Aduva, Inc. introduced Aduva Manager, an internet-based service that automates Linux system management by addressing issues such as upgrades, patches and new hardware and software installations for system reliability and compatibility verification. The downloadable client maintains a local current inventory of all components in the user's system, then updates the user with relevant developments. Features include scheduled actions support, critical issue alerts, encrypted connections and automatic management corrections. Aduva Manager is available 24/7 from the Aduva servers and is offered free of charge to noncommercial users.

Contact: Aduva, Inc., 2595 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, California 94303, 650-858-8650, info@aduva.com, http://www.aduva.com/.

The ZL-330 by Zapex Technologies is an MPEG-2/Dolby encoder for satellite, video server, Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) and cable applications. This encoder simultaneously compresses video and audio into MPEG-2 and Dolby digital streams, then mulitplexes them into a single transport stream. The ZL-330 performs all encoding functions and can be integrated with interface cards such as SMPTE-310, TCP/IP or DVB-ASI. General availability of the ZL-330 begins in early May.

Contact: Zapex Technologies, Inc., 2432 Charleston Road, Mountain View, California 94043, 650-930-1300, http://www.zapex.net/.

MPEG-2 Board

To help solve the problem of large distributed environments interacting in real time with comprehensive relational database stores, Rogue Wave Software, Inc. announced a Large-Scale Objects Solution. The Solution is designed to persist objects within relational databases over large, widely dispersed applications. Features include robust object applications (including object persistence mechanisms that respect existing relational models) and transaction journaling to ensure data integrity. Consulting services are available to accompany this Solution.

Contact: Rogue Wave Software, Inc., 5500 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, Colorado 80301, 800-487-3217 (toll free), http://www.roguewave.com/.

The briQ, a PowerPC-based network appliance computer, has been released by Total Impact. Measuring 5.74 inches wide, 1.625 inches tall and 8.9 inches deep, and weighing 1.85 pounds, the briQ provides developers with a production-ready engine suited for insertion into an industry standard half-height drive bay. The briQ uses either PowerPC G3 or G4 processors and is customizable for applications and products such as firewalls, routers, security devices and web servers. Some of the included specifications include 1MB of L2 cache, 100MHz 64-bit system bus, up to 512MB of SDRAM, dual 10/100 base Ethernet support, up to 40GB hard drive, RS-232 interface, low-power requirements and remote management.

Contact: Total Impact, Inc., 295 Willis Avenue, Suite E, Camarillo, California 93010, 805-987-8704, sales@totalimpact.com, http://www.totalimpact.com/.

Front View of briQ

Zend Technologies introduced a PHP technology product line targeting the enterprise PHP market, all available through their on-line subscription service. Products include: Zend Cache, a customizable script-caching module that stores an intermediate code version in the server's memory; Encoder Unlimited, which allows increased web site security and distribution without revealing source code by creating a platform-independent binary file; Zend IDE, a suite of tools for remote debugging, text editing and PHP and HTML highlighting; Zend LaunchPad, which provides quality-assured, updated PHP downloads through a GUI module; and On-line Service Support, a dedicated, web-enabled application available 24/7. Subscriptions are available in commercial and noncommercial versions.

Contact: Zend Technologies Ltd., PO Box 3619, Ramat Gan 52136, Israel, 877-ZEND-USA (toll free), info@zend.com, http://www.zend.com/.

ADSL Chip Set

An Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) chip set from Agere Systems for residential gateway, home networking and PC equipment is now available. The new offering consists of a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) ADSL network interface card, based on one of Agere's DSP client access chips. The chip set is placed on an interface card, which becomes a network adapter, and PC and residential gateway motherboards communicate with the DSP chip. Specialized communication functions include an adaptation layer for ATMs, network protocols including PPP over Ethernet and ATM, and segmentation and reassembly of ATM packet functions.

Contact: Agere Systems, Inc., 555 Union Boulevard, Room 30L-15P-BA, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18109-3286, 800-372-2447 (toll free), docmaster@micro.lucent.com, http://www.agere.com/.

At LinuxWorld in January 2001, Hewlett-Packard announced full-feature Linux support for 28 PostScript LaserJet and business inkjet printers. Basic support is also available for 16 non-PostScript LaserJet and inkjet printers. Users can access all device configuration options such as duplexing, tray selection and paper handling options. Installation of a Linux printing system upgrade is necessary for full-feature support, available at http://www.hp.sourceforge.net/. All future PostScript HP LaserJet printers will come with full-feature Linux support when introduced to market.

Contact: Hewlett-Packard Company, 3000 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, California 94304-1185, 650-857-1501, http://www.linux.hp.com/.

K2 NAS from Big Storage, Inc. is an enterprise-grade network attached storage device with redundancy features at every level, including integrated network and storage processors. K2 scales from one to forty terabytes and comes with dual redundant server processors, hardware RAID controllers, snapshot software for archiving and journaling filesystems. The system can be plugged directly into the existing network with a quick setup. A web-based graphical interface allows configuration and monitoring from any client, and cross-compatibility supports Windows98/2000, Mac and UNIX.

Contact: Big Storage, Inc., 19 Heron Street, San Francisco, California 94103, 800-864-3789 (toll free), techsales@bigstorage.com, http://www.bigstorage.com/.