New Products

Keyspan, a provider of USB connectivity products, is now shipping its new USB 4-port Serial Adapter. According to the company, the Keyspan USB 4-Port Serial Adapter allows four serial devices to be connected to a single USB port. Each of its male DB9 ports allows connection to RS-232 serial devices at data rates up to 960 Kbps. In addition to supporting Linux 2.4, the Keyspan USB 4-Port Serial Adapter can also be used on the Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows 2000 platforms, as well as with Mac OS 8.6 or higher. Support for Mac OS X will be available in the third quarter.

This new adapter is targeted to enterprise and industrial market segments. It is an option for connecting serial devices needed in laboratory, manufacturing, and retail settings for Point of Sale (POS), process control, or data retrieval applications. Distributed by Ingram Micro and Tech Data, the adapter has a suggested retail price of $149.

For more information, contact: Keyspan, 3095 Richmond Parkway, #207, Richmond, CA 94806; Phone: (510) 222-0131; Fax: (510) 222-0323; Internet: info@keyspan.com; WWW: http://www.keyspan.com.

Connexx Announces SANavigator 1.5

Connex, a developer of Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions, announced the availability of SANavigator version 1.5. According to the company, this new version of the vendor- and platform-independent SAN management application is a comprehensive solution that supports the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) Host Bus Adapter (HBA) API for in-band discovery. In addition to using this feature to provide key management, version 1.5 supports (data path) zoning for more devices, provides additional integration features for a variety of applications, and includes a software development kit for support of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Roman characters.

SANavigator Version 1.5, a Java-based storage management application that operates as a host for other storage management applications, utilities and tools from major storage vendors, includes an Auto Discovery feature that performs an inventory of all SAN and NAS resources. The SANmap component of SANavigator presents a visual map of the SAN showing all devices and their interconnections. It allows a manager to establish new zones, create redundant paths and other management routines, completing with just a few mouse clicks a process that previously took several hours.

By supporting the SNIA standard as part of the Auto Discovery process, Version 1.5 provides valuable information on Host Bus Adapters and attached devices. It provides, for example, LUN (Logical Unit Number) level information on RAID arrays, and the firmware version of SAN devices. Version 1.5 can also provide environmental information and other data. Because Version 1.5 supports agentless in-band discovery for local HBAs and attached SANs, managers can avoid installing and maintaining agents throughout the network.

Other new features of Version 1.5 include data path zoning support for additional devices, which allows devices and data paths to be organized in different ways, a clip board that makes it possible to copy information about devices to an Excel or Word file for reporting purposes, and a localization software development kit. Like the earlier version of SANavigator, version 1.5 supports all Microsoft Windows platforms (98, NT, and 2000) in addition to Solaris and Linux. SANavigator Version 1.5 is interoperable with other storage management applications and can be utilized to launch operations such as serverless backup using third-party backup software.

For more information on SANavigator, contact: Connex, 2040 Fortune Drive, Suite 200, San Jose, CA 95131; Phone: (408) 232-9701; Fax: (408) 232-9866; Internet: Marketing@Connex.com; WWW: http://www.sanavigator.com.

AccuSoft Announces UNIX Support for ImageGear 2000

AccuSoft Corporation announced that their imaging toolkit, ImageGear, is now available for UNIX platforms: AIX, Solaris, and Linux. The UNIX version of ImageGear 2000 offers a subset of the available features in the IG2000 Windows version. According to the company, ImageGear 2000 provides enhancements over the previous version, including:

• Improved filter optimizations for JPEG, PNG, G3/G4, and TIFF, and faster rotation and resize functions
• Optimized Read and Write for multi-page documents
• File Format improvements (PSD 5.0 support, 48-bit TIFF support)
• Enhanced samples-Motif user-interface based and console-based
• PDF (for Linux only)

An evaluation copy of the beta is available for download from AccuSoft's Web site. For more information, contact: AccuSoft Corporation, 71 Lyman Street, Northborough, MA 01532; Phone: (800) 741-6722 or (508) 351-9092; Fax: (508) 351-9086; Internet: sales@accusoft.com; WWW: http://www.accusoft.com.

LXI Announces OmniBack II Mainframe-Class Tape Management

LXI Corp., a provider of Network Storage Applications for midrange systems, announced the availability of its Tape Tracker product for HP OpenView OmniBack II. According to the company, Tape Tracker is designed to complement OmniBack's network backup features and provide end users with a comprehensive, centrally managed, Tape and Vault Management system. Tape Tracker communicates with OmniBack II to create a single tape database containing information from one or more OmniBack installations. Using the common database, Tape Tracker manages the onsite and offsite movement of tapes providing mainframe-class vaulting, tape inventory management, and scratch management.

