BY JULIE BORT
Incomparable. That's the kind of praise Ukiah Software is receiving for its policy-based management software, which supports multiple vendors' devices.
"Ukiah is incomparable because it is a company that, right now, has no competition in this space," says Sam Alunni, president of Sterling Research, a network management analysis firm in Sterling, Mass.
While Ukiah isn't the only vendor delivering policy-based management tools, it stands alone as an independent software maker. Most quality-of-service (QoS) products are proprietary and are developed by a hardware vendor for its product.
Conversely, Ukiah's NetRoad Active Policy System lets network managers define QoS policies for a variety of devices from a central console. NetRoad can control routers, switches, remote access servers and application servers from companies such as 3Com, Cabletron, Cisco and Extreme Networks. And, of course, it supports Ukiah's NetRoad TrafficWare traffic management product.
NetRoad Active Policy System achieves its platform independence by supporting standards such as Common Open Policy Service, SNMP and command-line interface. NetRoad also supports control mechanisms based on IP precedence as well as Differentiated Services, Resource Reservation Protocol, committed access rate, rate shaping and others.
Support solves problems
Multivendor support makes Ukiah a true problem solver, says Brian Sandberg, senior engineer for General Dynamics Information Systems, in Lexington, Mass. NetRoad frees Sandberg from being locked into a single vendor, while allowing him to "prioritize mission-critical applications and establish effective traffic management for various application types," he says. Plus, Ukiah's tools support some legacy Cisco routers.
Moreover, Ukiah ties its QoS framework into what has become the Holy Grail of network management: the directory. Directory services such as Novell Directory Services (NDS) already hold a slew of vital information on users. By tapping into those directories, network managers can set policies for individual users or groups, as well as applications, "without needing to create yet another directory," says Gordon Smith, vice president of marketing for Ukiah.
Ukiah supports NDS, as well as Microsoft's upcoming Active Directory and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Version 3. The product also includes a stand-alone database for user information, should a user not have a directory.
But many a young start-up has created top-notch technology only to flounder and leave its customers aground. Ukiah rates on our 10 companies to watch list because it seems to have stable financials and a logical marketing plan.
The company recently completed its third round of venture capital funding, and it has targeted two of the neediest market segments: worldwide ISPs and enterprises.
Incomparable. That's the kind of praise Ukiah Software is receiving for its policy-based management software, which supports multiple vendors' devices.
"Ukiah is incomparable because it is a company that, right now, has no competition in this space," says Sam Alunni, president of Sterling Research, a network management analysis firm in Sterling, Mass.
While Ukiah isn't the only vendor delivering policy-based management tools, it stands alone as an independent software maker. Most quality-of-service (QoS) products are proprietary and are developed by a hardware vendor for its product.
Conversely, Ukiah's NetRoad Active Policy System lets network managers define QoS policies for a variety of devices from a central console. NetRoad can control routers, switches, remote access servers and application servers from companies such as 3Com, Cabletron, Cisco and Extreme Networks. And, of course, it supports Ukiah's NetRoad TrafficWare traffic management product.
NetRoad Active Policy System achieves its platform independence by supporting standards such as Common Open Policy Service, SNMP and command-line interface. NetRoad also supports control mechanisms based on IP precedence as well as Differentiated Services, Resource Reservation Protocol, committed access rate, rate shaping and others.
Support solves problems
Multivendor support makes Ukiah a true problem solver, says Brian Sandberg, senior engineer for General Dynamics Information Systems, in Lexington, Mass. NetRoad frees Sandberg from being locked into a single vendor, while allowing him to "prioritize mission-critical applications and establish effective traffic management for various application types," he says. Plus, Ukiah's tools support some legacy Cisco routers.
Moreover, Ukiah ties its QoS framework into what has become the Holy Grail of network management: the directory. Directory services such as Novell Directory Services (NDS) already hold a slew of vital information on users. By tapping into those directories, network managers can set policies for individual users or groups, as well as applications, "without needing to create yet another directory," says Gordon Smith, vice president of marketing for Ukiah.
Ukiah supports NDS, as well as Microsoft's upcoming Active Directory and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Version 3. The product also includes a stand-alone database for user information, should a user not have a directory.
But many a young start-up has created top-notch technology only to flounder and leave its customers aground. Ukiah rates on our 10 companies to watch list because it seems to have stable financials and a logical marketing plan.
The company recently completed its third round of venture capital funding, and it has targeted two of the neediest market segments: worldwide ISPs and enterprises.