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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.

Discusses the potential ways of reusing old databases in the modern age. Business intelligence; Analytic applications; Data warehouse; Web front end.

This article reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation chief information officer Zalmai Azmi signed a $425 million public contract with defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. to build a case file management and information sharing computer system called Sentinel to replace paper-based processes. Project management procedures were reorganized in response to criticisms. Sentinel will use a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to enable distributed information sharing with other federal agencies.

Cites the benefit gained by HoneyBaked Ham Company on using remote file-management tools. Task taken by the company before using the tools; Features of the RemoteWare software used by the company; Management savings made by the company for employing the software.

Reports on Lotus Development Corp.'s development of server-based software, Domino.Doc, which will bring document check-in/checkout and version control to its Domino messaging and groupware server. Features and functions; Comments of Domino server users; Price.

Addresses efforts of Lotus Development Corp. to harness the services of third party developers to fill the management tools gap for Domino, the firm's messaging server that doubles as a World Wide Web server. Add-on products pledged by third party developers.

Reports on the reaction of information systems managers to Lotus Development Corp.'s plan to push Domino as a platform for rentable Internet applications. Comments from Unilever North America Foods director of infrastructure technology Jeff Schnable; Features of rentable groupware; Users' ability to tap in to applications running on an Internet service provider's Domino servers.

Describes three add-ons for Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino server. Domino.Action; Domino.Merchant; Domino.Broadcast; Features and capabilities; Prices.

Reports on Lotus Development Corp.'s plans to launch a revamped version of its Domino Directory Service software in the summer of 1997. Tracking of user data stored in Domino and other applications; Expansion of Domino to non-Notes applications; Pros and cons of Domino as a central directory.

Focuses on computer users' mixed reactions to Lotus Development Corp.'s plan to deliver lightweight Domino servers. Potential for wider adoption of Domino technology; Announcement of Lotus Go and Lotus Domino Mail; Disadvantage of reducing of Domino servers' functionality.

Focuses on the debate between those who support the use of Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino as a World Wide Web server and those who view it as a proprietary server. Domino's advantages over traditional Web servers; Feedbacks from companies that are migrating or have migrated to Domino; Lotus Development Corp.'s announcement of Lotus Go Pro Web server.

A preview of several deduplication systems including Data Domain from EMC Corp., VirtualStore of Symantec Corp., and StoreOnce from HP Storage Works.

The article reports on the introduction of the ColdFusion 8, a computer program created by Adobe Systems Inc. that will enable users to build a Web site application to process Portable Document Format (PDF) forms in batches. Such program aims to manage Really Simple Syndication (RSS) website feeds and enter database information into Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (XML) (AJAX) Web pages. Such technology, which is slated for release in August 2007, is believed to be a core between a broad range of client technologies and the back end.

The article reports on the estimation of Danske Bank A/S that using the Office Open XML format of Microsoft Corp. will cut the cost of storing documents in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Danske Bank estimates that it will save $500,000 annually on the cost of storing documents in its storage area network by switching to XML-based file formats. According to chief information officer Peter Schleidt of Danske Bank, bank officials learn of the prospective storage savings during a visit to Microsoft's headquarters. Schleidt assesses that the savings estimates can be realized.

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 offers information about Version 7.0 of Rainfinity file virtualization appliance from EMC Corp. in the U.S. Director of virtualization marketing of EMC Jack Norris stresses that Version 7.0 offers a new file management application that is capable to migrate data storage devices. Senior system administrator at John Hopkins University Bill Fleming stresses that the policy management of the new version has automated the archiving process of the laboratory's 300 terabyte data based on the recent information. Some define the program as lifesaver since it is capable to migrate about 8 terabyte of data from two different technologies. Furthermore, Version 7.0 allows retrieval of older data and port it to less expensive storage.

The article reports on the release of a computer software by EMC Corp. designed to help users manage unstructured files and comply with government regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the U.S. George Symons, chief technology officer of information management of the company, claims that the Windows-based Infoscape software discovers files using Microsoft Active Directory Access Protocol directories. Meanwhile, Joseph Tucci, company president and CEO, has revealed plans to build a tool that can classify unstructured data in a presentation to analysts.

