New Products

Xi Graphics Packages Accelerated-X, Motif for Linux

Xi Graphics, Inc., has announced their maXimum cde for Linux. The graphical user interface is already an industry standard for UNIX workstations offered by IBM, HP, Digital, Sun, and others. The fully integrated package includes Motif and CDE built on the Accelerated-X Display Server and running on the Linux operating system.

The common desktop look for Linux comes from the Common Desktop Environment, or CDE, a commercial, proprietary GUI developed, maintained, and licensed by a consortium of companies called the OpenGroup (www.opengroup.org). These companies, including Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, and Digital, pooled their technologies to develop the Motif window manager, which contains most of the elements of the CDE graphical user interface. Together, Motif and CDE represent the target for applications developers.

Other maXimum cde for Linux features include: fully integrated utilities -- Netscape, Acrobat, Postscript viewer, image viewer; autodetection of graphics hardware at install; English, German, French, and Italian language desktop support; graphical session and login manager; and overlay support on capable hardware.

maXimum cde for Linux Executive Edition is available for $199.95 within the U.S.; the Developer's Edition is $349.95. Laptop versions and international pricing are slightly higher. Quantity discounts are available. Linux can be included at no extra charge. maXimum cde works on Red Hat, Debian, Caldera, SuSE, Delix, and Slackware Linux. Xi Graphics offers free, unlimited support for maXimum CDE. Linux OS technical support is sold in “ServicePacs.” For more information, contact: Xi Graphics Inc., 1801 Broadway, Suite 1710, Denver, CO, 80202; (800) 946-7433; WWW: http://www.xig.com.

Data Commander 2.3 Adds XML Support

Blackstone & Cullen, Inc. (BAC) have announced the addition of legacy-to-XML file conversion to their Data Commander 2.3 data management tool. Data Commander 2.3 is an automated data testing utility which handles data aging, analysis, comparison, and conversion for Y2K compliance, euro conversion, and data migration projects moving non-relational legacy data to relational forms. By adding support for XML 1.0, it provides a mechanism for moving legacy archives to the emerging XML format.

According to the company, seventy percent of corporate data worldwide still resides in legacy archives and has evolved into thousands of proprietary formats over the years. Recent Y2K survival shortcuts like date windowing, scaling, and split-dates have only compounded the problem. Data Commander 2.3 can be used to cleanse the data of glitches and proprietary formatting, after digging it out of complex structures. Afterwards, the data can be fed into a “pipeline”, converted into XML, or used as “data island.”

Data Commander supports over 220 date formats and will handle data processed by mainframe and midrange systems, as well as UNIX-based servers. Supported platforms include IBM MVS, VSE, VM, OS/390, and AS/400, and Data Commander will run on any system with a resident COBOL compiler. For more information, contact: Blackstone and Cullen, 2000 RiverEdge Parkway, Suite 750, Atlanta, GA, 30328; (770) 612-1550; FAX: (770) 612-1471; WWW: http://www.bac-atl.com.

Winternals Software Releases Remote Recover for Windows NT

Winternals Software LLC has released Remote Recover, a product providing systems administrators a way to repair NTFS-based systems through an NT enterprise. With Remote Recover, administrators gain access to NTFS and FAT drives across a network, enabling them to easily configure, repair, or reinstall any disk connected to the network.

Users boot a PC using a floppy disk and the drives, regardless of NTFS or FAT formatting, become accessible from a remote Windows NT system. Hard disk administration software that normally operates locally can be used over a network to maniuplate a system that doesn't have an OS installed. It can be used to restore systems from scratch or accessing files on completely unbootable systems.

Remote Recover functions include: edit, copy, or delete files; copy files or entire partitions; repair damaged file systems with chkdsk; partition and format drives with NTFS or FAT; and restore entire disks from tape backup.

For more information, contact: Winternals Software LLC, 3101 Bee Caves Rd., Suite 150, Austin, TX, 78746; (800) 408-8415; WWW: http://www.winternals.com.

Zeh Graphics Systems Releases NetPlot

Zeh Graphic Systems, Inc. (ZEH) has announced NetPlot, a complete turnkey plot managment system. NetPlot includes all applicable hardware and software. Users simply connect NetPlot directly to a plotter or to an existing network and can immediately plot CGM, Postscript, HPGL/2, and raster files.

