The routers are racked.

The switches are racked.

The configurations are ready.

The Class C is routed. I think.

I'm sure you're familiar with CPE that is managed solely by the provider. It's a commonplace requirement for many broadband offerings. The ISP that supplies our 1.5Mbps SDSL does not allow us to manage
the router that sits in our lab. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if we weren't trying to figure out why our Class C's stop at their router. I'm guessing that there is no route to our router, but I can't verify that because I'm not allowed to touch the thing. Can't get in, can't even view the configuration in a read only mode. So we wait. And wait. And wait, until someone has time to check it out.

Of course life would be much easier if we just used the measly /29 that we got with our service, but we want our IPs. And we want them now. For two days I've sat trying to figure out what's going on, without being able to do much about it.

It's frustrating, to say the least. What really bothers me is that my business class DSL @ home, from the local Baby Bell, is mine. I can manage it, change it, screw it up - whatever I want. And that's at home - the place where the provider probably should be exercising a bit more control over their equipment and the connection, if for no other reason than to reduce the technical support costs. But because it's business class it's assumed that I can manage it myself. Thanks for that trust - it's a warm fuzzy that I don't get from the ISP that supplies our lab.

Unfortunately, we're stuck until dudes figure it out. Which I hope will be soon.

This tool attempts to "bubble-up" popular words and phrases that appear throughout blogdom over the past few days. A casual peek reveals some very strange results, such as the word "pans" (as in bread pans). But its ability to see the importance of a single the word is amazing. Take the word "Tristan", as in Tristan Taormino from the Village Voice, who wrote what is apparently a very popular story about recently deceased Great White guitarist Ty Longley. Word Bursts was able to quickly gather together the disparate posts concerning Tristan and his story. Very nice indeed.

If you're interested in this sort of technology, you may want to consider MIT's blogdex project, which gathers top web pages based upon weblog posts. Between these two sites and my NetNewsWire Lite collection of RSS feeds, I feel somewhat "up-to-date." But I'm curious to hear how you're using the Web (and perhaps blogs) to keep your finger on the pulse of goings on online and around the globe. Just send me a note on or simply post your favorite tools/techniques to Shop Talk.

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Hi folks, We've just published the final installment of our February 18th issue online, which features an in-depth review of desktop firewall solutions by Mike DeMaria. Be sure to tune into our This Week at Network Computing streaming audio show to hear Mike and I talk about his review and how securing corporate assets is at last reaching down to the desktop. Also new to the site is a great workshop by Lori MacVittie on how to best manage a layer 7 device.

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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Special Paper: ROI Stewardship
By Brad Shimmin at 02:32 PM
We're pleased to bring you an exclusive download from our long-standing associate, Greenwich Technology Partners. (GTP works with us to build the quarterly Network Computing IT Exam.) This special paper, "Taking Financial Stewardship of Your Network," was written by Shally Bansal Stanley and will show you how to establish strict business justification before you set out on a new technological initiative. Here's a brief excerpt.

With IT budgets for 2002 reduced as much as 40 and 50 percent from the 2001 actual spend, the challenge is making sure you save enough money before you run out of money.

Organizations that have done this successfully break the problem into three distinct pieces. First they FIX cost inefficiencies in their existing infrastructure. Second they PLAN changes to the infrastructure so that they are consistent with the cost reduction and containment efforts begun in step one. Lastly they GUARANTEE that their infrastructures continue to be cost effective and that they do not evolve away from their goals and targets.

Maintaining financial stewardship demands strict business justification for new initiatives before they are begun. Not after the fact. Instead of being customer focused and providing new services that your users request, you now have to determine if the service is necessary and is worth the cost.

We will be focusing on the first of these steps in the article as it is usually the most time and resource intensive and is the one the produces the near-term results that are required by todayís businesses.

• Download paper as PDF (110k)
• Download paper as Word document (76k)

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February 20, 2003
Is Google Big Brother?
By Brad Shimmin at 08:03 PM
Like many of you, Google.com has become my first and often last resort in searching the Web. And I rely upon its keen eye for how pages interlink. But there are those who look behind Google's shiny exterior and see some not-so-nice goings on. Google Watch, which has kept a particularly close eye on the uber engine, has recently gone so far as to nominate Google for Privacy International's Big Brother 2003 Award. It may sound ludicrous at first, but if you read Google Watch's reasoning, you'll see an interesting argument against Google's privacy policies and security measures.

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My favorite mail app
By Brad Shimmin at 07:49 PM
In response to our required mail solution criteria we posted last week, reader Russell Cohen offers the following, overlooked application.

I would suggest having a look at the Novell NetMail 3.1 or Novell NetMail XE products, which I think meet all your criteria. The products was formerly known as the Novell Internet Messaging System (NIMS) and is part of Novell's heritage from the Novonyx era. Here are some links:

• Novell NetMail 3.1
• Novell NetMail XE
• NetMail Cool Solutions (formerly NIMS)
• A "Quick Start" Guide to Novell NetMail 3.1

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February 19, 2003
Sig file select
By Brad Shimmin at 07:50 PM
Just a sig file from one of our readers.

p.s.	For my sins in a previous life, 
I manage the MS Exchange
infrastructure for my organization!

