Microsoft will use FireWire as a universal interface for peripherals
such as storage drives, CD-ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVD) drives, and other
electronics products. Apple Computer developed the FireWire specification (IEEE 1394) to let peripherals, such as a camcorder, perform high-speed transfers of large amounts of data.
Hardware manufacturers can now develop FireWire-enabled devices and the
supporting software that Windows operating systems need to control these
devices. Microsoft plans to use the FireWire spec as an interface for Device Bay technology, which lets a user connect a variety of devices to a common interface, called a bay. Such bay devices will automatically configure themselves.
Companies that will support the spec include Texas Instruments, IBM,
Harmon Industries, Toshiba, and Yamaha. FireWire-enabled products will appear in late 1997, and the next versions of Windows will include further support for the technology.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Business Quality Messaging
IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and messaging industry leaders (HP, AT&T,
Isocor, the MesaGroup, Meta Group, Pfizer, and RedBox Technologies) recently announced Business Quality Messaging (BQM), a new way to run shrink-wrapped business-critical applications on corporate intranets. The companies also announced their support of a special interest group to facilitate development of BQM-capable products.
BQM-capable products use reliability mechanisms, such as message queuing, that are commonly found in transactional message products. An example of a BQM technology includes IBM's MQWare, a technology based on IBM's MQSeries messaging technology. MQWare is for independent software vendors (ISVs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to embed in their shrink-wrapped Windows NT-based applications. The product provides assured, "once only" message delivery between instances of a message-enabled application (e.g., it ensures information is not lost between servers using MQWare to issue "send and forget"
messages between instances of their application in an NT Server-based network).
Microsoft recognizes the need for BQM and will introduce Microsoft Message Queue Server (MSMQ--code-named Falcon) in the next few months. MSMQ provides full-featured transactional message queuing services that are tightly integrated with ActiveX and NT or Windows 95. MSMQ delivers interapplication communications across the network. According to Microsoft, MSMQ "is designed to reliably tie together thousands of connected and disconnected application nodes through a common queuing model, providing the scalable performance required to solve the largest enterprisewide application problems."
—Mark Joseph Edwards
OnNow Technology Plans
Microsoft announced that all the specifications are in place to
build OnNow-enabled PCs. According to Microsoft, OnNow switches on a PC
instantly, like a VCR or a TV, without rebooting. The PC boots and responds
automatically to incoming faxes, voicemail, and email, even when it appears to be switched off. Users won't wait for the computer to boot because it's never really turned off, and they'll save money on energy costs because the PC isn't fully powered when idle. Vendors supporting the OnNow spec include Compaq Computer, HP, Intel, Phoenix Technologies, and Toshiba America Information Systems. The OnNow technology will be available with Windows Personal Edition (code-named Memphis) and Windows NT Workstation 5.0.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Netcraft Web Server Report
Netcraft released its latest Web server query results, which show
that of the polled sites running either Internet Information Server (IIS) or Netscape, IIS is now a more popular choice. To compile the survey, Netcraft claims that it collects and collates as many hostnames providing an HTTP service as it can find and systematically polls each one with an HTTP request for the server name. In the April 1997 survey, Netcraft received responses from 1,002,612 Web sites, of which 131,718 sites were running IIS and 112,554 sites were running one of the three Netscape Web servers. The UNIX-based Apache Web server is the overall winner. A whopping 429,049 of the sites surveyed were running the Apache software. The full survey results are at http://www.netcraft.com/survey.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Heavy Hitters Clustering Together
In a move that must be at least partially geared to support the
upcoming Wolfpack clustering technology, Compaq Computer, Intel, Microsoft, and other industry leaders have announced an initiative to define high-speed communications interfaces for clusters of servers and workstations. The initiative, the Virtual Interface (VI) Architecture specification, will produce a new class of scalable cluster products that offer high performance, low total cost of ownership, and broad applicability. More than 40 companies will participate in the process to complete the draft technical specification before its public release later this year.
