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Compuware WAN management; add-ins for Windows Server 2003

• By Stephen Swoyer
• 03/27/2003

Compuware Delivers ATM WAN Management Tool

Compuware Corp. last week announced that it has enhanced the performance analysis capabilities of its Vantage application performance management suite by introducing ATM WAN management for multimode OC-3/STM-1 links.

The upshot, Compuware says, is that IT organizations can use NetworkVantage—its network application traffic analysis tool—to monitor and report on ATM WAN traffic. As a result, Compuware claims, IT staff can better determine if ATM network resources are being used appropriately.

The company says NetworkVantage’s ability to manage ATM WAN usage lets IT organizations better budget for WAN costs and more easily determine if a WAN is being used to an organization’s maximum benefit.

NetworkVantage features application discovery and drill down capabilities that enable network administrators to determine if a WAN is being consumed by low-priority or non-business applications and also identify who is generating traffic of this kind.

In addition, NetworkVantage will show what links are over-subscribed. Compuware says network engineers can use this intelligence to make informed decisions with respect to WAN operating expenses and traffic balancing.

NetworkVantage’s ATM WAN support includes reporting of traffic volumes by access circuit, as well as traffic volume, throughput and utilization by virtual circuit. According to Compuware, users can configure the virtual circuit reports to represent all applications or a selected application. Reports can include traffic breakdown by protocol or by application conversation, along with server, workstation, and response-time statistics. NetworkVantage is available now. More information is available at:http://www.compuware.com/products/vantage/networkvantage/

Building On Windows Server 2003 by Scott Bekker(Courtesy of ENTMag.com)

In some ways, Windows Server 2003 is a work in progress. While dozens of new features have gone into the operating system in the three years Microsoft has worked on it, several others didn't quite make it.

Six major features were either announced as downloadable add-ins during the development cycle or pulled from the operating system during development. All six will be available sometime after the April 24 ship date for Windows Server 2003. They include Real-time Communications, Virtual Server, SharePoint Services, Windows Rights Management Services, the Security Configuration Wizard, and the Group Policy Management Console.

The highest profile feature is Real-time Communications services, originally intended as a component of the operating system. Since then, Microsoft has pulled the services out of the operating system and declared that the services will constitute a server product code-named "Greenwich." It is unclear whether Microsoft will offer Greenwich as a technology download or sell it separately as a server product that runs on Windows Server 2003. Microsoft put Greenwich out for beta testing earlier in March, and officials say it is on track for a mid-2003 commercial release.

Read more here: http://www.entmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=5724