Tape Tracker is designed to provide the operations staff with a tool to manage tape inventory. It tracks the status of all managed volumes providing scratch and vault management, printed label generation, standard reports, and extensive query capabilities. Tape Tracker complements network backup applications by providing mainframe-class tape management in a network environment. By using Tape Tracker, the operations staff can consolidate multiple tape handling processes and implement procedures for managing all tape volumes.

Tape Tracker is also available for Legato NetWorker, Veritas NetBackup, and Tivoli TSM. Additionally, the Tape Tracker Open Interface allows users to define and adapt Tape Tracker to their own tape management requirements. LXI also offers turnkey implementation services to customers using Tape Tracker's Open Interface.

For more information, contact: LXI Corp., 222 West Las Colinas Boulevard, Suite 960, Irving, TX 75039; Phone:(972) 444-2323; Fax: (972) 444-2350; Internet: main@lxicorp.com; WWW: http://www.lxicorp.com.

SuSE Linux and Lotus Announce SuSE Linux Groupware Server

SuSE Linux and Lotus announced the SuSE Linux Groupware Server. According to the companies, the new server combines the functionality of the Domino Messaging and Web Application Server with the cost advantages and the reliability of the Linux operating system. The product-integrated Domino Server provides tools for groupware, workflow, messaging, and scheduling. Domino also provides a basis for Web and messaging application development. A range of visual development tools allows existing applications to be integrated with customer service, customer relation management, sales support, and traveling/expense calculation.

Domino Release 5.0.5 supports XML, Java Servlets, Java Beans, and Java APIs for access to Domino services. Domino is helpful for real-time integration of enterprise data and applications. SuSE Linux Groupware Server includes security functions on all levels with personalized data access based on individual and group access rights. Message integrity is supported by S/MIME.

SuSE Linux Groupware Server includes:

• 1 SuSE Linux Enterprise platform
• 1 license Lotus Domino Application Server for Linux
• 10 Lotus Notes client licenses
• 60 days of installation and configuration support by SuSE

For more information, contact: SuSE, Inc., 580 Second Street, Suite 210, Oakland, CA 94607; Phone: (888) 875-4689 or (510)-628-3380; Fax: (510)-628-3381; Internet: info@suse.com; WWW: http://www.suse.com/.

Crystal Group Introduces 1U Rackmount Server

Crystal Group Inc., a provider of integration services and high-density computer systems, introduced the CS200, a 1U (1.75" of rack or cabinet space) rackmount server. According to the company, the CS200 server allows up to 42 individual units to be placed in a standard 7'0" rack or cabinet. Each CS200 features a custom motherboard with options such as Intel's Dual Pentium III processor, two ISA or two PCI expansion slots, programmable LCD, front and rear USB ports, and two Ethernet ports.

Power supplies are 300-watt AC. Redundant cooling is supplied by two 25.4-CFM blowers to allow no more than 10 C rise above ambient temperature. The CS200's customizable front faceplate can be removed to access the CD-ROM, floppy drive, hard drives, or CompactFlashTM. Every CS200 unit measures a compact 1.75" (H) x 19" (W) x 30" (D).

The CS200 has two storage options:

• Two internally mounted IDE or SCSI hard drives and a CD-ROM/floppy drive
• Three internally mounted IDE or SCSI hard drives

Other options include Phase III alarm daughter card, RAID controller (ICP Vortex) or SCSI Mezzanine Adapter Card Ultra2 (SMACU2). Each CS200 can be teamed with Crystal's exclusive QuickConnect cable management system. According to the company, QuickConnect acts as a docking station, where all cables are mounted and permanently wired to a connector mounted on the back of the rack or cabinet and all connections are made automatically. QuickConnect lets you remove and install individual units in less than 10 seconds. CS200 pricing starts at $2,295 per unit and will be available from Crystal Group Inc. beginning April 1st, 2001.

For more information, contact: Crystal Group Inc., 850 Kacena Road, Hiawatha, IA 52233; Phone: (800) 378-1636 or (319) 378-1636; WWW: http://www.crystalpc.com.

Merlin Software Technologies, Inc. Announces Brigade Firewall

Merlin Software Technologies, Inc. announced Brigade, a Linux appliance that provides firewall services for both the home and small business. To meet the needs of the marketplace, Brigade is priced starting below $100. According to the company, the user simply plugs in the firewall and turns it on -- the management software self-configures the firewall.

For more information, contact: Merlin Software Technologies International, Inc., Suite 200 - 4199 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5G 3Y6; Phone: (877) 988-7227 or (604) 320-7227; Fax: (604) 320-7277; WWW: http://www.merlinsoftech.com/firewall.

