Tool designers have taken different avenues to reducing bandwidth in push products. One approach spends server and client CPU time, compressing the data to reduce the number of bytes traversing the network. Another assumes the outg oing information is but a later version of already-distributed data and sends only the incremental changes to bring the client up to date. Consistent data for all clients is the key selling point for push middleware. All push tools employ some sort of feedback mechanism that each client target uses to let the server know it has successfully received a file, program, stream of data or collection of data items.
Central administration is a common feature of all push tools.
Rather than configure clients to copy certain files at certain times or periodically run update utilities, you configure the server software to distribute data based on user groups and types of data. Push tools implement the common goal of central administration with rather uncommon interfaces. Whether over the Internet or even your private intranet, push can be risky business. By the time you read this column, many of the questions racing through my mind probably will have been answered, but I'm guessing the answers will not be satisfactory. I am writing this on Tuesday, September 11, the day we, as American citizens, lost our innocence.