New Products

Starfire Announces Network Computing Manager

Starfire Engineering & Technologies, Inc. announced the January 2001 release of Starfire Titan, the Network Computing Manager. Starfire Titan provides browser-based, centralized administration for OS/2, WorkSpace On-Demand, AIX, Windows NT/2000, and Linux environments. Starfire Titan enables an administrator to launch tasks by answering only a few questions via a Web browser interface.

Starfire Titan allows complex, multi-step tasks to be defined once and delivered to multiple customers. Then the IT staff responds to a few questions and Starfire Titan completes the task for them. It provides browser-based, cross-platform management of network computing resources enterprise-wide. Starfire Titan is built on a foundation of open standards including Java, TCP/IP, HTML, XML, and SSL/TLS.

Starfire Titan "stores" the intellectual property required to accomplish a task, and therefore enables anyone with the proper access to perform even the most complex tasks. The IT staff is freed from the need to research, develop, and test solutions to the same problems repeatedly. Titan activities can be customer built to extend and customize the Starfire Titan investment. Additionally, Titan activities can be purchased from the Starfire Titan Partners. Starfire Titan can be further extended to support additional environments and vendor products.

Starfire Titan will be generally available in January 2001. For additional information, contact: Starfire Engineering & Technologies, Inc., 2429 Iowa Street, Suite K, Lawrence, KS 66046-4075; Phone: (785) 842-1111; Fax: (785) 842-8811; WWW: http://www.starfire.net.

ADVA Optical Networking Announces DiskLink

ADVA Optical Networking announced SCSI over IP capability to its DiskLink SAN interconnect gateway. The new Gigabit Ethernet interface added to DiskLink as an alternative to existing ATM OC-3 and OC-12 wide area interfaces allows customers to build storage networks over IP backbone networks, such as intranets and Virtual Private Networks. SCSI over IP permits business-critical SAN applications, such as data replication and remote tape backup, to operate on existing IP networks. ADVA's DiskLink is able to combine storage traffic from local Fibre Channel SANs and SCSI-based storage devices for transmission to remote sites over ATM or broadband IP networks. In effect, DiskLink allows local SANs to be interconnected to create an enterprise-wide SAN.

DiskLink provides a high-performance alternative to NAS (Network Attached Storage) by connecting storage devices (disks and tapes) directly to a broadband IP network and carrying storage traffic in IP packets, thus avoiding the server bottleneck. DiskLink can carry storage traffic at several times the rate in a NAS environment, significantly reducing server loading and backup times. For more information, contact: ADVA AG Optical Networking, Fraunhoferstrasse 11, 82152 Martinsried/Munich, Germany; Phone: +49 (0) 89 89577-577; Fax: +49 (0) 89 89577-477; Internet: info@advaoptical.de; WWW: http://www.advaoptical.com.

IBM Announces Small Business Servers Under $1000

IBM announced two servers designed for small and medium businesses, including the first Intel-based server to break the $1000 barrier. The IBM eServer x220, $970, is the lowest priced two-way server in the industry offering high-availability. IBM offers advanced industry standard server technology to entry-level servers, which are now available for purchase directly from IBM.com.

Designed to meet the needs of small to medium businesses, the x200 is equipped with the Netfinity Director and hard disk predictive failure analysis for greater reliability. The x200 is designed for rack mounting has IDE support integrated for tape drive and RAID cards.

The x220 is easy to service with tool-less chassis construction, providing quick access and removal of critical subsystems such processor, hard drives, and I/O cards. Starting at less than $1400, the x220 also comes standard with automatic server restart, diagnostic LED readouts,and the latest hot swap 15,000-rpm hard disk drives. Both of the new xSeries servers are available directly through ibm.com or at 1-888-SHOP-IBM.

Additional x200 features:

A choice of CeleronTM or Pentium III processor
Up to 1.5 GB ECC SDRAM memory
Up to 145.6 GB internal storage capacity
Ultra160 SCSI or ATA66 controller
Total of 5 PCI slots (5X32-bit)
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Operating Systems supported -- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server, NT, Novell Netware, Linux, SCO UnixWare, SCO open server

Additional x220 features:

Up to two 933-MHz Pentium III processors with 256-KB full-speed L2 cache
Up to 4 GB ECC SDRAM memory
Up to 145.6 GB internal storage capacity
Ultra160 SCSI
Total of 5 PCI slots (5X32-bit)
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Operating Systems supported -- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server, NT, Novell Netware, Linux, SCO UnixWare, SCO Open Server

For more information, contact: IBM Corporation, New Orchard Road, Armonk, NY 10504; Phone: (914) 499-1900 or (800) 426-4968; WWW: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/eserver/xseries/.

Overland Announces LTO Ultrium LoaderXpress and MinilibraryXpress

Overland Data, Inc. announced the LTO (Linear Tape Open) Ultrium LoaderXpress and MinilibraryXpress -- Overland's first products to incorporate Seagate Technology Inc.'s high-reliability Viper 200 drives. The LTO Ultrium LoaderXpress provides up to 2.2 TB of unattended storage capacity and 1.1-TB native capacity. With native throughput of up to 16-MB/sec, the LTO Ultrium LoaderXpress reduces the backup window and increases backup data volume.

The LTO Ultrium LoaderXpress provides safe, secure backup and online access with streaming Ultrium tape technology that extends media life. Overland's Mainframe-Class robotics enhance reliability and help make LTO Ultrium LoaderXpress suitable for automated unattended backup and restore.

The LTO Ultrium LoaderXpress comes with a removable 11-cartridge magazine designed for easy loading and unloading of tapes. It features built-in, Web-based remote library monitoring and control capability. Its interface provides direct access to magazines, cartridge, and drive status information. It is compatible with Sun Solaris, Novell NetWare, Windows NT/2000, IBM AIX, SCO UNIX, HP-UX, Mac OS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux.

The LTO Ultrium MinilibraryXpress offers up to 115.2 GB/hour native throughput, and 1.6 TB of native capacity in an dual-drive-ready solution. It is a solution for unattended backup and restore operations. Its proven Mainframe-Class robotics ensure reliability for critical data storage management. It is available in desktop or rackmount models, with 1 or 2 tape drives, and a removable 16-cartridge tape magazine.

For more information, contact: Overland Data, Inc., 8975 Balboa Avenue, San Diego, CA 92123-1599; Phone: (858) 571-5555 or (800) 729-8725; Fax: (858) 571-0982; WWW: http://www.overlanddata.com.

Quadron Announces X.25 Development Toolkit

Quadron's qX25 software is an open-architecture implementation of the X.25 protocol for ARTIC communication cards that reside in servers and workstations. Versions of qX25 are offered for Linux, Windows NT, DOS, and OS/2 operating systems. Features include:

Offloads X.25 processing from the server or workstation to ARTIC communication cards
Data rates up to 64 Kbps
Simultaneous permanent and switched virtual circuits
Packet size up to 1024 bytes
Fast select calls
Open architecture API allows use of ARTIC card for additional functions
Includes I/O driver compliant with CCITT's X.25
Access to all X.25 facilities
Tasks written with standard C compilers run on host server or workstation
Enables access to standard C library functions and host memory from ARTIC tasks
Packet and frame diagnostic trace
Includes symbolic debugger and real-time analysis tools
Gathers and displays frame and packet-level statistics
Other Quadron software can run on the same ARTIC card

For more information, contact: Quadron, 209 East Victoria St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101; Phone: (805) 966-6424; Fax: (805) 966-7630; Internet: info@quadron.com; WWW: http://www.quadron.com.

Rave Computer Adds Redundant Disk Array

Rave Computer Association, Inc. announced a redundant 4U disk array to provide data solutions for storage requirements and for applications requiring high-performance, fault-tolerant data storage. The Rave Systems Redundant Disk Array features nine drive bays, including eight drive canisters. Each drive canister provides visual SCSI target ID and has two additional LEDs -- one for power and the other for disk drive activity.

The Rave Systems Redundant Disk Array can be configured as a JBOD or for a variety of RAID levels including 0, 1, 3, and 5 via Ultra2 SCSI LVD single or dual RAID controller. These RAID functions can provide the user with high data availability and protection by using capabilities like automatic drive failure detection, hot stand-by, automatic rebuilding, hot swapping, and online background rebuilding. Additional configurations include dual-port or multi-bus SCSI configurations. This system is Ultra160 compliant.

According to the company, continuous operation of the system is assured by the system's dual hot-swappable 300-watt (N+1) current sharing power supplies that have dual power receptacles. Data integrity is ensured by also providing the battery power to the internal cache in the event of power loss. The chassis also has two 80-mm 43CFM exhaust fans. There is an audible warning for any faults that occur with any of the power supplies. Additionally, users have the option of choosing a tower RAID subsystem with the same configurations as the 4U rack.

For more information, contact: Rave Computer Association, Inc., 36960 Metro Court, Sterling Heights, MI 48312; Phone: (800) 966-7283 or (810) 939-8230; Fax: (810) 939-7431; Internet: sales@rave.com; WWW: http://www.rave.com.

Arula Systems, Inc. Announces Multi-Port Cerebus X8

Arula Systems, Inc., announced the introduction of Cerebus X8, a multi-port remote systems management appliance. According to the company, the Cerebus X8 provides secure, out-of-band management of up to eight Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Sun Microsystems UNIX and Windows NT/2000 servers, as well as other IT networking devices such as Cisco routers, switches, and load balancers.

