Sep (09-05) - Encrypt your data

September, 2005 Editorial

Now that the kids are back at school and our colleagues are back from vacations, business had been picking up. In light of the recent disaster, I would have expected demand to pickup, as the rebuilding process begins. SO far all I can say is that it hasn't materialized. We all know that the Katrina disaster will have an impact on all of our futures, but just how is a question. The rebuilding may yet create a mini boom which may more than offset the costs of insurance claims in the long run. (I hope that the authorities are wise enough not to rebuild below sea level.) It was a stark and painful reminder of how lucky the rest of us are.

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IBM announced some new additions to their high speed laser family. "The IBM 4100 is the ultra-high-speed Infoprint 4100 production printer with the Infoprint(R) POWER(TM) Controller. Targeted at printing environments where throughput and printing speed are critical factors, these simplex and duplex models allow printing at over 1400(1) letter-size (8.5 inch x 11 inch) impressions-per-minute (ipm) for two-up duplex applications. Standard features such as 600 dots per inch (dpi) input and output, a 19-inch (482.6 mm) print width, a Customer Changeable Developer, tractorless operation, and the Infoprint POWER controller technology push the envelope for the high-speed digital printing industry. Optional features such as a speed switch, and high-speed FICON and Gigabit Ethernet attachments allow for maximum productivity."

The IBM Infoprint 4100 Model HS3 simplex printer up to 720 impressions per minute in two - up.

The IBM Infoprint 4100 Model HD5 is the first engine of the HD5/6 high speed duplex printing system.

The IBM Infoprint 4100 Model HD6 is the second engine of the HD5/6 high speed duplex printing system. HD6 contains the Infoprint POWER Controller and can be used to print in simplex (without the HD5) or in dual simplex or duplex by mating with the HD5. The high speed duplex printing system HD5/6 can print at up to 1440 impressions per minute in two - up duplex.

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I think I have received solicitations from 7 companies so far asking me to list my inventory on their dealer-web sites. Seems that there is an enormous overlap between them, with most dealers on most sites in order not to miss any opportunity to list or source gear and/or parts. The total cost to belong to all of them is potentially great, so it pays to be judicious. There are probably good reasons for each one, but come on, how many do we need in this industry? I belong to four. Who am I missing out there?

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The newspapers are full of security issues. Recent security breaches have embarrassed the largest of firms. Most firms would rather not talk about their "holes" but media attention has brought some of these breeches to the news on a weekly basis. SecureAgent has a patent on their encryption technique for terminal sessions for mainframe data, which begs: Why not for all company data? If many of these firms had secure tape media, using encryption, tape media would have been useless to thieves. There are a few vendors (FalconStor, SecureAgent, Avax, Kastenchase, and others) which have products that serve various platforms with various offerings, but the arena is still wide open. Encrypted data can be backed up to tape, stored in remote and local disk environments, and then decrypted when required, either in real time, or as archived data. These will become a must-have for companies, and its a wonder there are not more regulations in this regard. The time for secure data is now. We expect to begin offering an exciting solution soon.

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Prices for the Lexmark Optra S family of laser printers has bottomed out. Any more large packages will have little effect on the market price. Anyone who wants to minimize total cost should consider these gems. Machines are cheap and durable. Toner is cheap and abundant.

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As reported earlier: We have now sold over 4,000 coax/twinax to ethernet conversion cards/boxes. We successfully prototyped our second generation card for 4224's and are delighted to have liquid inventory starting at the end of August. So, consider carefully before buying new printers. These old 4224's are built better and last longer than any other printer we've found in the mass market. Conversion is simple, inexpensive, and does not interfere with the clients' ongoing business. Before you buy or recommend a plastic printer, ponder the cost-effectiveness of the combination of our 4224-4xx card in IBM's 4224 printer line.

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We expect to roll out a leasing program for equipment we provide. We expect to make the process simple and easy, allowing you to choose it as an option and, with a few clicks, execute a leasing agreement.

Further changes to our web site will soon be obvious, as we enter a re-design phase. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from those of you who use my site on a regular basis, so I promise to keep it fast and simple, but filled with abundant information and reference. We hope to begin electronic commerce and have faster provision of tracking information available on the site.

We also are pleased to announce the addition of Kim Max to our sales force. She is attempting to augment our efforts in the market for Tape subsystems. We hope that you will accept her warmly.

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Rosetta Technologies has announced a line of MICR printer based on the famous Ricoh engine (70ppm, 92ppm). MICR is Rosetta's specialty and these will be nice entries is the growing MICR environment.

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Over the years we have accumulated a "bad guy" list-- dealers with questionable business practices-- which has grown to be quite extensive. I cannot list it on my web site for fear of legal action by those who would argue their inclusion. Need some info about someone you don't know? Contact us and we'll see what info we have.

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Specials
Lexmark Optra S1250, S1255, S1625, S1855?s ? lots and lots sitting (most with ethernet).
Lexmark Optra S2450 -- 24ppm laser
Lexmark Optra Se3455 - 34 pages per minute and cheap-to-keep (16)
Lexmark T612's -- over 70 units in stock now.
Lexmark T614's -- over 25 units in stock now.
Lexmark T522's - over 300 pieces in stock now.
Lexmark T620n's - 23 in stock now.
Lexmark T630's -- over 100 units in stock now.