MileStone provides system design and software R&D to clients in the telecommunications, cable and digital video industries. Our expertise includes detailed system modelling and analysis, software design, development and integration, and field support and training.

Software Research and Development

Analysis and Design

MileStone provides system analysis and design services covering the full life cycle of your systems including requirements, system design, functional and performance analysis, system simulations and modeling, system audits, and system and application upgrades. We have particular expertise in supporting Database Administrators with Operating System tuning to provide maximum performance in time-critical online applications.

MileStone broad application experience in system design and development allows us to readily fill any short or long term gaps in your development team. Our expertise in establishing and managing software development environment allows our customers to leverage the unique capabilities of their own developers while assuring the integrity of their intellectual property assets. We can also act as technical liaison to assist your legal staff in acquiring patents to protect these assets.

Embedded Systems

MileStone has a broad range of expertise in embedded systems from small, 8-bit single chip micros programmed in assembly to 32-bit systems using realtime, multitasking OS supporting C APIs. We have extensive experience with realtime OS internals, having ported XINU to 16 and 32 bit processors and adapted GNU tools to support application development. MileStone also has experience with several commercial systems including PDOS, OS/9(000), and pSOS. Application areas of expertise include telecommunications, video and MPEG and consumer products.

Standalone Applications

Our current focus on standalone application development is developing cross-platform solutions using Java. Projects to date include:

• a Cable Headend controller for addressable TAPs supporting on/off control of cable services at customer sites controlled via the billing system;
• a Stock Analysis data gathering tool to collect and condense data from the web for analysis via various stock analysis and rating techniques;
• an email to alpha pager gateway directing emails to appropriate alpha pagers after processing of text as appropriate for alpha paging;
• a 2-way pager front-end for Skytel pagers integrating the Skytel service into a one-number system for all telecommunication services and added custom feature enhancements including non-text mime reduction and email size limits; and
• an out-bound conferencing system with controlled failover for load sharing and built in fault tolerance using Dialogic T1 and conferencing boards in a SCO environment running on Crystal Group rack mounted systems.

Distributed Applications

Many of the applications developed by MileStone have been multi-processing and architected for distribution across a network as needed for performance. ONC/RPC has been used in several projects to create distributed, fault resilient applications by maintaining procedure idempotence and providing automatic re-connect to failed servers.

Web Based Internet Applications

MileStone has extensive experience in building networked web-based applications for internet and intranet applications. These have included on-line shopping, marketing and customer service, and electronic communications internet sites. We also have customers using intranet web applications for Customer Service Trouble Ticket Tracking, UNIX system administration, FAXing memos and short letters, and maintaining association membership rosters. MileStone has built web applications in C, Perl, and Java on internal network, and commercial hosting sites.

Linux Software Development

Custom Drivers

We at MileStone have extensive experience in developing device drivers for various UNIX and UNIX-like systems, including Linux. We have developed custom SCSI and ethernet drivers, enhanced Serial I/O drivers and modified drivers for 3com ethernet cards.

Custom Applications

In general, applications developed on and running on Linux are easily ported to other UNIX systems, however MileStone have developed several applications directly related to Linux system administration. These include custom programs for user administration, system performance analysis, and usage monitoring.

Linux Installation

You pick the distribution. We at MileStone install and maintain Debian, RedHat, and slackware distributions for ourselves and for customers. While our support of non-commercial Open Source efforts provides a slight bias in favor of Debian, our most installed distribution is RedHat. Whichever distribution you prefer, you'll get the same robust Linux kernel, high performance GNU tools, and the other best of breed software the Open Source community has to offer.

You pick the hardware. We'll put Linux on your existing hardware or at your request we'll obtain the hardware, install and test Linux, and ship the system to your door. We installed Linux on Intel hardware from HP, Compaq, Dell and other major vendors as well as custom configured hardware. Many systems that would buckle under the weight of Windows 98 make a responsive Linux Print/FAX/File server or internet gateway.

Network Installations. Linux is built from the ground up for network computing making it one of the most powerful components of a collaborative computing system. MileStone operates its own internal network with Linux serving in mission critical roles including internet firewall, file server, print server and software development host. MileStone can advise you on laying out a network for your business, help you select the appropriate equipment, assist in installation and setup and train your personnel.

Turn-key systems. You may want the benefits of using a sophisticated computer system without the work of software installation and setup. Windows users commonly purchase preconfigured systems and this is now available to Linux users. Work with MileStone to specify your system requirements and we will provide you with a ready to run system meeting your needs.

Custom Linux Configuration

File, Print and FAX Server. Linux is an ideal platform for network services due to its high reliability the wide variety of services available. Using Samba, you will have a robust file and print server supporting Windows clients. Storing your business data on a Samba server allow you to make routine backups of all your critical information. Unlike a Microsoft hosted server, your Linux system is not affected by the epidemic of Microsoft viruses.

Using Linux for a print server provides spooling limited only by the size of the hard disk. Spool management allows your users or administrator to move or remove print jobs or cancel large jobs in progress. Linux software allows any printer to be a postscript printer making almost any software package on your system capable of printing to any printer.

With hylaFAX's network FAX services you no longer need a modem and phone line for each workstation so everyone can FAX from Windows applications. In addition, hylaFAX will send alpha pages, allowing you flexible use of this powerful technology. MileStone can help you configure your system to forward email to pagers and provide web based paging for your users.

Internet Firewall and Intranet Services. Whether you need a single workstation to access the Web, or you have a business office with 10 users to share a single connection, we can configure a Linux system to meet your needs. diald will connect your network when needed without operator intervention and can be configured to suit your particular needs. IP Masquerade and Firewall Admin allow your entire private network access to the internet while maintaining the security of a firewall system. Http caching proxy software increases network security and speeds access by keeping local copies of frequently accessed web pages.

When you plug Linux into your network you immediately acquire one of the best email systems in the world -- sendmail. You also get apache -- the web server used by more sites than all other web servers combined. MileStone can customize installation for your requirements and even provide Friendly Name routing of email to users on your private network. This allows you to use a single email address of sales@yourcompany.com and direct the email to a specific user by examining the full email name. Email addressed to
"Sam Johnson" <sales@yourcompany.com>
will be automatically directed to the local user Sam Johnson.

Development Infrastructure. Linux continues to be a popular development system on the desktop and as a networked development host. MileStone have used Linux systems for software development for several years and the GNU development tools for years before that. Leverage our experience in software development and development infrastructure to install your development environment and train your team to use the tools. We can install the compilers, debuggers, source control, and bug tracking tools needed for a professional development effort without consuming your inhouse resources needed for product development.

System and Network Administration

UNIX System Administration

MileStone primarily offers Sys Admin services to augment customers' current staff during periods of unusual need such as major system upgrade or software porting. We have also done full system or special service installation and configuration that is later maintained by the customer's in-house MIS staff.

Network Administration

MileStone has installed and maintained heterogeneous networks of various UNIX and Microsoft systems.