In-Depth

News in Brief

HP-UX Security; web-to-host connectivity from Data 21; Microsoft Licensing 6.0

• By Stephen Swoyer
• 04/17/2003

HP Tightens HP-UX Security

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) this week introduced two tools to help administrators ratchet up the security of HP-UX systems.

HP says that the tools, version 2.0 of Bastille and a new tool called Install-Time Security are designed to make it easier to lock down servers running the company’s HP-UX 11i operating environment.

Bastille 2.0 is a query-driven configuration tool that presents customers with a series of security, usability and functionality questions that are designed to help determine the appropriate degree of security based on the role of an HP-UX system. In this respect, Bastille 2.0 can simplify the lockdown of systems used as Web servers, application servers or databases.

Install-Time Security permits customers to specify a preferred degree of lockdown security at the time of system installation. It allows customers to choose from among a variety of canned security settings to configure the degree of lockdown security during installation. These settings are in turn configured by Bastille 2.0. HP says that Install-Time Security can help to pave the way for more security local or remote HP-UX installations in semi-trusted networks.

Bastille 2.0 and other security feature software are available as free downloads from http://www.software.hp.com, under "Internet and Security Solutions."

Data 21 Bridges Web to Host Connectivity

Data 21, Inc., announced version 4.11.03 of IpBridge/Host, software that facilitates Web to host connectivity.

IpBridge/Host exposes 3270 applications and XML-based Web Services in the context of a standard Web browser interface. It features a Web Browser Access facility that can provide secure access to 3270 applications from clients that connect over corporate intranets, WANs or the Internet.

Data 21 says that IpBridge/Host facilitates access to legacy resources without requirements for additional host or client-side development; downloadable applets; or client software. IpBridge/Host’s Web Browser Access facility offers automatic 3270-to-HTML support.

The product supports several levels of presentation customization, from simple CSS changes to the creation of custom GUI HTML templates for target Host screens. Customers can use standard what-you-see-is-what-you-get HTML development tools—such as FrontPage from Microsoft Corp. and Dreamweaver from Macromedia Inc.—to customize the presentation of templates.

The newest version of IpBridge/Host introduces AutoClient, a set of XML-based Web Services for integrating host data and business logic into distributed applications—without making any changes to code on host systems. For example, Data 21 says that instead of requiring a user log on to a host and navigate through a series of screens to retrieve data to update a host database, an in-house development team can encapsulate this process into a reusable component that can then be incorporated into distributed network applications.

A trial version of IpBridge/Host is now available for download at http://www.data21.com.

Microsoft’s Licensing 6.0 a Work in Progress

by Scott Bekker(Courtesy of ENTMag.com)

Quietly but substantially, Microsoft is altering Licensing 6.0 to address customers' objections to the program.

“These changes are actually slowly beginning to add up,” said Al Gillen, an analyst with IDC. “[Microsoft is] purposely not making a big deal about it because they know they can’t open their mouths without reopening the discussion about Licensing 6.0.”

The licensing program went into effect last August after Microsoft let two earlier self-imposed deadlines pass to give agitated customers more time to consider re-signing Licensing 5.0 agreements. The highest-profile change in Licensing 6.0 was the elimination of a raft of popular customer upgrade options in favor of “Software Assurance,” where customers pay for two or three years worth of rights to upgrade to any new versions of the software that may or may not materialize in that time. The new program also brought a lower threshold for Enterprise Agreements (minimum 250 desktops instead of 500) and several options for making smaller annual payments over three years rather than paying for all software up front.

Industry reaction to the program was swift and negative, though not always carefully considered.

Read the complete story here: http://www.entmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=5778