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 presents an interview with Louis Gutierrez, chief information officer and director of the Massachusetts state government's Information Technology Division. He talks about the Enterprise Technical Reference Model and the Open Document Format (ODF) policy. The ODF project is designed to deliver records management benefits to the state government's executive department. Software giant Microsoft Corp. is not a supporter of ODF in its application software, and Gutierrez's team has been trying to communicate to Microsoft that ODF is not an anti-Microsoft policy.

This article presents an opinion regarding the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's information technology public contract project called Sentinel involving case file management, information sharing, and project management. Sentinel replaces the failed Virtual Case File (VCF) project. The agency is recycling the enterprise computer architecture salvaged from the ruins of VCF. Sentinel has what VCF lacked, namely four clearly defined overlapping phases with deliverables, such as a Web portal, indexing, and workflow.

This article reports that the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released an audit report that gave credit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for its planning in the Sentinel information technology public contract project involving case file management, information sharing, and project management. The inspector general reviewed the management processes and internal controls in the vendor evaluation phase. FBI's system security and validation plans will be monitored as the project evolves.

This article reports that Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC Corp. launched the Symmetrix DMX-3 RAID with scalability from 96 to 2,400 data disk drives to deliver one petabyte of capacity and the Celerra network-attached storage (NAS) device that offers integration with the Rainfinity Global File Virtualization application software. Rainfinity virtualizes Unix, Linux, and Windows file systems across heterogeneous file servers and NAS systems. A systems integrator predicts that one petabyte databases will follow the availability of DMX-3.

The article presents letters to the editor in response to articles in previous issues of the journal "Computerworld," including "Privacy-Minded Security," by Drew Robb in the September 12, 2005 issue, "Slouching Toward a Flatter World," by Barbara Gomolski in the September 19, 2005 issue, and "Connected or Addicted?," by Paul Glen in the October 3, 2005 issue.

The article informs that because Wimhrope's layoff can be pegged to the company's sending widget making skills overseas, he qualifies for some righteous benefits. How does 104 weeks of new job training, relocation assistance, income support, health benefits and much more sound? It was 1962 when the Kennedy administration signed off on the first TAAA. The act's passage acknowledged that the government owed workers extra assistance when their jobs were lost because of national trade policies. The catch in 1962, as it still is today, is that you qualify for TAAA goodies only if you're involved in the making of a thing. In 1962, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 40% of working Americans were engaged in manufacturing; they were the mighty core of a U.S. economy that was opening its doors to cheaper imports. Trying to measure the effect of imported services on a single sector, such as IT, isn't going to be easy. Indeed, a Government Accountability Office study released in September was inconclusive about whether an IT service-sector labor problem exists (www.gao.gov/new.itema/d04 932.pdf).

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.

Collaboration software, also called groupware, helps integrate work on a single project performed by several concurrent users at separate computers. Even though there are many collaboration and document-sharing applications on the market, it is still true that for the most part, the way people share files is to e-mail them back and forth as attachments. While this has been surprisingly productive for many people, it is a long way from collaboration. Even though networked computers allow high-speed communications and the fast and easy exchange of data and documents, it is still remarkably difficult for a group of users to work together on a project from separate computers. In 1989, executive Ray Ozzie at Lotus Development Corp. brought forth Notes, the first program that attempted to integrate a number of communication, scheduling and database-driven activities into a single software package that was designed from the start to live on a network. Collaboration can be done formally, from the top down, through established procedures and processes, or it can be done informally, from the bottom up, as communities and project teams collaborate in an ad hoc way. Some large organizations may be concerned about the proliferation of project-based collaboration software and they are likely to want a cohesive plan for supporting collaboration across the enterprise.

Reports on the plan of Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico to install a 1,400-node Linux cluster that uses an object-based file system technology for data storage. Network-attached storage technology from Panasas Inc. that will spread file management capabilities across commodity servers while achieving high levels of computing power and input/output throughput; Rise of market for Linux-based server cluster.

Reports on the release of Aztera, a network-attached storage box system from Zambeel Inc. in 2002. Basis for the electronic architecture of the system; Features; Brands of World Wide Web servers in which the system can be applied; Price.

