NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON WINDOWS NETWORKING TIPS 11/29/04 Today's focus: Active Directory-related announcements impress and intrigue
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * News from Javalina, Vintela and Microsoft * Links related to Windows Networking Tips * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored By BMC Software Linking IT Priorities to Business Objectives, an IDC whitepaper. Get insights from IDC on aligning business goals and IT priorities. IDC offers practical, actionable information on how Business Service Management can help you reduce operating costs, improve service levels, respond faster to business needs and protect delivery of business-critical. Click here to download this whitepaper now. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88786 _______________________________________________________________ COMPREHENSIVE ENTERPRISE STORAGE INFORMATION Go to NW Fusion's Research Center for detailed information on enterprise storage. Find the latest breaking news, case studies, white papers, commentary, reviews and more. Topics on how ILM impacts your storage strategy, how to migrate to a new tape drive, how to link SAN islands and more are all found in the Research Center. Click here: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=89263 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Active Directory-related announcements impress and intrigue By Dave Kearns There was a neat new product released and an intriguing announcement made in the past couple of weeks, both involving Windows' Active Directory. Javalina Software released ADxray, a troubleshooting and analysis tool that helps to identify the source of network problems by scrutinizing Microsoft Active Directory object attributes. ADxray v1.0 provides search ability, attribute value details and descriptions, presents a key interpretation feature that discloses Active Directory attribute values in comprehensible formats, and provides an editing capability. Other features of ADxray include: * An extensive search capability for attributes and their values. * Low-level editing capability that allows for adding, removing and modifying attribute values. ADxray also includes the ability to: * Display detailed attribute information including descriptions. * Uncover hidden objects such as deleted "tombstone" objects. * Show mandatory, optional, constructed and unset attribute views. * Translates raw attribute values into comprehensible formats. * Displays entire directory tree: all objects and attributes. Get all the details at <http://www.javelinasoftware.com/xray.html>, download the evaluation and try it for yourself. The intriguing announcement of the past couple of weeks came from Vintela, the company that provides Vintela Authentication Services (VAS), which extends Active Directory identity management and authentication to the Unix and Linux platform. What Vintela announced was that Microsoft had made a substantial (but not controlling) investment in the company. In the past when Microsoft took a financial stake in a company with a Linux practice (such as the purchase of anti-virus maker GeCAD), the Linux part usually disappeared from the marketplace. That won't happen with Vintela, because if you remove the Linux practice, there isn't much left. The intriguing part, then, is what does this indicate about Microsoft's relationship to Linux and open source software? It's generally conceded that open source and Linux won't be going away anytime soon, but neither is Windows. Increasingly, enterprises will have a mixed environment and people will seek out products and services that can help them easily manage that environment. Microsoft, unfortunately, has staked out a position that denies the viability of Linux - going so far as to suggest those who run Linux may get sued for patent infringement. Many think that it would be an admission of error for Gates & company to suddenly create their own integration solution for Linux. In the past, Microsoft created integration tools for NetWare and Macintosh operating systems, but it is probably too soon for the company to invite Linux to its party. So ensuring that Vintela stays viable really is in Microsoft's best interest. VAS leverages a customer's investment in Windows Servers and Active Directory, and gives Microsoft an edge in the coming battle to control management of the corporate heterogeneous network. So there it is, two more reasons why you need to know all you can about Active Directory. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Microsoft takes stake in company that ties Unix, Linux to Windows Network World Fusion, 11/16/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/1116vintela.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Dave Kearns Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>. Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management. Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these respective addresses: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books, manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing, technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored By BMC Software Linking IT Priorities to Business Objectives, an IDC whitepaper. Get insights from IDC on aligning business goals and IT priorities. IDC offers practical, actionable information on how Business Service Management can help you reduce operating costs, improve service levels, respond faster to business needs and protect delivery of business-critical. Click here to download this whitepaper now. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88785 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Breaking Windows networking news from Network World, updated daily: http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/win2000.html Archive of the Windows Networking Tips newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/nt/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE DOWNLOAD INDUSTRY WHITE PAPERS NOW NW Fusion's White Paper Library is your source for the latest industry white papers. Recent additions to the library include white papers on securing remote access, VOIP and productivity, domain name system best practices, WLAN security, IT documentation and much more. 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