Top 5 Networking Innovations David Strom Technology Editor, VARBusiness XChange October 2003

Are you an iPod or a BlackBerry? Top two innovations of the past year(s) Both exemplify trends towards mobile computing Both have become platforms for add-ons and enhancements Both have branched out beyond their initial focus (music and )

Products you should watch Lantronix XPort Symantec Deep Sight Analysis Vonage IP Phones IBM eServer Blade Center Trapeze Wireless Management HP ProCurve Switches PGP Universal

What do all have in common? Adding infrastructure easily Expandability and scalability Pushing ahead on several fronts at once

Some wireless trends Wireless is far too confusing, especially with rise of G and A standards Don’t confuse throughput with coverage range and effective speeds Why is security still be ignored by most of your customers?

Some infrastructure trends High end and low end networks getting all the attention: it’s the middle child that is the most needy! 10 Gigabit Ethernet coming But 10BaseT-only solutions still around Few companies can afford wholesale upgrades and more migration products and services will be required

Some trends Secure still just a hope, not a practice Spam is beyond being bothersome Anti-virus is essential on both corporate servers and laptops Still an active arena for VARs

Lantronix XPort Embedded Web server in small form factor Simple but elegant way to transform existing serial comms to the Web Reduce time to market for OEMs and ISVs

Symantec Deep Sight Analysis Early warning program for network attacks and vulnerabilities It’s like having a control center staff at your beck and call Two sets of services: one for internal equipment and one for external Customized reports are a bit difficult

Vonage IP Phones So simple you will be looking around for something to do Fully featured: call waiting, caller ID, voic Self-service Web that the Baby Bells could never imagine One monthly fee for virtually unlimited calling

IBM eServer Blade Center Twice the density (84 2-way servers), half the price Everything is hot-swappable, including networking connections, KVM modules, and power supplies Scalable, manageable, the core of IBM’s on demand vision

Trapeze Wireless Management Figure out coverage areas inside buildings Gives you radio properties and ties location of your access points to your floorplan Solves roaming problem Solves security problem

HP ProCurve Switches Fastest growing switch vendor Cheapest, most manageable gigabit products 4100: Buy x blades, chassis comes free 2824: 24 Managed Gig. ports for $2500 Allows incremental improvement to the edge

PGP Universal Possibly the most interesting secure product to come along in the last few years Offloads PKI management to machines, not people Works just on Linux and POP right now Won my “editors choice” last night at Tech Innovators dinner

Our panel Jeff Williams, Belkin Dan Glessner, Trend Micro Bobbi Frioli, Clearswift