QuikNews August 2001 E-Mail Newsletter




Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. QTS QuikNews � August 2001 � Issue 2001.8 September 3, 2001 ************************************************************************ Welcome to the August edition of QTS QuikNews, our Monthly E-Mail newsletter. In this monthly e-mail, you will receive an update of what's new at QTS - new products we support, new patches and upgrades, solution ideas and promotions to save you money, and information about our company and our clients. As a QTS client, a prospective client we have had discussions with, or a �friend of QTS,� you have been automatically added to our newsletter distribution list. To unsubscribe from this mailing please see the instructions at the bottom of this page, or call your QTS Account Manager. Please do not respond to this e-mail. This is an unmonitored account. ********************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE ********************************************************************** 1. QTS News 2. Events 3. Patches & Upgrades 4. President�s Corner 5. Special Offers & Featured Solutions ********************************************************************** QTS NEWS ********************************************************************** QTS CHOSEN BY MICROSOFT AS �GO TO� PARTNER QTS has been selected by Microsoft as one of its key partners in delivering technology solutions to the 50-500 employee business mid-market in the upcoming Microsoft fiscal year. QTS was chosen from over 600 partners in the region, and is one of only a handful of partners engaged in this close relationship. The relationship will involve close engagement between Microsoft and QTS, particularly at a sales and marketing level. RHYTHMS TO CLOSE OPERATIONS; COVAD FILES CHAPTER 11 The two remaining major DSL CLECs took different paths this month. Rhythms is closing down operations, disconnecting its customers on short notice. Since they are a larger player out West, this will not impact most QTS customers, but we are currently working with those who have been impacted. Concurrently, Covad�s parent company filed Chapter 11, but this move was largely for debt consolidation and ongoing operations will continue. Covad is projected to have sufficient cash reserves to continue operating at a loss into mid-2002, but this is a situation that we will continue to monitor. NETWARE 5.0 SUPPORT EXTENDED TO 3/31/2001 To allow customers additional time to successfully migrate to NetWare 5.1 or 6.0, Novell has extended the deadline for discontinuance of NetWare 5.0 support. Note that NetWare 4.11 support will end on 12/31/2001, as this deadline has already been extended once. CODE RED CONTINUES TO PROPOGATE Variants of the Code Red Worm have continued to spread into affected servers. This worm exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft IIS web servers (ISAPI buffer overflow), but there are several different �Code Reds� that exploit the vulnerability. Since the patch eliminates the vulnerability, it stops all Code Red worms. We have patched all customers we are aware of, but if you have any concerns please contact your QTS Account Manager. +++ FROM THE WEB +++ QTS ACHIEVES PREMIER CERTIFICATION FROM CISCO 8/31/2001: QTS announced that it has achieved Premier Certification from Cisco Systems, along with its Wireless Specialization. Read more at http://www.qtsnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr17.htm QTS ANNOUNCES WINDOWS 2000/XP MIGRATION SERVICE 9/4/2001: QTS today announced its QuikWin service for migrating customers to Windows 2000 Professional and, upon its release, Windows XP Professional. Read more at http://www.qtsnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr18.htm CONTACT YOUR QTS ACCOUNT MANAGER FOR DETAILS ON OUR CURRENT PROMOTION FOR WINDOWS 2000 MIGRATION SERVICES. ********************************************************************** EVENTS ************************************************************************ QTS TECHNOLOGY ROUNDTABLE SCHEDULE - SEPTEMBER QTS will supplement its fall seminar series with focused, small group technology roundtables for its customers and active prospects (upon invitation/approval by the account manager). The roundtables will be held on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:30, over lunch. The current roundtable schedule for September is: * September 11^th � Microsoft Software Licensing & Compliance * September 25^th � Wireless Networking Solutions & Issues (Cisco will present) See our web site at http://www.QTSnet.com/roundtables for any changes or updates, and to register. QTS SEMINAR SCHEDULE - SEPTEMBER QTS will continue its seminar series this fall, with a focus on educating our customers on hot technology topics. QTS seminars are held from 9:00AM to 12:00PM, at QTS unless otherwise noted. The current seminar schedule for September is: * September 26^th � Fundamentals of Internet Security: Firewalls and Intrusion Detection (with Check Point Software and ISS), first of a three event series � NOTE DATE CHANGE FROM SEPT. 20^th See our web site at http://www.QTSnet.com/seminars for any changes or updates, and to register. ************************************************************************ PATCHES & UPGRADES ************************************************************************ Call the Customer Support Center to have us apply QTS-standard patches and keep your systems current. The following patches have been recently released and are recommended by QTS: * Novell NetWare 5.1 Support Pack 3 (revised version with FileSys Patch) * BorderManager 3.5/3.6 Proxy and ACL Update (8/10/2001) * GroupWise �Padlock� Fix (applies to GroupWise 5.5 Enhancement Pack and GroupWise 6) * Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1 * Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 for Windows 2000/NT Server 4 Terminal Services � Service Pack 3 CA InoculateIT 4.x signature files are currently at version 27.47 (8/31/2001) and McAfee VirusScan/NetShield is at version 4156 (8/29/2001), and Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition is at version 30830q (8/30/2001). Please keep your antivirus signatures current! If you do not have your system set up to