Mark Haas & Associates

A Comparison of UnixWare and Windows NT

There's no doubt about it, the role of the personal computer is expanding. Articles abound describing the catalytic effect the new generation of powerful 32-bit personal computers is having on businesses of all sizes. Caught between increasing information needs and decreasing budgets, Fortune 2000 MIS directors are being seduced by the allure of these commodity-like "cheap MIPS" as a way to migrate applications and services from their data center mainframes to networks of PCs. Likewise, small businesses and corporate departments that have relied on proprietary minicomputers to run applications critical to their businesses are also looking to downsize these applications to PC networks. But before these host applications and services can be effectively migrated, and before new custom and semi-custom applications that take advantage of these powerful, los-cost platforms can be created, there needs to be an enterprise-level network software operating environment capable of supporting them.
Microsoft and Univel, among other companies, will soon be offering products to address this need. As PC operating systems, these two companies' products, Windows NT and UnixWare, respectively, would appear to offer essentially similar fundamental elements: 32-bit, preemptive multitasking, demand-paged virtual memory, graphical user interfaces and the robustness necessary for heavy-duty commercial applications. But when viewed from the perspective of those responsible for maintaining the information systems corporations depend upon for running their businesses, it becomes clear that UnixWare better meets their needs.

PCs Becoming More than Personal
Whether as stand-alone systems or as part of a network for sharing files and printers, personal computers traditionally have served the needs of individual users for running personal productivity software. They run the word processors and spreadsheets that have proliferated throughout the business world. PCs might even act as dumb terminals to access the corporate mainframe, downloading centralized information. But essentially users are responsible only for maintaining the information on their own PC.
The requirements for these PCs were relatively simple, too. No need to worry about backup, availability, security and other concerns usually associated with the data center. So long as these PCs and networks remained islands of information, corporate MIS could maintain an arms-length relationship with them. The information on the PCs was not critical to the operation of the entire business.
But now a new class of personal computer is emerging. In fact, "personal computer" is probably a misnomer, a relic of its private, individual roots, for while these machines share a common technology heritage, they are no longer serving a personal role. A better name might be public computer to reflect the more widespread, open, shared environment it is designed to serve.
These new PCs, rivaling the power of mainframes, are destined to become strategic platforms for mission-critical applications, functioning as application servers on enterprise-wide networks. As such, they will become the responsibility of the keepers of the other corporate information jewels -- the MIS department in large companies, and the network or system managers in smaller businesses. And they will have to meet the same requirements MIS or network managers place on their other strategic platforms.

Meeting the Needs of MIS
Whether MIS directors are considering rearchitecting their mainframe applications to client/server systems or merely porting existing multiuser applications to less expensive hardware, they must view the PC network as a critical component in the operation of the business. As a platform for running line-of-business applications, these systems must meet far more rigorous requirements, similar to those MIS directors have come to expect from their mainframe systems.
The sophistication and customized nature of the types of applications these systems will be called upon to support are in another league from the personal productivity applications desktop PC users are accustomed to. They are the kinds of applications found today on mainframes and minicomputers, and run the gamut from order taking, billing and inventory tracking systems to hotel and airline reservation systems.
An MIS director considering which operating environment the networks supporting these applications will employ must consider much more than feature sets. The feature set establishes only that an operating environment is capable of meeting the tactical requirements of the system. The feature set does not address the higher-level strategic issues facing MIS directors.
MIS directors are concerned about the availability of commercial, custom and semi-custom applications, the availability of network services, the stability and maturity of the system, how the system fits with their open systems philosophy, and the ability of the vendor to deliver the product and provide the support and training required for such a sophisticated system. Many of these issues can only be met by an operating environment that has proven itself over time and is offered by a vendor with experience in the marketplace.