Reports on the decision of GlaxoSmithKline PLC to standardized its e-mail and collaboration systems on Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino and Notes. Implication of the decision; Factors which influence the decision of the company.

Provides information on the Internet File System released by Oracle Corp. Features; Benefits of users to the file management system; Comments from Karl Goldstein, a developer at ArsDigita Corp. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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.

Reports that Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino computer software environment will open up to the emerging Extensible Markup Language (XML) standard. Goal of the company for Domino; Benefits offered by XML on Domino; Revamp planned by Lotus for its Domino's mobile device support. INSET: Lotus eSuite Future Cloudy.

Reports that Lotus customers are not rushing to implement the Notes Released 5 client of Lotus Development Corp. instead they are opting for a thin-client approach for their Lotus Domino applications. Purpose of Lotus for offering the Domino Runtime Services (DRS); Capabilities of the Notes R5 client.

Reports on the availability of the article `Customers Extend Reach of ERP Systems with Lotus Domino,' from Patricia Seybold Group on electronic business applications based on Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino software.

Reports on MCI Worldcom Inc.'s UUnet Internet division's release of the GroupHost for Domino service that would let users outsource their Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino-based intranets and extranets to the service provider's worldwide network. Benefits offered to customers; Appeal of the service to the middle market.

Reports that Lotus Development Corp. has delayed the release of Notes 5.0 and Domino 5.0 until end of March 1999. Features of the groupware; Remarks from analysts regarding the delay in the release of the software; Reaction of Automatic Data Processing Inc. on the delay.

Details the delay of the launching of Version 5.0 of Notes and Domino computer software developed by Lotus Development Corp. Original date for shipping the software; Remarks of users on the delay.

Outlines the plans of Lotus Development Corp. to ship a Linux version of its Domino 5.0 messaging and application server. Reasons for introducing a Linux version of Domino; Users experimenting on the Linux operating system.

Evaluates Domino R5 from Lotus Development Corp. Changes in the internal database structures; Benefits of the structure; Shift to Internet standards for internal message processing. INSETS: Lotusphere News;New In Domino.

Reports that Lotus Development Corp. has released the beta version of Release 5.0 of Lotus Notes, Domino and Domino Designer. Web site where the beta version is available; Features.

Reports that the mainframe and midrange servers of IBM will be joining the Lotusphere 97. Impact on Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino server; Reaction of transmission control protocol/Internet program (TCP/IP) users; Requirements of OS/390 Domino ports. INSET: AS/400 wades into mainstream..

Names three European telecommunications companies which plan to launch services built around Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino World Wide Web server technology. Deutsche Telekom AG's planned rollout of its services in December 1996; France Telecom Inc.'s Telecom Italia Inc.'s 1997 launching plans.

Reports that Lotus Development Corp. will open the Domino development environment to Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java computer program language. Shipping of special Java applets and class libraries; Standardization on the JavaBeans protocol; Bundling of both Internet Explorer and Navigator browsers in upcoming versions of the Notes client.

Reports on third-party vendors that developed support for Domino, Lotus Development Corp.'s Notes/Web server. InfoImage Inc.'s Instant I-Net software suite; Brainstorm Technology Inc.'s Virtual Help Desk for Notes.

Reports on developments related to vendors' release of their groupware products. Novell Inc.'s release of its GroupWise 5.0; Lotus Development Corp.'s beta-testing of Domino; Microsoft Corp.'s testing of its Internet Mail client software; Features and functions.

Discloses that International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and its Lotus Development Corp. subsidiary have released a version of the Domino messaging server for IBM's S/390 computer. Advantages of using the product; Cost of the mainframe software; Disadvantages of the product.

Discloses that a common Lotus Domino configuration error has left potentially sensitive administrative files wide open to public view on a number of World Wide Web sites. Reason for the lapse; Possibility of hacker access; Details about the Domino's configuration; Lotus' response to user concerns about the product.

Reports on the lack of enthusiasm among users in accepting Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino tool as a World Wide Web server. Desire by companies to combine electronic-mail and Web development on one platform to reduce development and administrative costs; Lotus' marketing of Domino as a Web server that offers better replication and security features than its competitors.