The VI Architecture specification defines standard hardware and software
interfaces for cluster communications. The specification will be media-,
processor-, and operating system-independent. The software interface will
support a variety of efficient programming models to simplify development and ensure performance. The hardware interface will be compatible with standard networks such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Ethernet, and fibre channel, and specialized system area network products available from a variety of vendors.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
RedButton Reveals Bugs in NT
In late April, Midwestern Commerce released a new program,
RedButton, that lets anyone with remote access to a Windows NT server (using ports 137, 138, and 139) connect to that machine and read sensitive Registry information. This program presents a serious problem, and you need to guard against it at all costs. A quick test of RedButton shows that it connects to a remote NT system. RedButton logs on remotely on a target computer without presenting a username or password, accesses the resources available to Everyone, determines the current name of a built-in Administrator account (thus demonstrating that renaming the account is useless), reads several Registry entries (i.e., displays the name of a registered owner), and lists all shares including the hidden ones.
Administrators need to consider blocking access to ports 137, 138, and 139 on machines exposed to the Internet. You can also stop the Server service to protect yourself, although doing so limits your ability to share resources. Another possible way to protect your systems from RedButton is to unbind NetBIOS from TCP/IP and use NetBEUI or IPX/SPX on your internal LAN. Additionally, replacing the Everyone group throughout your Registry tree with the Users group will partially stop RedButton. Finally, instead of renaming your built-in Administrator account to something obscure, leave the account in place, cripple it by removing all permissions and rights, and then set up a new account for administrative access.
Microsoft released a hotfix for this RedButton problem on May 3. You can
download it from its FTP site at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/ winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/ nt40/hotfixes-postSP2/sec-fix. This fix, which is also in Service Pack 3 (SP3), stops problems associated with RedButton and incorporates some of the security features you'll find in NT 5.0. For instance, you can now set up NT to require a key before it will boot. The key can be a password or a disk that the user must insert before the machine will boot NT.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Oracle Strengthens NT Support
Oracle plans to spend as much as $2 million on Windows NT training
for its technical support analysts. Currently, Oracle has several hundred NT support analysts, but it wants to raise that number to about 1500. Oracle says in addition to its normal volume of NT-related support calls, it's been handling an extra 500 NT service requests per month since January 1996, and apparently the trend isn't slowing. Oracle has supported NT for the past three years because Oracle7 Server, Oracle WebServer, Oracle InterOffice, Designer/2000, and others run on NT.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
NetPC Specs Solidified
Microsoft, Dell Computer, Compaq, HP, and Intel have completed their
specifications for the upcoming NetPC. The newly defined specifications include Intel and Digital Equipment Alpha processors. The specs state that the NetPC is designed with a sealed case that prevents end-user access. NetPC management specs also require that a system be capable of setup, startup, and control from a remote location. Minimum hardware requirements for a NetPC running Windows NT specify either a 133MHz Pentium or a DEC Alpha processor. Neither system requires a hard disk drive or a floppy drive. NetPCs will run NT and Windows 95, and Microsoft plans for NT 5.0 and Memphis to enhance the management and control of NetPCs.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Site Server, Enterprise Edition
Microsoft recently released Microsoft Commercial Internet System
(MCIS) 1.0, which includes MCIS Mail, MCIS News, Internet Locator Service (ILS), Personalization System (PS), Content Replication System (CRS), Address Book, Membership System, and Merchant Server. But even with this new product release, Microsoft is rebundling some of MCIS's components with new components to a create a package that costs less than MCIS.
MCIS 1.0 costs $18,500, and Microsoft plans to release MCIS version 2.0
beta in the near future. However, Microsoft has shipped a beta version of its new Site Server, Enterprise Edition, which costs $4999, to a limited group of beta testers. The package includes Commerce Server, Commerce Server SDK, CRS, Content Replication System SDK, ILS, PS, Microsoft Site Analyst (SA), Usage Analyst (UA), Posting Acceptor (PA), and Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard.