Cyrusoft International, Inc. Announces Mulberry Email Client

Internet email software maker Cyrusoft International, Inc. announced a Feburary 2nd ship date for the UNIX-based version of their Mulberry Email Client package. Mulberry is a cross-platform IMAP and POP email client. Version 2.0.5 has been previously available for Macintosh and Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME operating systems. According to the company, versions of UNIX currently supported by Mulberry include Red Hat Linux versions 5 and later (and equivalents), Linux PPC 2000, Solaris 8 and later (x86 and Sparc). Other versions of Mulberry for the UNIX family of operating systems will be released in stages during 2001.

Mulberry 2.0.5 now supports SSL transport-layer security encryption with any SSL/TLS-compatible IMAP or POP server. Mulberry's SRP is $39.95 for a single copy with the PGP option, $35.95 without, and is available for direct purchase from the company's Web site. Discount and site-licensing programs are available, including a special discount program for non-profits and educational institutions. Pricing for multi-user systems and for sites is based on the number of users, with each user being allowed to use Mulberry on all their available systems.

For more information, contact: Cyrusoft International, Inc., Suite 780, The Design Center, 5001 Baum Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15213; Phone: (412) 605-0499; Fax: (412) 605-0705; WWW: http://www.cyrusoft.com.

Procom Technology Inc. Announces NetFORCE 3200C

Procom Technology Inc., a manufacturer of data storage and access appliances, has introduced an addition to its enterprise-level NetFORCE 3000 series of NAS filers -- the 3200C cluster. Available immediately, the average selling price for 7-TB capacity is $319,000 or 4.5 cents/MB. Offering up to 96 drives with proportional performance increases, the 3200C is the highest capacity NetFORCE filer currently available. According to the company, the 3200C combines high availability, ease of use, ease of installation, affordability, and true file-sharing capability in heterogeneous environments by relying on high-density Fibre Channel technology for back-end storage subsystem.

NetFORCE 3200C filers are deployed in a clustered environment, thus eliminating any single point of failure. The dual-active server configuration provides automatic failover in less than five seconds, leaving applications and users unaffected even in the event of catastrophic server failure. The NF 3200C also employs dual-active Fibre RAID controllers, redundant cooling fans, and redundant power supplies. In addition to the cross-platform file sharing enabled by NAS, the NetFORCE 3200C adheres to both Windows and UNIX file security protocols by integrating UNIX directory services, NIS and Windows NT Access Control Lists (ACLs), as well as Windows NT multiple master domain (MMD) architecture. Cross-protocol file locking support provides data integrity and security.

For more information, contact: Procom Technology Inc., 58 Discovery, Irvine, CA 92618; Phone: (949) 852-1000; Fax: (949) 852-1221; Internet: info@procom.com; WWW: http://www.procom.com.

Object Design Ships Objectstore for Linux

Object Design announced that its ObjectStore data management software is now shipping for Linux operating systems. Called ObjectStore 6.0 for Linux i386, the product brings an object database management system (ODBMS) to the growing enterprise Linux marketplace. According to the company, by porting the core ObjectStore engine to Linux, Object Design provides a high-performance database and middle-tier data management engine.

ObjectStore is a data management foundation that offers native support for Java and C++ development environments to deliver speed, reliability, and scalability. It provides development tools as well as data storage and standard libraries for managing collections, as well as transactions, query processing, and indexing. According to the company, it eliminates the need to write mapping code -- a major part of the code base for middle-tier e-business applications built on relational databases -- while improving run-time performance.

The new version of ObjectStore 6.0 for Linux i386 is available immediately and is priced from $50,000 for an ObjectStore jump-start program. ObjectStore 6.0 for Linux i386 runs on the latest Linux kernels (2.3 and 2.4) on Intel 32-bit systems and includes both C++ and Java interfaces.

For more information, contact: Object Design, 25 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01803; Phone: (781) 674-5000; Fax: (781) 674-5010; Internet: info-objectdesign@objectdesign.com; WWW: http://www.objectdesign.com.

Dirig Software Announces MySQL SAM

Dirig Software, a developer of applications and systems management solutions, announced that it has released a new Specific Application Manager (SAM) for managing MySQL, an open source relational database. According to the company, SAMs provide IT administrators with a solution to increase the rate of install and solve application problems such as database management through a set of pre-configured management rules. The MySQL SAM addresses the issues of managing an open source-based database alongside other database configurations. Customers in a multi-platform environment have the ability to manage separate databases.

Dirig's Specific Application Managers allow a user to manage an application with minimal or no added configuration. Through a drag and drop function, Dirig SAMs are imported and a set of predefined rules are automatically created, providing users with application management with minimal configuration.

For more information, contact: Dirig Software, 547 Amherst Street, Suite 401, Nashua, NH 03063; Phone: (603) 889-2777; Fax: (603) 889-2471; Internet: info@dirig.com; WWW: http://www.dirig.com.