When I am looking for the latest computer games, I often find new and interesting products. Product Snapshots gives you a quick overview of the most useful products I have found during the last month. (Please note that these are first-look reviews; I have not conducted exhaustive testing.)
FAXWARE 4.0
FaxWare 4.0 from Tobit Software is a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) that allows you to send and receive faxes through an IntranetWare, NetWare 4.1x, or NetWare 3.1x server. FaxWare 4.0 is fully integrated with both bindery services and Novell Directory Services (NDS), and FaxWare 4.0 supports up to 1,000 users, 64 fax lines per server, and 32 servers per network.
During the FaxWare 4.0 installation process, you create a NetWare print queue through which FaxWare 4.0 sends and receives faxes. Because FaxWare 4.0 takes advantage of NetWare print queues, you can send and receive faxes over your company's network quickly and easily. To send a fax to a user's fax machine, you simply create an electronic document using any application, such as a word-processing application. You then send the document to the NetWare print queue that services FaxWare 4.0, just as you would if you were printing this document.
To send a fax through FaxWare 4.0, you do not need FaxWare 4.0 client software, which is available for Windows NT Workstation 3.51 and 4.0, Windows 95, Windows 3.x, and DOS. However, you must have the software to configure various sending options. For example, you could specify that FaxWare 4.0 should deliver a fax immediately or that FaxWare 4.0 should hold the fax until a time of day during which the telephone rates are lower.
You must also use FaxWare 4.0 client software to receive faxes at your workstation, to view a log of all of the faxes you have sent and received, and to create a personal phone book containing the fax numbers of your customers, suppliers, and other business associates. FaxWare 4.0 client software even includes a text editor that you can use to create a simple fax and a fax viewer that you can use to read the faxes you receive at your workstation.
You can purchase FaxWare 4.0 through retail channels at the suggested retail price of U.S. $795, and you can download a demo version of FaxWare 4.0 or get more information about FaxWare 4.0 at http://www.na.tobit.com/~faxware. You can also call 1-800-468-6248 or 1-514-392-9220.
BIG/IP
BIG/ip from F5 Labs Inc. is a rack-mount server that provides fault tolerance for your company's World-Wide Web or FTP site. If your company relies on this site for mission-critical functions such as electronic commerce or technical support, you can use BIG/ip to ensure that users can always access the site. BIG/ip, which supports all web and FTP servers, intercepts TCP/IP requests directed to a single web or FTP site and then distributes these requests across multiple web or FTP servers. If one of these servers fails, the other servers continue to accept TCP/IP requests, thereby preventing users from experiencing an interruption of service.
BIG/ip acts as a virtual server, recognizing each web or FTP server as a node. When a user submits a TCP/IP request through your company's web or FTP site, BIG/ip determines which nodes are active and then forwards the request to an active node. Because BIG/ip does not forward TCP/IP requests to any web or FTP servers that have gone down, these servers can transmit packets faster and more reliably, which means that users quickly receive the information they need. BIG/ip also load balances TCP/IP requests so that no web or FTP servers are overloaded.
If your company requires more fault tolerance than BIG/ip provides, you can use BIG/ip2, which eliminates a single point of failure by including two enhanced BIG/ip servers, or controllers, that are connected by a serial cable. If the primary controller fails, the fail-safe controller becomes the primary controller, taking over in less than three seconds. The primary controller then reboots itself, logs the system error, and becomes the fail-safe controller. Both controllers have an identical configuration and contain a redundant power supply system and a watchdog board, which monitors the controller and automatically reboots this controller if a serious problem occurs, such as the controller locking up.
BIG/ip is available through retail channels at the suggested retail price of U.S. $20,000, and BIG/ip2 is available through retail channels at the suggested retail price of U.S. $37,000. For more information about BIG/ip or BIG/ip2, visit F5 Labs's web site (http://www.f5.com). You can also call 1-206-447-1817.