This Week's In Depth Stories
Massively Scalable Web Applications: WebSideStory's Got Game (November 22, 1999)
When most corporate Web developers talk about scalability, they're usually talking about successfully managing a few hundred thousand page hits a day. That's schoolyard ball to the techs at WebSideStory, who push across a few hundred million hits daily. Jim Van Baalen, the company's chief technical officer, acts as the point guard, directing traffic on WebSideStory's HitBox application. HitBox tracks and analyzes Web site hits for an estimated 350,000 customers, including top Internet draws like the Drudge Report and dice.com.
Previous Stories
Network Management: Still Too Thin (November 15, 1999)
Remember the old adage that it's impossible for a person to be too rich or too thin? While few would disagree with the rich part, a growing number of IT and network managers say thin client software management tools could stand to be a bit chubbier. As it stands, these tools don't give IT managers enough control over their applications or the environment.
Web App Servers: No Time To Wait (November 15, 1999)
The race to deploy app servers presses forward. Sorting out which vendor to choose in this fast-paced market can be daunting. For starters, there are the obvious players like Bluestone, Netscape, SilverStream and Sun Microsystems, and established middleware vendors like BEA Systems. But now, operating system powerhouse Microsoft has entered the game, IBM and Lotus have app servers, and development tool makers Forte Software and Progress also market them.
Web-To-Host Applications: Mainframes Go Mobile (November 8, 1999)
Mainframes are going mobile as companies take the next step in Web-to-host access by exploiting the presence of browsers on laptops, handhelds and even cell phones. The result: Legacy resources are available to more users in more places than ever.
E-Commerce Strategies: Trading Hubs Gain Respect (November 1, 1999)
Most of the online trading hubs were in a ramp-up mode until roughly the middle of this year. But the hub concept is gaining respect, and some of the early players are even starting to report substantial revenue.
IP Sec's Rising Star (October 18, 1999)
It has been a long time coming. But IPSec, which languished in the IETF standards process during a bitter battle over control of its encryption-key architecture a couple of years ago, is finally showing some star quality. During the past year, this protocol for securing business-to-business IP traffic has shown up in popular VPN gateways, firewalls, switches and routers. Soon, it will make its appearance in Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system.
Have Yourself A Digitial Little Christmas (October 11, 1999)
Imagine the scene: A crowded store, deep in December, filled to the brim with holiday shoppers, cash in hand. What could possibly go wrong? What if suddenly the cash registers stopped working? And all your customers-and all those sales-walked out the door and straight to the competitor down the street?
App Servers Branch Out (October 4, 1999)
Developing a web server used to be a relatively simple proposition. Build in some decent content authoring and management capabilities, throw in other basic functions such as FTP, maybe add in a bit of extra value with a few back-end integration utilities-and the product was ready to go.
Here Come The Lawyers (September 27, 1999)
So you thought that once the droves of Year 2000 programmers left the building that the phrase Y2K bug could be removed from your daily vocabulary? Well, not so fast. Just when you thought it was time to get back to your real job, legal experts say failure to document a back-up plan and warn your customers of potential Y2K failures could open you up to lawsuits.
Quality Of Service: Priority Traffic (September 20, 1999)
True QoS is a ways off, so IT shops use bandwidth managers to prioritize traffic and unclog network bottlenecks.
Server Architectures: High-Impact Clustering (September 20, 1999)
Tailoring clusters to meet business apps keeps dot.com Web sites running.
Bandwidth Boom: Farther, Faster, Fatter (September 13, 1999)
There's a Bandwidth Boom under way. Just as the need for network bandwidth grows continuously, so do the ways to meet that need. Some of the more interesting approaches to adding more bandwidth, speed and distance in networks come from the worlds of silicon, fiber and wireless.
Storage Area Networks: A Bet Worth Taking (September 6, 1999)
Here's why the Mirage Resorts Inc. in Las Vegas needs a storage area network: The busiest time of the day for the $1.5 billion company is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., which means the staff has four hours to back up more than 570 GB of data to tape before the day's first shift starts at 6 a.m.
Customer Relationship Management: Satisfaction Guaranteed (August 23, 1999)
Customer service is the name of the game for e-commerce sites. And it's even more important for Web-based businesses. But today's customer-relationship management products fall short. So how can e-businesses satisfy their Web customers?
Converged Networks: The Bumpy Road To IP (August 16, 1999)
Converged networks based on IP promise to carry voice, data and video traffic on a single pipe. The vision is great. But despite the vast potential, many large enterprises will find the road to a converged IP network a bumpy ride riddled with roadblocks.
High-Speed Bandwidth: Terabit Safety Net (August 9, 1999)
With corporate bandwidth usage doubling every three months, carriers are mapping out plans to boost the capacity of their core networks-the place where data is funneled and shipped over high-speed, long distance lines.
Call Center Breakthrough (August 2, 1999)
For the Past several years, and even well before the emergence of e-business, installing and managing call center services was largely considered a low-end technology project for most businesses.
