TMCnet News
Clarkson senior develops winning software idea(Watertown Daily Times (NY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 2--POTSDAM -- Managing a network of computers might be a little easier, thanks to a Clarkson University senior who won a contest with his software invention. Zachary J. Colgan won the collegiate category and $5,000 in VMware Inc.'s recent national Ultimate Virtual Appliance Challenge. A California technology company, VMware sponsored the contest in May and announced the winners in mid-August. VMware is a virtualization company, meaning it creates ways for one computer to handle several functions at a time. The contest asked teams or individuals to create a virtual appliance, or a ready-to-run software application. Mr. Colgan's software allows network administrators to work on any computer within their network from one machine, instead of making changes at each computer. "It has the potential to be really useful," he said. "I would like to see it finished." He plans to continue working on the software because some VMware users have said on the company's message board they have minor troubleshooting problems after they downloaded Mr. Colgan's trial version. Around 130 people have downloaded that version of Open Network Registrar, the name of Mr. Colgan's creation. The software provides the ability to manage domain-name server information and dynamic host configuration protocol together. DNS is the system that translates Web site names into computer language, while DHCP allows each computer on a network to automatically receive network settings. In short, Mr. Colgan's software allows these two to work together so administrators can use the Internet to make changes to any machine on a network, saving time and offering a secure Web format from which to work. A Georgia, Vt., native, Mr. Colgan began the project in spring 2005 and had planned to submit it in another competition last year. His winnings will go toward loans and possibly a new car. "It was really a big surprise," he said. "We were preparing for another contest that was canceled, so I entered this (contest) and had almost forgotten about it until they contacted me." Computer science Assistant Professor Jeanna N. Matthews said she felt Mr. Colgan's idea would have been a winning entry in the 2006 Unisys Tuxmaster contest, the one that was canceled because of lack of entries. She encouraged him to enter his software in the VMware contest. "It makes managing networks a lot easier," she said. "I'm really proud of him." Mr. Colgan is the Unix team leader at Clarkson's Office of Information Technology. A fifth-year senior who is finished with school in December, he has been approached about a job by Clear Bearing Inc., a Vermont Web hosting and IT consulting company. To see more of the Watertown Daily Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wdt.net. Copyright (c) 2006, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |