, and capacity planning.

The integrated Oracle and Sybase support in BEST/1 for UNIX collects RDBMS internal performance statistics, either from SYBASE System Tables and Variables or from the Oracle V$ Performance Tables. Similar capabilities are under development for Informix.

BEST/1 for UNIX can collect and analyze metrics from the UNIX variants and provide consistent cross-platform management. For more information, contact BGS Systems, Inc., 128 Technology Center, Waltham, MA 02254-9111; (617) 891-0000; FAX: (617) 890-0000; email: Internet: best1@bgs.com.

Whittaker Communications Ships UNIX-Based Management Package

Whittaker Communications, a division of Whittaker Corporation, has begun shipping the Whittaker 20/20 UNIX Enterprise Hub Manager. 20/20 UNIX is a standards-based graphical network management software package designed for the management of Whittaker Communications Enterprise Hubs and related networking modules. The product works in conjunction with open platforms, including HP OpenView and a Sybase SQL relational database. With 20/20 UNIX, customers can add devices, change device configurations, and monitor device status. 20/20 UNIX graphically represents each hub's physical configuration and current status. Managers can register hubs, configure ports, control access, and monitor performance. Use with HP OpenView allows common monitoring of non-Whittaker Communications devices. 20/20 UNIX works with alarm forwarding for distributed operation.

HP OpenView for UNIX serves as a platform for the 20/20 UNIX product, providing support for graphical management, mapping and alarm services. With HP OpenView, 20/20 UNIX can manage 3,000-5,000 network devices. 20/20 UNIX supports a Sybase database for configuration management and information storage. Multiple hub configurations can be stored for testing and reconfiguration.

The UNIX 20/20 Enterprise Hub Manager costs $5,995 and requires HP OpenView, standard OSF Motif, and a Sun workstation running UNIX 4.1.3 or above with 64Mb RAM and a one-gigabyte disk. 20/20 UNIX replaces the previous version of network management software, Monet. For more information, contact Whittaker Communications, 2200 Lawson Lane, Santa Clara, CA 95054; (408) 565-6000; FAX: (408) 565-6001.

Software Professionals Releases Open Systems Administration Product Suite

Software Professionals, Inc., has released the ENlighten Open Systems product line, an integrated suite of automated system administration software. ENlighten provides enterprise-wide system administration and event management. The product suite includes support for IBM AIX, HP-UX, Sun Solaris and SunOS, and SCO-UNIX. The ENlighten product family is designed using open standards-based protocols, for the management of systems, users, disks, backup/restores, security, processes, and printer functions distributed throughout a heterogeneous UNIX network. The core ENlighten product suite includes the ENlighten/SYS ADMIN PACKAGE and ENlighten/EVENTS software modules.

ENlighten/SYS ADMIN PACKAGE includes a range of monitoring and administration features running under the ENlighten/UI, a standardized cross-platform GUI. The SYS ADMIN PACKAGE includes the following integrated modules: ENlighten/USER, ENlighten/DISK, ENlighten/ARCHIVE, ENlighten/SECURITY, ENlighten/PRINTER, ENlighten/SYSTEM, and ENlighten/WATCHDOG. ENlighten/EVENTS monitors devices, processes, and multiple heterogeneous UNIX systems. The software module automatically collects and saves status, configuration, performance, and capacity information. The information can be viewed by commercial network management products such as SunNet Manager, HP OpenView, or IBM NetView.

The ENlighten product suite is offered in packages of 5, 10, 25, and 50 managed nodes. The ENlighten SYS ADMIN PACKAGE costs $360 per managed node in quantities of 50. The ENlighten/EVENTS module starts at $175 per managed node in quantities of 50. For more information, contact Software Professionals, Inc., 999 Baker Way, Fifth Floor, San Mateo, CA 94404-1568; (415) 578-0700; FAX: (415) 578-0118; Internet: info@sftw.com.