Multiple Cerebus X8 units can be deployed for large, fast growing data center environments, with no upper limit on scalability. Cerebus X8 is based on the Arula Management Platform, a general-purpose thin server Internet appliance, that uses an RC4 data encryption scheme and RSA Security's Secure Socket Layer (SSL) handshake protocol. The Cerebus X8 provides server authentication, encryption of data in transit, and client authentication. With this capability, Cerebus X8 provides encryption available for secure, remote console-level access.

For more information, contact: Arula Systems, 10670 North Tantau Avenue, Suite 200, Cupertino, CA 95014; Phone: (408) 996-3400; Fax: (408) 996-3406; Internet: email@arula.com; WWW: http:// www.arula.com.

Merlin Software Announces PerfectBACKUP+ 7.0

Merlin Software Technologies announced the availability of a new version of its backup software for Linux. PerfectBACKUP+7.0 features improvement in usability, performance, and compatibility as a backup solution for Linux. Merlin's applications operate on all major Linux distributions, including Caldera OpenLinux, eServer, TurboLinux, RedHat, SuSE, Debian, Mandrake, and Corel Linux.

According to the company, PerfectBACKUP+ has a wide range of features to address various backup needs. PerfectBACKUP+'s features include:

Broad hardware compatibility (support for a wide range of devices -- IDE, SCSI, DAT, DLT)
Broad file system compatibility (including platforms such as Linux, UNIX, Netware, Windows, NFS)
User conveniences such as wizards for full system and scheduled backups, for specific backup strategies, and for disaster recovery
Power features such as device management, security, user-definable compression, and multiple concurrent backup sessions

PerfectBACKUP+ is a backup solution that lets systems administrators backup Linux, UNIX, Windows NT/2000 servers and workstations centrally.

For more information, contact: Merlin Software Technologies International, Inc., Suite 200 & 201, 4199 Lougheed Hwy. Burnaby, B.C. V5G 3Y6 Canada; Phone: (877) 988-7227; WWW: http://www.MerlinSofTech.com.

Zzyzx Introduces Ruggedized Fibre Channel

Zzyzx Peripherals, Inc, a manufacturer and distributor of SAN disk and tape storage solutions, workstations, and peripherals for UNIX and NT environments, announced its new RuggedRAID FC, a Fibre Channel, SAN-ready RAID array optimized for the extreme military and industrial environmental conditions. According to the company, this system is ruggedized for the rigorous conditions typically found in military and industrial applications. It can withstand a shock greater than 20 G's at frequency of 12-16 Hz, and continue to transfer data without fail. Its design is FC (Fibre Channel) from the host interface to the disk drive, offers high performance, and is built for extreme fault tolerance.

Features of the RuggedRAID FC SAN-ready RAID Array include:

Dual Fibre Channel controllers, hot swappable, front loading with 256-MB cache per controller
Hot-swappable, 3X300-watt dual AC power system
5U chassis supporting nine Fibre Channel disks
Scalable with 4U add-on rugged disk chassis supporting nine Fibre Channel disk drives (providing total storage up to 2 TB)
Tested with 36 and 73-GB, 10,000-RPM Fibre Channel disk drives
RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1, 3 and 5 are supported
SAN-ready, supporting LUN masking, dynamic on-line expansion (depending on OS capabilities

The RuggedRAID FC is compatible with a range of computing platforms, including Sun, SGI, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Windows NT. Support for other platforms will be added as tested. A list of qualified SAN components (HBAs, switches, etc.) is available and will be expanded.

For more information, contact: Zzyzx Peripherals, Inc, 5893 Oberlin Dr. #102, San Diego, CA 92121; Phone: (800) 876-7818 or (858) 558-7800; Fax: (858) 558-8283; WWW: http://www.zzyzx.com.

Macro 4's UniQPrint Announces Output Management to Linux Users

Macro 4 launced UniQPrint for Linux, an output management for printing, faxing, and Web site postings. Macro 4's UniQPrint provides management facilities for all printing devices in an open systems network. According to the company, UniQPrint's new enterprise GUI (graphical user interface) replaces product-specific interfaces with a single user-friendly Windows GUI, simplifying print management for all users, operations staff, and end users. Automatic print delivery ensures that reports created on remote server machines can be routed around the open systems environment in a secure and managed fashion.

So far, UniQPrint has successfully run on several releases of Linux, including RedHat 6.x, SuSE. 6.x, and Caldera OpenLinux 2.x. Due to the nature of UniQPrint coding, the program is easily portable to other versions of Linux, usually without change to the code.

For more information, contact: Macro 4 Inc, 35 Waterview Boulevard, P.O. Box 292, Parsippany, NJ 07054-0292; Phone:(800) 766-6224; Fax: (973) 402-7280; Internet: market.usa@macro4.com; WWW: http://www.macro4usa.com.