NetPlot users can submit jobs via the NetPlot User Tools Web page, from a UNIX lp queue, by using FTP, by “Drop-N-Plot” (wherein users can set up a print folder on their desktops and plot by moving the file to be printed into the folder), or from Windows applications via the File/Print feature. Users can track the status of their jobs by viewing the Queue Monitor. NetPlot processes large and complex files, offloading that task from the plotter and increasing throughput. NetPlot is application, file, and plotter independent, and is pre-configured to drive one plotter from a selection of different plotter manufacturers such as Hewlett Packard, Océ, Versatec, Xerox, and others.

Systems administrators have access to the basic NetPlot functions such as starting and stopping the system and scheduling tasks for NetPlot to run. NetPlot's server hardware specifications include a 300A MHz Celeron Processor, 64 Mb RAM, and a 4.2 Gb disk. For more information, contact: Zeh Graphic Systems, Inc., 1155 Dairy Ashford, Suite 105, Houston, TX, 77057; (281) 589-7757; WWW: http://www.zeh.com.

Hitachi Data Systems Announces Hitachi Freedom Storage NanoCopy

Hitachi Data Systems has announced Hitachi Freedom Storage NanoCopy and other data-movement solutions based on the Hitachi Asynchronous Remote Copy function for the Hitachi Freedom Storage 7700E. NanoCopy is a hardware-based solution allowing customers to make point-in-time copies without disrupting the application or end users. NanoCopy copies data between any number of primary subsystems and any number of secondary subsystems. The copies may be of any type or amount of data and may be recorded on subsystems anywhere. NanoCopy supports such services as application testing, business intelligence, and disaster recovery. For disaster recovery, NanoCopy will maintain a duplicate of critical data, so that production can proceed at a backup location after an outage.

Hitachi Freedom Storage NanoCopy is based on Hitachi Asynchronous Remote Copy, which is capable of moving large amounts of data over any distance while maintaining data integrity with minimal impact on performance. Data duplication is done directly from primary subsystems to secondary subsystems without using server processor cycles.

Asynchronous Remove Copy with Hitachi NanoCopy support will be offered as an extension to Hitachi Data Systems' data-movement options under its Copy, Availability, Resource, and Exchange (CARE) umbrella of software solutions for use with the Freedom Storage 7700E. Hitachi ShadowImage, currently available with the Copy suite of CARE, can operate in conjunction with Asynchronous Remote Copy to provide volume-level backup. Hitachi also announced that Remote Copy would support IBM's Geographically Dispersed Parallel SysplexR (GDPS). NanoCopy will be released starting in the fourth quarter of 1999, with initial support for S/390-compatible processors. Hitachi plans to extend NanoCopy to UNIX-based and Windows NT-based servers next year. For more information, contact: Hitachi Data Systems, 750 Central Expressway, Santa Clara, CA, 95056; WWW: http://www.hds.com.

Landmark Announces NaviGraph 2.0 for Enterprise Performance Management

Landmark Systems Corporation has announced NaviGraph 2.0, an upgrade to their PerformanceWorks suite of performance management products. NaviGraph 2.0 provides support for tracking and tuning performance in multi-tier, mixed-platform environments. NaviGraph 2.0 provides a single point of access via a Windows interface for controlling and monitoring all sorts of online transaction processing, databases, networks, and operating systems throughout the enterprise.

NaviGraph 2.0 provides access to hundreds of performance metrics, management by exception through user-established thresholds triggering alerts, and an AutoCorrelate feature for pinpointing problems across the managed systems and subsystems.

NaviGraph 2.0 runs under Microsoft Windows NT/98/95 and requires at least a 100 Mhz processor and 16 Mb RAM. NaviGraphi 2.0 reads data from all Landmark's PerformanceWorks mainframe and distributed products. For more information, contact: Landmark Systems Corporation, 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, 20191-5804; (800) 488-1111; WWW: http://www.landmark.com.

Dynamic Network Factory Debuts RAID Servers

Dynamic Network Factory, the U.S. product development subsidiary of ADO Inc., has announced its New Enterprise series, a line of RAID servers priced from $4999. New Enterprise servers connect to a host server via a SCSI connector and make use of an onboard processor to provide security and performance.

The Enterprise Series offers 60 Gb and 150 Gb systems supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, and incorporating 128 Mb cache memory. Enterprise Series features include hot swap spare, independent fault isolation, and 512 Kb SDRAM on each drive channel plus 128 Mb EDO on the RAID controller. Interface support includes fast, wide, and ultra-wide SCSI, with transfer rates up to 40 Mb per second. A hard disk can be used for hot standby, so that if a hard disk fails, the online hot spare disk can automatically replace the failed drive. Hot swap parts include disk drives, redundant power supply units, and cooling fans.