Cheyenne Software Enhances Network Products

Cheyenne Software, Inc., has announced extended support features for its UNIX ARCserve/Open product family of network backup and data management software. ARCserve/Open 2.0 provides client agents for NetWare and Windows, database agents for Oracle 6.x and 7.x database. It extends platform support to include SGI Irix, Sun SunOS 4.1.3 and Solaris 2.x, HP-UX 9000 series 700 and 800, IBM's AIX 4.1, and Solaris for Intel. Cheyenne also announced the Cheyenne Hierarchical Storage Manager (HSM) for UNIX.

ARCserve/Open's NetWare agent supports heterogeneous computing environments by allowing backup and restore of Novell NetWare 3.1x servers, including the bindery, and 4.x servers, including NDS, to an ARCserve/Open UNIX-based backup server. NetWare trustee assignments are backed up to ensure protection against unauthorized access. NetWare name spaces are supported, including DOS, UNIX, OS/2, and Macintosh.

Cheyenne HSM for UNIX provides for transparently migrating files between magnetic disk and optical disk libraries. HSM for UNIX provides automatic file migration, library management, and high-speed backup. Cheyenne HSM operate on single and multiprocessor platforms from Sun and supports both UNIX-based workstations and DOS-based PCs using NFS, ftp, and other standard UNIX protocols.

Cheyenne HSM prices begin at $9,500 for 16-slot optical library support. The product is available for 20, 32, 56, 64, 99, 144, 160, 288, 432, and 576 slot libraries with prices ranging from $11,600 to $91,500. ARCserve/Open 2.0 pricing ranges from $695 (for Intel platforms) to $1,995. Optional agents are priced from $495 to $2,995. For more information, contact Cheyenne Software, Inc., 3 Expressway Plaza, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577; (516) 484-5110; FAX: (516) 484-3446.

AGE Logic Ships Native Power Mac X Server

AGE Logic, Inc., has begun shipping XoftWare for Mac OS, AGE'S Macintosh X Server for native operation on Power Macintosh as well as 68K Macintosh platforms. XoftWare provides features such as automated host login and client startup; xdm session management; built-in window management; support for remote login via PPP, SLIP, and ARA. XoftWare for Mac OS includes extensive network support via the Apple Communications Toolbox (CTB) connection tools, fully supports TCP/IP and DECnet tools, and supports access to X11 font servers.

XoftWare for Mac OS costs $295 for a single-user license. For more information, contact AGE Logic, Inc., 12651 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, CA 92130; (619) 755-1000; FAX: (619) 755-3998; WWW: http://www.age.com.

Qualix Group Announces FirstWatch 2.2

Qualix Group, Inc., has announced release 2.2 of FirstWatch, their high-availability failover management software for critical applications in a client/server environment. The 2.2 version includes major upgrades, such as an alternative heartbeat channel, GUI script builder, and enhanced security and memory management features. In addition, Qualix has announced FirstWatch support for FDDI and Token Ring networks.

FirstWatch provides compatibility with Sun's SPARC Storage Array and other RAID disks, and agents for monitoring Sybase, Oracle, and Informix databases. The software operates with Sun SPARC or HP 9000/800 series machines. FirstWatch works with Veritas volume manager (VxVM) and the Veritas Journaling File System (VxFS), which can eliminate the need for a full file system check, speeding system failovers. The software also supports SunOS 4.1.3, Solaris 2.2/2.3, and now Solaris 2.4.

FirstWatch pricing is configuration dependent and starts at $14,995. Database Agent pricing starts at $1500. For more information, contact Qualix Group, Inc., 1900 S. Norfolk Street, Suite 224, San Mateo, CA 94403; (415) 572-0200; FAX: (415) 572-1300; Internet: info@qualix.com; WWW: http://www.qualix.com.

Emphasys Announces Product X

Emphasys, Inc., has announced Product X, a software tool for consolidating and managing UNIX applications in a menu driven desktop environment on both PCs and character-based ASCII terminals. Product X provides an interface for creating menu systems for character-based applications, provides for multiple level application-based security, and supports customizing of users' desktop environments.