Management Frameworks: Look Beyond The Enterprise (July 19, 1999)
The premise behind enterprise management frameworks has always been easy to understand: Monitor every resource across the enterprise and the company can ensure end-to-end delivery of critical IT services. But what happens when the company no longer owns the infrastructure that delivers those services? Do enterprise frameworks still make sense in the world of e-business? How can network managers deal with the reality that service levels now depend not only on their own network infrastructures, but also those of multiple ISPs, business partners and customers?
Web Applications: Middle-Tier Migration (July 12, 1999)
Make no mistake: The e-commerce explosion is making the middle tier migration a journey most IT shops simply must take. While nobody really knows for sure where the journey will lead, what's clear is now's not the time to turn back.
Transaction Processing: Think Big Picture (July 5, 1999)
Companies are running more transactions than ever before. And the onslaught begins with e-commerce. When a user makes an online purchase, the e-commerce system runs through a series of transactions, including checking for inventory and discounts, confirming the order, fulfilling the order and, finally, processing the payment.
Data Warehousing: Unleash The Treasure Trove (June 28, 1999)
It wasn't long ago that data warehouses and their desktop counterparts-expensive, complex, client-side business intelligence (BI) applications on the desktop-were the sole province of highly trained specialists. Today, the Web, that pervasive distribution mechanism, is unlocking the treasures inside data warehouses, offering a way to grant hundreds or thousands of employees access to these repositories.
Handheld Apps: Extending The Internet (June 21, 1999)
IT has finally found a killer app that should expand the use of handheld devices: online trading. These wireless trading apps have been rolled out by Web brokerage houses seeking a competitive advantage over more established firms. What makes them particularly useful is built-in intelligence that lets traders receive alerts on the top stocks they're tracking.
Trading Hubs Get Down To Business (June 14, 1999)
Whether it's extranet catalogs, auction sites, or even freight services that you're looking for, there's a site that can deliver the goods. Nearly 300 ventures are creating a new Web business model centered around vertical sectors.
Life At Networking's Edge (June 7, 1999)
Burlington Coat Factory Inc. lives every day at networking's edge-and has no plans to turn back. Actually, the $1.8 billion wholesaler is a good example of how companies can consolidate their WAN links and streamline costs with an emerging breed of edge devices.
ISP: Pay As You Go (May 31, 1999)
For years, IT managers were content to pay a flat fee for bandwidth, even though they sometimes paid for more than they used. Now, the ISPs are pushing for a usage-based "pay as you go" model, largely to set up an equitable way to charge for high-bandwidth services such as videoconferencing.
Web-To-Host Apps: Can Big Iron Surf? (May 24, 1999)
Mainframes live, but tying them to Web apps is still tricky stuff.
Make It Work: When a merger hits, there's no time to think long term (May 17, 1999)
This is no time for grand strategy. Your company has merged with a former rival. You've got to make everything from voice mail to payroll applications seamlessly interact with your new partner's systems-and you've got six weeks to do it.
Backbone Technology: Gigabit Ethernet Gains Momentum (May 10, 1999)
Gigabit Ethernet switches seem like the answer to every IT manager's prayers: They deliver 1,000-Mbps speed to the backbone, and they're easy to install and manage. But it will be a few years before Gigabit Ethernet jockeys with Ethernet or Fast Ethernet as the industry's leader.
Open Source: What's Next For Linux? (May 3, 1999)
IT pros are sold on Linux, but the OS must run more business apps before it wins over the enterprise.
Thin Servers: Easy To Be Thin (April 26, 1999)
Dieting is difficult, but slimming down server costs is easier thanks to thin servers, a new class of hardware that has been getting excellent reviews.
BOTI Winners: They're The Tops (April 19, 1999)
It was a who's who of stellar users that gathered in Los Angeles to collect this year's Business On The Internet Awards.
Waiting For Windows 2000 (April 12, 1999)
Howard Jones, CIO at Snapper Inc., can't wait for the release of Microsoft's Windows 2000. When the new version of the operating system ships, Jones says it will lower his PC administration costs by 20 percent. With a multimillion-dollar IT budget, that's not chump change.
Enterprise Apps: XML Takes On E-Commerce (April 5, 1999)
When Extensible Markup Language was approved by the World Wide Web Consortium in February 1998, the standards gurus hoped XML would offer a more efficient way to publish Web pages. But developers quickly realized that the power of defining their own tags separate from the file contents meant data could be defined and easily exchanged. This ability, tied tightly to Web publishing initially, spread to more data interchange situations and now has XML taking on e-commerce.
E-Mail Security: Secure Messaging Moves Forward (March 29, 1999)
It's an alarming trend: Only 5 percent to 10 percent of all electronic messages sent over the Internet are encrypted, and they often contain transactions and sensitive corporate information. But companies are starting to take e-mail security seriously.
Outsourcing -- ERP's Future? (March 22, 1999)
Outsourcers are taking on new ERP worlds, but there are roadblocks ahead before this concept will work on the Web.
Self-Service Apps -- ERP's Next Frontier (March 15, 1999)
Now that ERP self-service apps are the norm, employees check and change their health-care provider and vacation time over an intranet without thinking twice.
Payment Systems: The Buck Stops Here (March 8, 1999)
Properly executed, payment processing systems can free company employees to focus on business objectives and boost the one element that's really important for any business: customer service.
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