automatically distribute updates from your server to your PCs, please call your QTS Account Manager or the Customer Support Center. Some patches can cause problems, especially in combination with other software programs or patch levels. Please talk to us to verify whether we see any possible problems in your environment before patching your systems independently. We make best efforts to test patch combinations but cannot guarantee compatibility between software and hardware manufacturers� products. ************************************************************************ PRESIDENT�S CORNER ********************************************************************** It seems like all of the press around our industry these days is focused on security breaches. Code Red has clearly catapulted security to the forefront of our industry, and in spite of this, current estimates are that over 100,000 IIS web servers remain infected with the vulnerability. The economic damage caused by these problems is severe, and continues to grow. Many don�t even realize there are multiple permutations of Code Red, each progressively more damaging and dangerous. Year after year, the impact of viruses, vandals, worms, Trojans, hackers, crackers, Denial of Service attacks and unauthorized network access continues to mount in dollars. Most industry analysts agree that the reported economic cost of security problems is only 20-30% of the actual cost, since most businesses want to avoid the negative publicity associated with being hacked, vandalized or compromised. This makes the economic value of this problem all that much more significant. We�ve seen this developing, and over the last year have been putting a concerted effort into significantly expanding our security solutions portfolio. We�ve added new partners to our mix, like RSA Security, ISS, Aladdin and Symantec, and we�ve expanded our security solutions offerings with longer-term partners like Novell, Check Point and Cisco. Security is one of the areas where businesses continue to expand their spending during this economic slow-down, for the obvious reason that the risk of security breaches is high in down-time, lost staff productivity and potential competitive disadvantage. More positively, a strong security infrastructure is a business enabler, and is the foundation for eCommerce, partner and client Extranets, and secure employee remote access. In the Fall, we�re running a three event seminar series with Check Point Software and three key OPSEC partners (ISS, RSA Security and Aladdin) to focus on the elements of a strong security infrastructure. We�re also running another educational event with Cisco Systems, Citrix Systems and RSA Security on Secure Remote Access. We encourage you to join us at these events, to learn more about the issues you need to consider in securing your networks, and the opportunities you can leverage to do so. Starting in the next issue of QuikNews, we will also begin running an ongoing column specifically on security issues. We encourage you to read it and share your thoughts via email. Feel free to email me your comments or thoughts at nrosenberg@QTSnet.com. Neil Rosenberg President & CEO Quality Technology Solutions ********************************************************************** SPECIAL OFFERS & FEATURED SOLUTIONS ********************************************************************** GROUPWISE 6 UPGRADE PROTECTION OFFER EXTENDED THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30^th! Novell has extended its offer to GroupWise 5 customers to purchase GroupWise 5 Upgrade Protection, and receive GroupWise 6 as a free upgrade, at significant savings! GroupWise 6 expands on the strong features of GroupWise 5 but adds improved webaccess performance and usability, improved wireless/mobile device support, backup enhancements and numerous administration improvements. Contact your QTS Account Manager for details. NETWARE 5.1 UPGRADE PROTECTION (INCLUDES UPGRADE TO NETWARE 6) QTS and Novell are offering customers the ability to upgrade to NetWare 5.1 today, and NetWare 6 when it ships, by purchasing Novell VLA Upgrade Protection, plus get a year of future updates for free! NetWare 5.1 is a reliable, manageable network operating system platform, and is the mainstay current release of NetWare. NetWare 6 will expand on 5.1 by adding improved scaleability and performance, clustering support, Internet Printing, full NSS volume support and native client access (no client is required!). Contact your QTS Account Manager soon for more details! CHECK POINT SOFTWARE SECURECLIENT �TWO FOR ONE� PROMO Check Point Software�s SecureClient Personal Firewall software protects individual PCs with a personal firewall, which is critical to security of VPNs with PCs that have �always up� Internet connections like DSL and cable modem. However, SecureClient is unique in that it applies its security policies based on the centrally configured and managed policies in the VPN-1 Policy Database. From now to September 26th, 2001, purchase a 25, 50, 100, 500 or 1000 node license, and receive a second matching license free (two for the price of one). ********************************************************************** To Comment on this newsletter, send an email to QuikNews@QTSnet.com. ********************************************************************** To Remove yourself from this mailing list please send a reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field. Or call or email your QTS Account Manager. ********************************************************************** To Subscribe to this Newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to go to http://www.QTSnet.com/QuikNews. ********************************************************************** To View an archive of all QTS QuikNews editions, please visit http://www.QTSnet.com/stayinformed/QuikNews/QuikNews_Index.htm. ************************************************************************ copyright 2001 Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. This site last updated 08/31/07 � 1999 Quality Technology Solutions, Inc. 76 South Orange Avenue Suite 302, South Orange, New Jersey 07079 telephone: 973.761.5400 fax: 973.761.1881 email: info@qtsnet.com