Product X runs on UNIX and DOS systems. An eight-user system costs $995. For more information, contact Emphasys, Inc., 9855 West 78th Street, Suite 100, Eden Prairie, MN 55344; (800) 800-3399.

N.A.T. Adds Troubleshooting and Reporting to MeterWare

Network Applications Technology, Inc. (N.A.T.), has added automated troubleshooting and report generation tools for its MeterWare for UNIX v2.1 software. MeterWare for UNIX is a scalable, distributed network monitoring application for managing hundreds to thousands of LANs within an enterprise network. MeterWare can be used in conjunction with N.A.T.'s EtherMeter, TokenMeter, or MasterMeter probes for monitoring Ethernet and Token Ring networks. MeterWare has added rule-based troubleshooting for automated diagnosis. Simple scripts can be written to implement troubleshooting procedures. Rules can evaluate network conditions based on data from SNMP traps and "gets" to RMON and other SNMP agents.

MeterWare for UNIX 2.1 provides a flexible system for generating reports on historical network statistics and trends. A set of pre-defined report formats is available for getting started. Version 2.1 also supports device groups to simplify configuration of groups of probes. MeterWare for UNIX provides RMON MIB support for Ethernet and Token Ring networks.

MeterWare for UNIX costs $4,995. For more information, contact Network Applications Technology, Inc., 1686 Dell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008; (408) 370-4300; FAX: (408) 370-4222.

UniPress Announces Winsock Support in SoSession PC2X

UniPress Software, Inc., in conjunction with Triton Technologies, Inc., has announced Winsock support in CoSession PC2X, a PC-UNIX connectivity tool for remotely displaying and controlling PCs from UNIX X Window systems. With CoSession PC2X, the PC, running DOS or Windows, displays in an X Window from which users can run any PC application. Performance is not affected because the programs run natively on the PC. Users can control multiple PCs simultaneously by running several CoSession PC2X windows.

With Winsock support, CoSession PC2X can now work with any Winsock-compatible TCP/IP stack, including Microsoft TCP/IP (Windows and Windows for Workgroups), NetManage's Chameleon, Frontier's SuperTCP, Sun's PC-NFS, and the latest version of FTP's PC/TCP.

CoSession PC2X is available for Sun (SunOS or Solaris), IBM, HP, SCO, and SGI workstations. A single-user starter pack with one PC host and one UNIX client costs $595. Additional UNIX clients cost $495, while additional hosts cost $125. Volume discounts are available. For more information, contact: UniPress Software, Inc., 2025 Lincoln Highway, Edison, NJ 08817, (908) 287-2100; FAX: (908) 287-4929; Internet: info@unipress.com.

ISCOR Releases Directory Products

ISOCOR has introduced its ISOCOR Diretory Services product family. The suite of software applications includes client tools for Microsoft Windows and MAPI, directory synchronization gateways for Lotus' cc:Mail and Microsoft Mail, administrative tools for directory management, and import/export utilities for linking of directory servers with corporate databases.

Component tools include: ISOPLEX DS, the directory server; The Navigator, a Windows-based management tool; ISOGATE for cc:Mail; ISOGATE for Microsoft Mail; ISOGATE DS; ISOGATE DS Import/Export Utility; MAPIWARE X.500 SPI; ISOPLEX DS APIs.

The ISOPLEX DS server is offered on SCO UNIX, Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, and HP-UX platforms. For more information, contact 3420 Ocean Park Blvd., Ste. 2010, Santa Monica, CA 90405; ISOCOR, (310) 581-8100; FAX: (310) 581-8111; Internet: sales.info@isocor.com.

TransferPro Supports RS/6000 and AViiON

Digital Instrumentation Technology, Inc. (DIT), has added support for the IBM RS/6000 and Data General AViiON platforms to its TransferPro software. TransferPro allows users to read and write Macintosh and MS-DOS files directly from their workstation. TransferPro also supports initializing the media as well as transfering large files using high-speed SCSI disks or cartridges. TransferPro provides both a Motif GUI and a character-based interface.

