1-11-2004 • VOLUME 7 • NUMBER 41 • £2.60
WWW.ITWEEK.CO.UK
18 ENTERPRISE Is it time to
abandon antivirus software?
21 INTERNET Appliances for
internet security
CONTENTS
26 CLIENT Giants back spec
for smaller and cooler PCs
ENTERPRISEWEEK
Power5 chips speed IBM servers 17
Users test update to SQL Server 17
Better controls for iSCSI storage 18
INTERNETWEEK
Crawler searches company files 21
Do internet apps need the web? 22
Why content management is key 23
CLIENTWEEK
Apple reveals strength of Tiger 25
Is Bluetooth harming security? 25
PalmOne’s Treo 650 smartphone 25
NETWORKWEEK
3D tools to Snort out dangers 29
Cisco safeguards voice over IP 29
IT giants’ interoperable security 31
MANAGEMENTWEEK
Mail scanner filters out threats 35
CSC chief on outsourcing trends 36
VMware ups
CPU power
Server virtualisation specialist VMware
last week said it will upgrade its software to provide virtual machines
(VMs) that can access four processors.
The current version of its top-end
ESX Server runs on servers with up
to 16 processors, but can allocate only
two CPUs per VM.The increased capability is a response to next year’s Intel
and AMD dual-core launches, which put
two processors on a single chip.
“Next year you’ll have four cores
in [the most popular dual-chip]
servers and you’ll want four-way SMP,”
said Michael Mullany of VMware at its
first user conference in San Diego.
The upgrade will be delivered in
the second half of 2005, when pricing
will also be announced.
About five percent of new x86
server deployments are now done
using VMs, said VMware chief Dianne
Green. By 2005 this number could be
as high as 25 percent, she added.
Dual-core chips to multiply, p4
Whitehall takes open road
David Neal
HOW GOVERNMENT LEARNED TO LOVE THE PENGUIN
he Office of Government Commerce (OGC)’s report on year-long
open-source software trials in the
public sector says the software is maturing
rapidly and should be considered alongside
rival proprietary tools.
Government procurement arm the OGC
also announced support for open-source
desktops, often seen as one of the least
mature aspects of the technology.
The report met with predictable enthusiasm from the free software community
and disapproval from Microsoft.
“We are on version one but by versions
three and four, open source will be as good
as proprietary software, but at a fraction of
the cost,” said Giles Palmer of Runtime Collective, whose open-source content management system is used in local government.
The prospect of regular updates from the
open-source community may appeal to firms
frustrated by slow upgrades or poor reliability from proprietary vendors, he added.
Mark Woods, head of collaborative opportunities at the OGC, said the report shows
T
Microsoft to extend IM
M
icrosoft is building out its comms
platform through instant messaging
(IM) but some watchers want more detail
on the future of its Exchange email server.
The software giant will release its Office
Live Communications Server 2005 at the
start of December. The product could make
IM more widespread in business, thanks to
the ability to federate with other organisations and connect to more IM clients.
Exchange 2003 had its first anniversary
last week and although many IT departments are clinging on to earlier versions,
experts said it is becoming the centrepiece
of a sophisticated messaging system.
Peter McCartney, Microsoft business
manager at IT services giant Computacenter,
said many sites are installing Exchange 2003
alongside the latest versions of Office, SharePoint and Live Communications Server to
support collaborative working and content
management. But he added that other Exchange
features such as support
for application development and public folders
are largely ignored. “Most
McCartney: tools
for collaboration
UK sets up OGC
procurement body
Minister says UK to
consider open source
UK trials
commence
Microsoft agrees
second MoU
OGC approves opensource adoption
April 2000
July 2002
Oct 2003
Aug 2004
Oct 2004
there is an alternative to software lock-ins
and the upgrade cycles of commerciallydeveloped systems. Woods said the study,
based on trials with government departments, agencies and councils, had proved
that for 80 percent of organisations and
tasks, open-source software is suitable, while
for servers, such software is “already there”.
IBM director of public-sector business
Martin Goodman said,“As the UK advances
the e-government agenda, wider deployment of open-standards-based infrastructures will become increasingly important.”
Steve Brown of Linux vendor Novell said,
“The report also trumpets green issues, saying an effective open-source operating system could mean fewer hardware upgrades.”
Unsurprisingly, the findings met a less
upbeat response from Microsoft.
people like Exchange because basically it’s a
bloody good email system,” he said.
Microsoft’s next release of Exchange
remains years away and, despite almost universal praise for the product, some said they
wanted a better view of the platform’s future.
“Customers have no understanding of
where Microsoft is going with the product,”
said Neil Chapman, an architect at systems
integrator Conchango, who has been briefed
on plans for next year’s second service pack.
“There’s work on mobility and notifications
becoming IP-based but I don’t have a lot I
can tell customers. Microsoft has been splitting out its messaging products but I’d like to
see Exchange become the central point.”
Exchange, p6 Microsoft IM, p10
Microsoft SQL Server 2005, p17
“Having read the report in detail, the
findings do not align fully with feedback we
regularly receive from our customers who
have evaluated Microsoft software against
open source,” the firm said in a statement.
Eric Woods of analyst firm Ovum said,
“Coming from the influential OGC, this is
a boost for open-source software in the UK,
where until recently interest has lagged. The
logic of the report is that cheaper opensource software offerings will suit the
majority and only power-users will require
the full capabilities offered by Microsoft.
This will be the most worrying message as
far as Microsoft is concerned.”
An OGC spokesman said the next step
may be to build a group of suppliers to
which government departments could refer.
Whitehall loves Linux, Leader, p14
Fluke spots
trouble fast
Staff using Fluke’s new
handheld troubleshooting device should find it
simple to diagnose LAN
problems. The 1kg
EtherScope has a 6.5in Fluke’s kit
touchscreen, is easy to is priced at
use, gives quick results
£3,995 + VAT
and can pinpoint network problems, according to our tests.
Although not cheap at £3,995 + VAT, in
the right hands it could pay for itself.
Review, p32 www.flukenetworks.com
NEWS INSIDE: CHIPS Dual cores, p4 • WIRELESS Advances, p4 • SECURITY Kit, p5 • VISUAL STUDIO Update, p6 • HANDSETS Flash card, p10 • IP Testing, p10