InformationWeek

June 5, 2000

What's Hot
Editor: Logan Harbaugh (lharbaug@cmp.com)

Gigabit Ethernet For Less
Allied Telesyn International has unveiled the AT-GS900 line of low-density Gigabit Ethernet switches, which address the need for simple, high-bandwidth Layer 2 switching. The family supports half-or full-duplex operation, is IEEE 802.3u auto-negotiating compliant, and has support for as many as 12,000 MAC addresses. With three 1000SX Gigabit ports and a 10/100TX port, the AT-GS903 provides Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for workgroups or between individual desktop devices. The AT-GS904 has four fixed 1000SX ports that provide an aggregate throughput of more than 5.9 million packets per second. Price: The AT-GS903 is $1,690; the AT-GS904 is $1,840.

Allied Telesyn: 800-424-5012; www.alliedtelesyn.com

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New Support For Old Scanners
Jetsoft's Art-Scan Pro 4.2 enables many scanners to be used with Windows 2000, as well as Windows NT, 98, and 95. It supports legacy, SCSI, and USB scanners, and also offers improvements to two core features: descreening and scan sizing. DeScreenIt removes virtually all the moiré dot pattern from scans of printed pictures without softening or blurring the picture.

Scan sizing controls what the final size of an image will be. Users enter a desired final width and height, lock that size, and whatever area they select will scan at that width and height. This makes it easy to scan different size originals to fit in similar-sized picture frames or display areas for a catalog publication. Price: $79.95.

Jetsoft Development: 800-374-7401; www.jetsoftdev.com

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Compressed Documents
Efax.com's Messenger Plus is free software for E-mail document delivery over the Internet. More than 30 common formats, including fax, PDF, AutoCad, and PowerPoint, can be sent to any E-mail recipient for instant viewing and printing at the highest possible resolution. It sends fax and E-mail documents in a format two to three times smaller than their original size and lets users send text-annotated faxes and voice-annotated E-mails, then hyperlink annotations to other documents or to Web sites. Price: $10 activation fee, $2.95 per month for sending to fax machines--sending E-mail is free.

eFax.com: 877-332-9266; www.efax.com

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FireWire For Less
Evergreen Technologies has launched the FireLine product line, giving PCs the ability to connect and communicate with peripherals and consumer multimedia devices developed around the emerging IEEE 1394 (FireWire) high-speed data transfer standard. The

FireLine PCI Card connects desktop PCs to peripherals developed with the IEEE 1394 interface, while the FireLine PC Card does the same for portables. They support up to 63 hot-swappable devices at a time. Price: The PCI Card is $69.99 after a $30 rebate; the PC Card: is $89.99 after a $60 rebate, the FireLine HotDrive is $349.99 after a $150 rebate.

Evergreen Technologies: 800-733-0934; www.evergreennow.com

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Fixed Info Online
AditiNet has unveiled LANRedi ArchiveTurbo, which brings fixed information online at near-line prices. It provides fast and reliable online hard-disk storage for fixed-information files, such as scanned images, CAD and GIS models, and illustrated parts catalogs at prices that are often lower than slower CD-ROM jukeboxes and other near-line storage systems. It's available in standard, portable, and space-saving models and scales from 50 Gbytes to 1.5 terabytes. The self-contained file-sharing system connects directly to the network. It reduces costs because network operating system license fees aren't required for each user. It can be set up in less than 15 minutes and can be managed from anywhere on the network through a browser. Price: From $5,034 for 50 Gbytes to $99,870 for 1.5 terabytes.

AditiNet: 800-659-4440; www.lanredi.com

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Easy Network Backup
NovaStor has released NovaNet 8, network tape backup software with support for Windows 2000/NT, Linux, and NetWare networks that can be managed from an administrator's desktop. NovaNet 8 uses a distributed architecture that allows multiple backups of servers and clients to occur simultaneously. It supports plug-ins for disaster recovery, SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, open files, storage area networks, clustered servers, and advanced autoloaders. The disaster-recovery plug-in lets a user boot from a diskette or a CD to quickly recover the contents of a failed system. Price: Starts at $349.

NovaStor: 800-668-2786; www.novastor.com

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View Web Sites Offline
EliteSys has released SuperBot 2.1, an automated download utility for Windows 95/98/NT 4 that copies entire Internet sites with one click. Copied sites look and act just like their online counterparts. Once SuperBot has downloaded a Web site, the site can be viewed in any Web browser at high speed and without an Internet connection. Modem users therefore are able to surf the Net without missing calls. A copied site can be transferred to a diskette or CD for archiving or distribution. Price: $24.95.

EliteSys: web.idirect.com/~elitesys

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Versatile Storage
Maxtor's MaxAttach NAS 4000 rack-mount server appliance has storage configurations of 40, 80, and 160 Gbytes and fits into standard 19-inch racks. At 1.75 inches high, it's ideal for space-constrained network closets, and it supports Linux and Unix as well as Windows. It incorporates Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 7,200-RPM hard drives, up to 128 Mbytes of Synchronous Dynamic RAM, and a graphical user interface--with only four mouse clicks needed to add sharable storage. Price: $2,395 for 40 Gbytes, $2,795 for 80 Gbytes, and $3,995 for 160 Gbytes.

Maxtor: 800-262-9867; www.maxtor.com

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