TransferPro works with built-in diskette drives or external devices such as Syquest, Iomega Zip drives, Bernoulli, Magneto Optical drives, data shuttle drives, SCSI hard disk drives, external SCSI diskette drives, and Floptical drives. TransferPro costs $409. For more information, contact Digital Instrumentation Technology, Inc., 127 Eastgate Drive, #20500, Los Alamos, NM 87544; (800) 467-1459 or (505) 662-1459; Internet: tpro-request@dit.com.

EMASS Enhances Archival Software

EMASS has announced AMASS 4.2.4, allowing direct access and archiving to the EMASS AML/E automated media library. AMASS 4.2.4 is a virtual file system, providing direct access and archiving functionality, and allowing the AML/E to appear as online, direct-access storage. Users can access the automated library as a single device with the standard UNIX file system. AMASS 4.2.4 also adds support for the following third-party drives and libraries: Quantum DLT 2000; Odetics ACL 2640 and Breece Hill Q7 DLT-based libraries; HP 40ST, 80ST, and 100ST; and Cygnet ASM 224W, 176M, and 123W optical disk libraries. AMASS is integrated with two other EMASS software products: VolServ and DataMgr. AMASS 4.2.4 performance has also been improved through enhancements such as multi-cache partitioning and a scattered writes feature.

AMASS 4.2.4 pricing starts at $4,000. For more information, contact EMASS, 10949 East Peakview Avenue, Englewood, CO 80111, (303) 792-9700.

Computronics Ports PEEK for UNIX

Computronics has announced versions of their PEEK software package for SCO UNIX and Sequent (Dynix). PEEK allows you to view a user's screen, and with the POKE mode, to type on behalf of another user and become his/her terminal. PEEK has obvious utility for help desk applications and PEEK can be used for training by broadcasting screen displays. PEEK includes extensive security features and an audit trail of its use.

PEEK for UNIX costs from $200 to $2,000, depending on configuration. For more information, contact Computronics, 4N165 Wood Dale Road, Addison, Illinois 60101; (708) 941-7767; FAX: (708) 941-7714; Internet: info@computron.com.

The Hyde Company Introduces Paging Software

The Hyde Company, Inc., has released version 2.1 of SPATCH, an alphanumeric paging software program for UNIX systems. With only one telephone line and one modem, multiple users can send alphanumeric messages without leaving their desks. Command Line Paging/Event Monitoring is a one of the new features. Users can have messages identifying computer-generated errors and alarms sent directly to their pager. The Hyde Company has also introduced the E-Mail Interface, which automatically sends email to the pager.

SPATCH costs $125 for a two-user UNIX copy and is available for systems including: SCO UNIX, SCO XENIX, AIX, HP-UX, SunOS, DYNIX, IRIX, Solaris, DG/UX, and OSF/1. For more information, contact: The Hyde Company, (404) 495-0718.

Lightwave Announces SystemConsoleSwitch

Lightwave Communications, Inc., has announced SystemConsoleSwitch, a controller which allows a single RS-232 terminal to monitor and control an entire data center. The SystemConsoleSwitch connects a terminal to as many as 96 different computers, LAN bridges, routers, and workstations. The SystemConsoleSwitch attaches to the equipment console port and allows network or data center managers to monitor and control the attached devices and to observe equipment operation. The SystemConsoleSwitch stores multiple pages of buffer memory for each attached device. A printer can be attached and a modem can be used to access the SystemConsoleSwitch remotely.

The SystemConsoleSwitch Chassis contains the control circuitry and slots for six dual-port modules and costs $1,195. Dual-port modules cost $295. Each SystemConsoleSwitch chassis can attach up to twelve devices by adding up to six dual-port modules. Multiple switch chassis can be cascaded. For more information, contact Lightwave Communications, Inc., 84 Research Drive, Milford, CT 06460; (203) 878-9838; FAX: (203) 874-0157.