The Vendors
An MIS director downsizing applications from a host environment is not going to go to Egghead Software for help. Unless a company has had experience in this area, the most likely source of help for those about to downsize will be a large systems vendor, systems integrator or value-added reseller. Univel, through its parent companies, Novell and USL, has instant access to these service organizations. Microsoft has a long way to go to provide the level of service, support and training required by the corporate world.
There's no denying the success of Microsoft as a personal productivity software company. One of the original players in the personal computer industry, the company was catapulted into fame when IBM contracted with Microsoft to provide the original IBM PC operating system, PC-DOS, which it had in turn licensed from a third source. Since then, Microsoft's primary product and business focus has remained on its single-user, desktop PC roots.
Now Microsoft is attempting to reach beyond the confines of the desktop to develop a network server platform. To accomplish this, Microsoft must first overcome its limited knowledge and understanding of enterprise-level needs and requirements of both corporate MIS and end users. Then it must also develop unfamiliar distribution channels and support the channel very differently from the way it does now.
Its past forays into the server operating system market, including LAN Manager and the original OS/2, have been quite unsuccessful by anyone's measure. Ironically, Microsoft will struggle with its own success on the desktop, which has branded it as the "premier desktop software supplier," and the perceptions of MIS directors and end users as a desktop, single-user, retail vendor.
Microsoft has already embarked on a massive marketing, promotional and advertising campaign aimed at influencing these perceptions, but real change will require Microsoft to make a major internal shift of corporate cultures, values, skills and market orientation. Very few, if any, companies the size of Microsoft have ever succeeded in accomplishing a shift of this magnitude.
As a partnership between Novell and Unix Systems Laboratories, Univel understands the corporate MIS and enterprise-level user requirements. Univel is leveraging the combined experience and track records of these two companies in developing and providing technology, products, service and support to meet these needs.
USL provides a strong technology base and participates in numerous industry standards organizations, incorporating ideas from the Unix community and continuing the open systems leadership Unix has attained. USL's broad experience and success in the OEM channel and its relationships with system manufacturers enables Univel to reach this critical market.
While personal productivity software can get by with a user manual and a technical support line, a network involves installation, topological decisions, constant management and administration and significant up-front planning to properly balance interdependencies. This requires specialized training and support through the channel.
Novell's well-developed infrastructure of 12,000 resellers and 20 major U.S. distributors and others worldwide, along with USL and Novell's OEM relationships, provide Univel with a significant strategic advantage. Strict knowledge and training requirements imposed on this channel by Novell and USL results in a multi-tiered distribution channel capable of providing the right level of support for each user's needs. Through this channel, Univel can offer corporate MIS purchasers the level of support, training and service expected for a sophisticated product like UnixWare.
Windows NT is much more powerful and complex than any previous Microsoft product, and will require incremental improvements in the levels of service, support and training provided. Although these requirements far exceed what is needed today for Windows 3.1, Microsoft's is relying on its current distribution channel to meet them. Microsoft has limited experience in working with system integrators and value-added resellers, which are crucial to the product's long-term success. And, their LAN products channel is insignificant compared to Novell's highly developed channel.

