NetWorld + Interop Atlanta September 13-17 1999

NetWorld + Interop
Atlanta
September 13-17 1999

N+I 1999 offers a host of new network products and technologies.

By Al Gallant

I was encouraged and pleased with every event I attended at Networld + Interop 1999 in Atlanta. However, I do need to apologize for not updating the CrossNodes discussion site as much as I wanted. The limited availability of press facilities at the show prevented me from providing timely updates. Other events usually keep the press facilities open longer than the floor hours but N+I pressroom was open the same hours as the show floor. Those core hours I dedicated to vendor appointments. Now that I am back in the office I thought I would provide a N+I 1999 summary.

Arriving in Atlanta late Monday, I found the talk of the town was hurricane Floyd. I met some network engineers who were planning on attending the show but had been called back to their respective offices to be on call for disaster recovery. I suspect that quite a few folks who were planning to attend ended up in this same situation. I found the event not as crowded as those I have attended in the past.

Many monitors were displaying the on-line hurricane tracking information site on the show floor. Everyone at the event could get up to the minute information about hurricane Floyd. I guess this should be considered one of the impacts of the Internet. Satellite images, radar images, and real time storm tracking are all readily available over the web and here at N+I it was not only handy but it proved practical to most attendees.