Two months after its first release of BorderManager, Novell is preparing to reveal the second release of its family of security solutions at its BrainShare conference in the US some time this month. The company said BorderManager's most significant enhancement will be Sun Micro-
systems' Simple Key Management for IP (SKIP) protocol support. Novell will also reposition its Remote Authentication Dial-In User Services (RADIUSes) for Novell Directory Services (NDS) as the foundation for BorderManager's Authentication Service. RADIUS is a server-based interface between NDS and network access servers running the RADIUS protocol, and provides network access servers with the information they need to accept or deny remote users' requests for network access.
In a bid to fend off competition from increasingly powerful Windows NT-based desktop computers, Sun Microsystems unveiled two new lines of Unix workstations, with one system priced at $4900.
Sun's Darwin line, including the Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 computers, was designed to compete head-on with high-end PCs from Compaq Computer and others, the company said.
The Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) has won a prestigious Smithsonian Bronze Medal for its visionary use of technology.
The Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History in Washington DC, recognised DEETYA's achievements in delivering such services as the Australian Job Search system.
In a significant about-face, a top Microsoft official has said the software giant will offer a direct migration path from existing Windows NT 3.51 servers to NT 5.0 when the new version of the operating system hits the streets late this year. Until now, Microsoft had said NT 3.51 users would first have to upgrade all of their servers to NT 4.0 before moving on to NT 5.0. That development angered the NT 3.51 user community, which at the beginning of 1997 comprised more than 70 per cent of the NT installed base.
Public hearings called by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in Melbourne last month attempted to thrash out some of the problems associated with mobile phone towers.
Thirteen Australian multimedia developers have been selected to participate in Teltra's Broadband Developers Partnership. This Partnership is intended to allow developers, and their corporate customers, to develop, test and demonstrate their broadband applications real-time and online. The partners include MultiNet Interactive Web Consulting, Mainstreet Internet Services, Rhythm Media, HotHouse Interactive Productions, New Toys, TechTalk, Radiant Productions, WSA Holdings, IG Synergy, Clemengers Interactive, Creative Access, AAV Business Communications, and SAI Media.
Half of the Internet traffic originating in Australia will soon be routed via Bay Networks' routers, Bay officials claim. The Bay Backbone Concentrator Node routers are being purchased by Optus Communications to interface with its ATM network and route IP traffic for its commercial Internet services.
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Oracle's focus back from NCs to database
Oracle officials have confirmed that CEO Larry Ellison plans to tone down his network computer (NC) evangelising and pay more attention to the company's flagship database business. The move follows two straight quarters of single-digit growth in database sales for Oracle.