Managers Must Close the Information Gap
A recently released survey reveals that many companies have given their IS managers a mandate to close the information gap between users and the data they need. Those surveyed seem to think a large percentage of this gap has been created by diversity (i.e., unlike systems housing unlike information formats) among systems used. The Strategic Research Division of Find/SVP, a New York-based research and consulting company, conducted the survey on behalf of EMC, a world leader in storage systems and software for mainframe and open systems environments.
The research company surveyed 700 IS executives from a worldwide cross-section of large corporations whose networks consist of at least 1 mainframe, 4 UNIX or NT servers, 75 PCs, and 50GBs of combined mainframe and open systems storage. Of the 700 IS executives polled, 300 were from the US, 300 were from 6 European countries, and 100 were from Australia and South Africa.
The study shows that
- 84 percent of IS executives surveyed have been given a mandate to close the information gap in their companies, regardless of what type of computer created the information needed. About 79 percent of those given the mandate are concerned about their ability to close this gap.
- 43 percent of IS executives surveyed say their systems were unexpectedly down more than five times in the past year, and 13 percent of those surveyed experienced unplanned downtime of more than one day. Respondents say downtime plays a big role in closing the information gap. More than half the people reporting downtime attributed this downtime to either backing up data or transferring data to another location.
- 92 percent of the executives surveyed say they gather information from a variety of different computer systems, but most run into roadblocks when trying to share data because of the multitude of computer operating systems in use in their companies.
- 62 percent of IS executives surveyed prefer to consolidate their company's information on enterprise storage systems in their data centers rather than on individual storage devices attached to single servers. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed believe scalable enterprise storage is the way to accommodate the rapid growth of their corporate information.
Executives say that keeping critical information dispersed outside the data center, where they can't easily access and manage it, affects customer service, lowers productivity, and hurts their company's ability to compete. John Webster, director of IT consulting at the Yankee Group, said, "We see a very strong trend toward consolidated storage for proprietary, UNIX, and NT-based servers. Businesses are centralizing their critical information so it can be properly managed and protected."
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Commercial Internet System 2.0
Microsoft plans to release a beta version of Microsoft Commercial Internet System (MCIS) 2.0 early this year. MCIS is a suite of services that provides major Internet services for large-scale and high-volume use. Microsoft targets MCIS at Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telephone companies, and other network service companies that support Internet services for large numbers of users.
At least part of MCIS 2.0 beta is already available. Microsoft has just released its new Internet Connection Service for Remote Access Service, Commercial Edition (ICS for RAS/CE), which provides enhancements to RAS and Virtual Private Network (VPN) software. Microsoft is offering the new ICS for RAS/CE as an upgrade to the basic edition; the component requires Windows NT 4.0 and the NT Option Pack. The commercial edition adds specific features to let ISPs provide custom outsourced management and infrastructure for a corporation's VPN, most notably Internet Authentication Server Commercial Edition (RADIUS Server and RADIUS Proxy Server) and interfaces to multiple database backends.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
New Charges for IP Addresses
Hey, Buddy, wanna buy an IP address? Network Solutions runs InterNIC, the organization charged with managing domain names and IP addresses in the US. Network Solutions is spinning off a separate business for assigning IP addresses, and for the first time, you must pay for those addresses.
Network Solutions formed the new business, the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), after consulting with the government and deciding to separate IP address issues from domain name issues. Network Solutions' contract to manage domain name registrations ends in March. Industry watchers predict that in March many firms will compete to provide domain name registration services, ending Network Solutions' monopoly over the .com, .edu, .gov, and .net top-level domains. In addition, many more top-level domains (e.g., .web, .corp, and .inc) will likely surface.
ARIN will charge for IP addresses, even though it is a nonprofit organization, but ARIN says it will cover only its costs of operation. According to ARIN, it won't charge current address holders, but it will charge ISPs and other companies requesting new addresses. Fees will range from $2500 to $20,000 per year for ISPs, and from $2500 to $10,000 for other businesses, depending on the number of addresses they require.
ARIN states that the fees are low enough that ISPs won't feel compelled to pass the cost along to the end user, but industry experts doubt that statement. Some analysts predict that ISPs will increase rates or itemize surcharges during 1998.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
IS in 1998
At 1997's end, International Data Corporation (IDC) released a barrage of interesting predictions for 1998. One prediction is that this year Microsoft will announce a non-Windows platform for the network appliance market. (Network appliances are devices such as WebTV that simplify and reduce the cost of accessing the Web.) Furthermore, IDC foresees that Netscape and Oracle might merge this year. Here are 10 other IDC predictions:
- The Web will edge toward 100 million users, and Web commerce will exceed $20 billion.
- The Web will finally reach mass-market proportions in the US, with nearly 25 percent of households online.
- Information appliances and suppliers will invade what was traditionally the PC market, challenging PC unit volumes in 3 to 5 years.
- PC suppliers will target the consumer market, offering $500 to $700 PCs and appliances; the business-centered PC model will die.
- Intel will launch a major non-Pentium chip business targeted at appliances.
- Microsoft will win its battle with the Department of Justice.
- The era of megabit consumer Internet access will begin (goodbye, ISDN), as telephone companies' digital subscriber lines challenge cable companies.
- Internet Service Providers' (ISPs') power will grow; IS customers' ISP choice will affect the outcome of key market battles (e.g., UNIX vs. Windows NT).
- Key Internet technologies for 1998 will include digital certificates, thin software, Web sound, and language translation.
- The scramble for new customers will drive megamergers in 1998.
You can review predictions on IDC's Web site (http://www.idc.com/f/ei/gens16.htm).
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Do You Need SQL Server, Enterprise Edition 6.5?
Microsoft released the much-awaited SQL Server, Enterprise Edition 6.5 in January. (It was originally supposed to ship in the third quarter of 1997.) With an entry-level price of $7999 for a 25-user license ($10,999 for a 50-user license and $28,999 for a 250-user license), SQL Server, Enterprise Edition 6.5 offers better symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support; it scales beyond today's quad systems to 8-way systems in the retail product and up to 32-way systems in OEM offerings. It supports up to 3GB of RAM and offers more intuitive natural language database queries using a beefed-up Microsoft Query.
SQL Server, Enterprise Edition 6.5 supports two-node failover (Phase 1 of Microsoft Cluster Server--MSCS, formerly code-named Wolfpack). Both machines can run different applications simultaneously; if either machine fails, the other picks up all applications. The next version of SQL clustering relies on Windows NT 5.0's ship date and will support MSCS Phase 2. In this phase, you can cluster up to 16 servers so that they share resources and balance the workload.
Microsoft also announced that the SQL Server 8-processor achieved 14,501 tpmC @$78.73/tpmC on the Transaction Processing Council (TPC)-C benchmark. Microsoft ran the test on an 8-processor Northbridge NX801 server from Axil Computer.
—Karen Watterson
Aircraft Trays Not Magnetized
Rumors circulated last fall that some aircraft tray tables (specifically, those on Sabena Airlines) are magnetized and, therefore, are hazardous to laptop computers. Not true, say representatives of Sabena Airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Here is IATA's official statement:
"Unsubstantiated reports have been circulating recently claiming that the tray tables in the seats of Sabena A340 aircraft are magnetized and have been responsible for corrupting the disk drives of laptops. IATA wishes to emphasize that it does not and never has supported such a claim. It has now received confirmation from the seat manufacturer, the airline, and the aircraft manufacturer that these seats do not include any magnetic devices and therefore cannot inflict any damage to electronic equipment."
—Mark Joseph Edwards
End of Article
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