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February 16, 2003
New issue online
By Brad Shimmin at 08:28 PM
We've just published the first installment of our February 20th issue. Leading the charge is a comprehensive review of RFP responses from top Unified Messaging vendors by Sean Doherty. Sean has also penned an overview of ways to combine message sources for voicemail, e-mail and fax.

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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February 14, 2003
What do you do when MSN intentionally confounds your browser?
By Mike Fratto at 09:54 AM
If you go to court and drag yourself through a lengthy court case, you may win. But it will take so long, no one will remember or care about the resons behind your case anyway. Rather, make your point in a creative and funny way like the fine folks at Opera Software, which makes the Opera Browser. Here is a link to the company's press release that tells it all. Opera releases "Bork" edition

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February 13, 2003
Enterprise Mail/Collaboration Requirements
By Brad Shimmin at 07:31 PM
Hi folks,

Complements of our own Greg Shipley, Ron Anderson, and Lori MacVittie, I've compiled a short list of requirements and products our editors have considered for their own lab and production networks.

To find favor with our editors, an enterprise collaboration tool must:

• It must have a robust group calendar/scheduling solution
• It must allow some users to use other e-mail systems
• It must have the option of supporting web clients for calendaring, as not all of our staff runs Win32, and we have no plans on migrating non-Win32 users.
• It must have a usable interface
• It should not require MS IIS, as we've had enough security problems with IIS already.
• It should have PDA sync abilities
• It must be a product that wasn't coded poorly (back to the security problem). We'd prefer something that not only has security features, but something that was DESIGNED to be secure.
• It should be cost-effective for small organizations
• Not requiring Win32 as a hosting platform would be nice (Linux would be ideal)
• It must not suck.

And here are some of the products our editors are considering or using

• Stalker Software communiGate Pro -- in use in our Syracuse, NY lab
• Gordano Messaging Suite
• Convea Convea 5.0
• Sareen Software OfficeTalk

We'd like to hear from you. Given the above requirements, which messaging/collaboration solution would you recommend?

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February 10, 2003
Dude - You're Getting Arrested!
By Tom LaSusa at 02:25 PM
Come on, admit it -- every time you heard "Dude, You're gettin' a Dell" you thought (ala cartoon patriarch Hank Hill) "That boy ain't right." Unfortuantely, it seems Benjamin Curtis, who played Dell's slacker-esque pitchman "Steve" in those now infamous commercials is getting something himself...
a date with a judge.

Curtis got busted over the weekend in NYC's lower east side for buying a small bag of Marajuana. His agent had no immediate comment.

I can think of one. "Dude, you're gonna need bail!"

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February 09, 2003
New content online
By Brad Shimmin at 08:49 PM
Good Monday to everyone. We've just published the final installment of current issue, featuring a five-way review of fault and performance management tools by Bruce Boardman. Here are a few more stories and site features published today.

• TechQuiz: WLAN Management
• This Week at Network Computing: Skunk Works and eTaxation
• Top 11 List: Top 11 jobs perhaps overlooked by Kevin Mitnick
• IT Minute: Project Web Services Update with Lori MacVittie

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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February 06, 2003
Worm Notes
By Brad Shimmin at 08:32 PM
If you've been following our commentary on the SQL Sapphire worm, you may enjoy this short collection of research findings on the worm's structure, spread, and behavior.

• Analysis by CAIDA, ICSI, Silicon Defense, UC Berkeley EECS and UC San Diego CSE
• Animated gif depicting worm's spread over a 30 minute period
• Details on the worm's proliferation

Many thanks to Robert Moskowitz for these pointers.

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Why ROI fails network management
By Brad Shimmin at 08:25 PM
In response to our recent story, Network Management on $1.19 a Day, reader William Ross penned an excellent case against legacy network management solutions. You can read and comment on the entire post here. But for the time-challenged, here are a few choice excerpts.

The problem:

Enterprise-class management solutions come with what are essentially pre-defined processes. There is an implied presumption that customers will alter their processes to adapt to those of the product offering. Many customers initially buy into this but ultimately realize that this is an unacceptable alternative.

The Solution:

Web services promises to change how networks are operated and managed. The next breed of network management products will be web services-enabled and will allow for the rapid automation of custom network operations processes, as opposed to imposing rigid processes upon the user.

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February 03, 2003
New Site Content
By Brad Shimmin at 09:55 AM
Good day to all. We've just published a new collection of Network Computing stories and site features. Here's a quick rundown of the highlights.

• IT Minute: COMNET
• This Week at Network Computing: Unfortunate eBay Auctions
• Compare IT: Conferencing Platforms
• Feature: Network Management on $1.19 a Day
• Sneak Preview: Foundry Targets Midsize Switch Market

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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