The Enterprise series is compatible with UNIX, Mac, Novell, and Windows NT/95. The servers are S.M.A.R.T. System compliant and support the EPA Energy star standard. List prices range from $4995 for a 66 Gb server to $8649 for a 150 Gb server. For more information, contact: Dynamic Network Factory, 22445 Foothill Blvd., Hayward, CA, 94541; (800) 947-4742; WWW: http://www.raidexpert.com.

TurboLinux Ships TurboLinux Workstation 3.6

TurboLinux has begun shipping TurboLinux Workstation 3.6, based on the 2.2.9 Linux kernel, includes Netscape 4.6 browser, and an RPM version of Corel's WordPerfect 8 for Linux. Other office productivity software for Linux and a suite of developer tools are also included. For increased flexibility, TurboLinux Workstation 3.6 users can choose between the default TurboDesk desktop environment or the GNOME or KDE windows managers.

In addition to the installation and source CDs, TurboLinux Workstation 3.6 users also receive a Companion CD that includes Linux applications and utilities, including Tripwire, StarOffice 5.0, and X-Win32. TurboLinux Workstation 3.6 is priced at $49.95 and is available from the company's Web site. For more information, contact: TurboLinux, 2000 Sierra Point, Suite 702, Brisbane, CA, 94005; (650) 244-7777; FAX: (650) 244-7766; WWW: http://www.turbolinux.com.

Enlighten Ports EnlightenDSM to Linux

Enlighten Software Solutions, Inc. has ported the administration and event monitoring capabilities of EnlightenDSM to Linux. According to the company, EnlightenDSM's planned support should accelerate the acceptance and usability of Linux in the corporate environment by providing a cost effective, easy-to-use and quick to deploy suite of multi-platform systems management tools that facilitate Linux management.

The Linux version of EnlightenDSM is slated for release in late 1999. For more information about EnlightenDSM for Linux, contact: Enlighten Software Solutions, Inc., 999 Baker Way, Fifth Floor, San Mateo, CA, 94404; (650) 578-0777; FAX: (650) 578-0118; Internet: info@sftw.com; WWW: http://www.EnlightenDSM.com.

Advance Systems Concepts Announces Support for Solaris

Advanced Systems Concepts has announced that its RemoteSHADOW supports the Sun Solaris platform. RemoteSHADOW, an application transparent software solution, has an immediate recovery capability in the event of a system or site failure. RemoteSHADOW transparently and continuously protects an organization's business information by providing it with updated access to today's data at an alternative location.

RemoteSHADOW for Sun Solaris includes both local and RemoteSHADOWing capabilities for partitions or volumes in the event of a disk drive, controller, system, or data center failure. RemoteSHADOW's network capabilities allow for shadowing over any link, regardless of distance or bandwidth requirements. Bandwidth can be managed during peak periods by the implementation of RemoteSHADOW's communication capabilities. RemoteSHADOW also includes a Network Restart feature that sends information to a queue when a connection is lost. The information continues to build in the queue until the connection is reestablished. Network Restart also sends only the information involving changes.

RemoteSHADOW supports Open VMS, UNIX, and Sun Solaris platforms. For pricing and other information about RemoteSHADOW for Sun Solaris, contact: Advanced Systems Concepts, 33-41 Newark Street, Hoboken, NJ, 07030; (800) 229-2724; FAX: (201) 798-9203; WWW: http://www.advsyscon.com.

GTA Upgrades GNAT Box Firewall Software

Global Technology Associates, Inc. has upgraded GNAT Box Firewall software. GNAT Box 2.2 supports a management interface for Windows 95/98 and NT that permits end users to remotely configure and manage the firewall via an encrypted link. This allows secure and central management of multiple GNAT Boxes via the Internet. Other features of GNAT Box 2.2 include filter action alarms with user-definable alarm threshold settings, filter enable/disable switch, multiple administrative accounts, an enhanced email proxy with Real Time Black List anti-SPAM option, Java and Active-X blocking, and expanded network interface card support.

According to the company, with as little as a 486/66 CPU and 16 Mb RAM, GNAT Box will support more than 16,000 concurrent sessions, and with slightly more powerful hardware, GNAT Box will support up to 32,000 concurrent sessions. The runtime systems reside on and boots off of a single 3.5” floppy disk -- no hard drive is needed. GNAT Box is certified by the International Computer Security Association. GNAT Box uses GTA's network address translation facility, network transparency technology, and stateful packet inspection engine.

