Timothy Dyck

Microsoft and IBM were the main backers behind six new specification drafts released last month that provide more sophisticated Web services security. WS-Trust (Web Services Trust) provides a challenge-response-based framework for exchanging security identifiers between a Web services client and server and for third-party authentication servers to arbitrate this process. WS-SecureConversation describes how a Web […]

Datawatch Corp.s new VorteXML Server 1.0, which started shipping last month, provides a flexible template-based system to extract data from the straw of undifferentiated text files and turn it into XML gold. The servers sweet spot is with organizations that have collections of plain-text or HTML files (such as invoices, reports, confirmation e-mail messages or […]

According to Netcraft Web Server Survey in December, the Webs most dramatic change last year was the 52 percent growth in Web servers hosting a dynamic server-side scripting language—a much faster growth rate than the Web overall. Almost one-quarter of all Web servers now have a scripting language of some kind installed. Microsofts Active Server […]

The biggest area where we need technological innovation in e-mail isnt in scalability or functionality but in spam prevention. Although Microsoft Corp.s Exchange Server 2003 beta (see review) has an improved virus-scanning API, virus and spam checking is an area that Microsoft leaves to third parties. The problem is that spam isnt a peripheral issue […]

The next version of FrontPage, Microsoft Corp.s Web site editor, has a significantly better text editor and simplifies publishing tasks by using standard transfer protocols, making it a better citizen when used with non-Microsoft Web servers. However, FrontPage has an awkward position in the enterprise. Although its inexpensive (the current version, FrontPage 2002, sells for […]

IBMs WebSphere Application Server 5.0 provides close to the latest in Java technologies, along with Web services, performance and manageability improvements that make the server attractive as a key enterprise infrastructure component. WebSphere and BEA Systems Inc.s BEA WebLogic Server shared—almost equally—65 percent of the Java application server market in 2001, with Sun Microsystems Inc.s […]

At this time of year, thoughts turn to ringing out the old and ringing in the new. Thats definitely the case for Sun Microsystems Inc., which tossed the code of its Application Server 6.5 and based the new Sun ONE Application Server 7.0 on the Sun J2EE reference implementation server. The result is an application […]

Microsoft has published a 20-page white paper that details how the company secured its portion of eWeeks OpenHack 4 test. The paper describes how encryption keys were stored securely, Internet Information Services configuration and hardening, what keys were modified in the Windows 2000 registry for additional security, and how the Microsoft SQL Server database machine […]

Standard benchmarks are one important way customers make buying decisions, and the J2EE market is an ideal level playing field for this effort. After all, where features are comparable, we need ways to discover what the best implementations are. The Transaction Processing Council has TPC-W, a transactional Web e-commerce benchmark. Its an online bookstore Web […]

The Web application server market—plump with a history of high-margin Internet deals—is retrenching to focus on a quicker return on the dollar and lower life-cycle operating costs. One immediate change is a huge drop in purchase prices. In a market known for its $100,000-and-up server software licensing charges, prices are falling like bricks. One dramatic […]

As someone who interacts mostly with IT professionals and with large IT shops, I dont get many chances to see how the rest of the world uses technology. However, as I expect many of you are, I am asked by friends to set up their systems, install software or trouble-shoot problems. Id like to use […]

MobileWise has developed an electrically conductive pad that could displace other device chargers. The Wire-Free Electricity Base will be used next year by Acer laptops and PDAs. MobileWise-enabled devices can be charged through conductors that touch the charging pads contacts (see photo). The pad can provide about 200 watts of DC power, allowing simultaneous charging […]