Site Server, code-named OSSA, is a comprehensive Web site environment that lets the developer enhance, deploy, and manage commerce-enabled Web sites running Internet Information Server (IIS). The list of components Microsoft is shipping with OSSA makes the package look like a great toolkit. The beta ships with Visual InterDev 1.0 and Service Pack 2 (SP2) for NT.
In addition, Microsoft is shipping Base Camp with Site Server, Enterprise Edition. Base Camp is for firms deploying large dial-up networks--namely Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Base Camp simplifies and reduces the requirements for secure network connections. The package adds new features including Connection Point Services, Commercial In-
ternet Authentication Services (CIAS), Internet Authentication Services, Connection Manager Administration Kit, and Connection Manager.
Microsoft will cease to offer Merchant Server as a separate product from
Site Server, Enterprise Edition. The company will include its Visual InterDev development suite with Site Server, Enterprise Edition, through 1997 and will ship the release version of Site Server, Enterprise Edition, this summer.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Service Pack 3 Released
Microsoft released Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Windows NT 4.0 in
mid-May. The service pack is almost 18MB for the Intel version and about 24MB for the Alpha. Sorry folks, but don't look for an SP3 for the PowerPC.
Apparently, as far as NT is concerned, the PowerPC, at least in Microsoft's
eyes, has gone the way of the old BetaMax tapes. SP3 contains 180 fixes. The READ ME file contains a list of fixed problems, which range from
intermittent file corruption all the way to Domain Name System (DNS) servers not responding.
In addition to the fixes, SP3 introduces new features that focus on
security concerns and workarounds for previously reported problems. For
instance, SP3 offers information about workarounds for systems that don't
recognize tape drives after service packs are applied, Windows 95 systems that don't save files correctly to a shared folder, NT backups that don't restore active files in certain instances, TCP/IP printer port limitations, and audio card problems.
Be sure to check the Windows NT Magazine Web site. We've created a Service Pack 3 Forum, where we post new information about problems, workarounds, and fixes as we receive information. If you find a problem with SP3, we'd like to hear about it. Please send us an email describing the problem, whether you can replicate the problem, and how you fixed it (if you found a fix). We'll post the information online where readers can share your findings. Send your SP3-related correspondence to http://www.winntmag.com/forums.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Web-based Print Servers?
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) announced that a working
group consisting of Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Canon, HP, IBM, Lexmark
International, Ricoh, and Xerox, has set its sights on defining a standard
protocol for sending print jobs over the Internet. The new protocol, Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), will let users send their print jobs across the Internet regardless of the operating system and printers on each end of the connection. The group plans to present a final draft to the IETF in August. Once ratified, the protocol will take about six months to find its way into printers in the marketplace. IPP will, in effect, turn printers into Web servers that users will send a universal resource locator (URL) to. The printer "Web server" will then retrieve the document at that URL and print it. As a result, IPP printers may need a hard disk for local storage, which will raise the cost of the printer. If a printer doesn't have a hard disk, the user will need to download the document and then send it to the printer. IPP printers will also need to be fitted with Web server and client software.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Iomega Recalls Jaz Disks
As of April 25, 1997, Iomega, makers of the hugely popular Zip and
Jaz storage devices, recalled about 75,000 Jaz disk cartridges because of a
faulty component. The fault could eventually cause performance problems and even data loss. By examining the back of the cartridge for a date and manufacturing code, you can identify Jaz disks affected by this problem. Look toward the center of the disk above the inscription "(c) Iomega 1995 Patents Pending." If the date falls between March 13, 1997, and April 20, 1997, and if the letters and numbers below the date end with MS, do not use the disk. You must replace it. If the date on the disk is not between the specified dates or if the letters and numbers below the date do not end with MS, you have no problem. Also, according to Iomega, any Jaz disks you purchased before March 24 are not affected. Iomega estimates the problem involves about 20,000 Jaz disks in the US
and about 55,000 disks outside the US.
Iomega established a toll-free customer service line at 800-336-1314.
Company representatives answer between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm Mountain Standard Time, seven days a week. The company mails replacement disks with a postage-paid return envelope so that you can send back the defective units.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
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