GNAT Box 2.2 is priced at $995 for an unlimited user license. For more information contact: Global Technology Associates, Inc., 3505 Lake Lynda Drive, Suite 109, Orlando, FL, 32817; (407) 380-0220; FAX: (407) 380-6080; Internet: gb-info@gnatbox.com; WWW: http://www.gnatbox.com.

CMD Technology Releases PCI-648

CMD Technology, Inc has released PCI-648, its stand-alone Ultra 66 PCI-to-IDE/ATA host controller for 3.3V systems. The PCI-648 supports the Ultra 66 data-transfer protocol and slow bus master data-transfer rates to accommodate hard disk drives that do not support Ultra 66. Each IDE\ATA channel can access a 128-byte buffer, with each channel operating independently from the others. Up to two IDE/ATA interfaces are allowed per channel for a total of four devices. The PCI bus is a 32-bit bus at 33 Mhz. A built-in phase-lock loop generates an internal 66 MHz clock from the 22 MHz PCI bus clock. According to the company, the PCI-648's internal 66 MHz clock is used to transfer data at the rate of 66 Mbps on the INDE/ATA interface. Both channels are capable of supporting the Ultra 66 data transfer rate.

The PCI-648 also includes a built-in 80-pin cable and is available in a 160-pin TQFP. The PCI-648 supports Native mode, external BIOS, Legacy mode, Enhanced IDE/ATA mode (DMA and multi-word DMA mode), and all of the ATA PIO modes. The PCI-648 includes complete drivers for Windows 95/98, NT 4.0, and 2000 (when released by Microsoft). The PCI-848 is compatible with default IDE/ATA drivers from Microsoft.

The PCI-648 unit pricing, in 5,000 piece lots, is $10.60. For more information contact: CMD Technology, Inc., 19 Morgan, Irvine, CA, 92618; (949) 454-0800; FAX: (949) 699-3268; Internet: info@cmd.com; WWW: http://www.cmd.com.

Idetix Upgrades Revize

Identix, Inc. has upgraded Revize, its platform and server independent, client/server content management system that lets Web developers build secure content editing capabilities into new or existing Web sites. With Revize v2.1, authorized content contributors can use any Java-enabled browser to edit Web site content, while site and page layout remains protected. Additionally, Revize v2.1 supports FTP capabilities for uploading published information to any Web site. Other Revize v2.1 features include support for Apple Macintosh clients using MRJ 21, a “Turbo Client” installer, and improved RevizeScript commands for handling Web data.

Revize v2.1 is priced at $895 per Web site. Web site licensing is defined by the base URL entered for each running copy of the Revize server, or each separate entity or organization using Revize. There are no additional costs for content contributors, but third party licensing is required to resell content management services. For more information, contact Idetrix, Inc., 850 Stephenson Hwy., Suite 600, Troy, MI, 48083; (248) 616-5040; FAX: (248) 616-5045; WWW: http://www.idetix.com or http://www.revize.com.

AMS Announces CD/DVD Server

Advanced Media Services has announced the DakotaROM-SP, a scalable, server independent, network-attached caching CD/DVD server. DakotaROM-SP integrates CD/DVD and hard disk technologies with a multi-protocol Storpoint CD E100 thinserver engine. DakotaROM-SP includes a 32-bit, 100 MHz, custom network RISC processor and up to 160 MB of RAM. DakotaROM-SP supports two levels of hard disk caching, performance, and archive.

DakotaROM-SP provides network server and operating system independent access to CD/DVD-ROM data to clients in NetWare (NDS and Bindery), Windows NT/95/98, OS/2, UNIX Macintosh, and Web environments simultaneously. Because no server is required, Windows 95/98 or Macintosh clients in a peer-to-peer network environment can share CD/DVDs. DakotaROM-SP can be managed from anywhere on a network or over the Internet. Native OS integration and full user and group security is supported. Optional client software, Axis Storpoint Disco, allows users to see and access all CDs and DVDs on their desktops. Users can also customize their own CD/DVD-ROM libraries.

For pricing and other information about DakotaROM-SP, contact: Advanced Media Services, 10 Upton Dr., Wilmington, MA, 01887; (800) 466-0813 or (978) 658-1870; WWW: http://www.amsstorage.com.