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This article describes wide-area file services (WAFS). WAFS are appliances or software that allow centralization of file services by optimizing connectivity to remote-office clients over a wide-area network (WAN). WAFS systems overcome bandwidth and latency limitations through a combination of caching, protocol optimization, compression, and other techniques. With the use of WAFS, branch-office file servers can be consolidated into the data center, where servers and data can be managed and protected more effectively. However, the convergence of WAFS and WAN acceleration technologies, and the entry of large players such as Cisco Systems Inc. are changing the market rapidly. INSET: How WAFS Vendors Cache In.

The article features the launching of computer products and services by different computer companies. Omni-Center 6.0 is a network management software by Netreo Inc. It includes faster graph generation, improved autodiscovery of network devices, user-customizable views and RSS 2.0 support for viewing network status on mobile devices. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Cingular Wireless LLC announced the HP Compaq nc6400 laptop, which features built-in mobile broadband connectivity. Xythos Software Inc. featured the Xythos on Demand, a hosted document and file management service aimed at small and midsize businesses that can't afford their own stand-alone systems.

The article presents the author's views on the integration of information technology (IT) with health care. In the author's opinion, the huge problem involving multiple data streams, incompatible formats and a detail-obsessed bureaucracy would not be solved until the IT people working within the health care system reconnect with the larger world of IT.

This article describes one-way hash functions, which are a cryptographic construct used in many applications. They are used with public-key algorithms for both encryption and digital signatures, in integrity checking, and in authentication. They have all sorts of applications in different protocols. Much more than encryption algorithms, one-way hash functions are the workhorses of modern cryptography. These functions are supposed to have two properties. They are both one-way and collision-free.

Presents an update concerning the computer industry in the United States as of 1996. Announcement on the compact disk rewritable technology; Debut of MSNBC, a cable news network; Release of Domino from Lotus Development Corp.