Availability of Applications
Anyone considering a move to distributed, client/server solutions will be interested in the availability of applications. In addition, they will be concerned with the platform's stability, security, and scalability, as well as the ability to support on-line transaction processing applications. Further, the new network environment must provide the application services normally expected from the existing host environment. UnixWare has clear advantages in all these areas.
UnixWare is based on Unix Systems Laboratories' Unix System V Release 4.2, the latest version of an operating system that matured through 15 major generations, and has proven itself for more than 20 years. Experience has shown that software as complex as an operating system does not really come into its own until the release of the third major version. Microsoft Windows itself is a prime example of this, having failed miserably to live up to its promises through three prior releases, and only now delivering something nearly stable with the current version 3.1.
Windows NT is Microsoft's first implementation of a 32-bit operating system, their first implementation of true multitasking and their first implementation of demand paged virtual memory, all proven characteristics of Unix. Yet now Microsoft expects people whose jobs may be on the line to put their faith in a product that hasn't seen even its first release, and that in spite of its familiar name is a completely new design by a company with little or no experience in the core technologies.
UnixWare eliminates the concerns and misapprehensions many non-Unix users have about the security or reliability of Unix. UnixWare incorporates all the features necessary to meet C2-level security requirements, and is actually designed upon a B1-secure kernel base.
UnixWare incorporates the Veritas file journaling system, a resilient file system with fault-tolerant options in use in commercial environments for more than three years. Windows NT incorporates an unproven system, never used in commercial settings, that even Microsoft warns its developers to avoid using for storing critical data. Unix is unmatched in its scalability, providing the ability to move applications as needed from laptops to the enterprise level, including the most powerful supercomputers. Up till now, Microsoft has developed operating system software only for Intel-based desktop machines, and in general has provided other software, including personal productivity applications, only for single-user desktop systems.
Because of the existing installed base of Unix and NetWare systems in Fortune 2000 environments, tens of thousands of custom and semi-custom applications are available to run on UnixWare today. In addition, UnixWare can run thousands of DOS and Windows applications, including the most popular personal productivity tools. Unix is also known for its rich application development environment, with a wide variety of sophisticated best-of-class tools available. Windows NT, on the other hand, has no available custom and semi-custom applications, the kinds of programs on which companies generally run their businesses, and cannot run Unix applications.
Most applications running today on mainframes and minicomputers are designed as multiuser applications. In many cases, MIS directors are under time and cost constraints to find savings quickly, and are reluctant to leap directly to more complex, less well-understood, client/server architectures. Instead, they are looking for ways to migrate their existing applications to inexpensive hardware platforms without having to completely rearchitect them. UnixWare offers a clear advantage over Windows NT in this area, too.
UnixWare's multiuser capability offers the option of retaining the basic application architecture while enabling the use of inexpensive hardware, including X-terminals, and helps protect a company's investment in existing hardware and software. UnixWare provides binary and source-level compatibility for more than 6000 Unix multiuser applications, and provides a platform for easily porting applications from other multiuser host operating environments.
Microsoft, a company experienced only in the world of desktop computing, apparently does not understand the basic multiuser nature of most mission-critical applications. And so it's not surprising that Windows NT does not support multiuser capabilities. The lack of multiuser capability makes the task of downsizing much more complex and much more costly in many instances. Any multiuser application targeted to this platform would have to be completely rearchitected to a full client/server implementation.
The business world is gradually embracing client/server architectures for new applications. According to the Gartner Group, 65 percent of all new applications in 1993 will be developed using client/server architecture. But because this is an evolutionary process, multiuser capabilities will continue to be important for many years to come.

Network Services
Anyone developing applications for PC networks must consider what services are available and how easily they can be accessed. NetWare dominates the network services market. Approximately 67 percent of all corporate networks today are NetWare networks. In contrast, LAN Manager accounts for only 2 percent of installed networks, or if you include OEM versions, about 7 percent. It would be safe to assume, therefore, that companies will want to preserve this investment, and that the vast majority of developers will be looking to integrate their applications with existing and future NetWare services.
When it comes to integrating existing NetWare networks for downsizing and distributed applications, UnixWare has tremendous advantages over Windows NT. Simply put, a UnixWare server will plug-and-play in a NetWare network. A Windows NT server will not.
UnixWare's integrated NetWare services are transparent to applications. Besides offering the complete traditional networking environment associated with Unix, including TCP/IP and NFS, UnixWare integrates the necessary NetWare components at the kernel level to allow Unix applications to run on an IPX/SPX network. As a result, UnixWare clients and servers immediately benefit from all the services available on the network, including NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs), and benefit from NetWare's proven security, reliability and fault tolerance. This is accomplished through the integrated NetWare Unix Client (NUC) which provides support for all client functionality such as IPX/SPX, NetWare Core Protocols, as well as Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Service Advertising Protocol (SAP). Large size data transfers, often required for enterprise-wide applications, are supported by Novell's Packet Burst NetWare Core Protocol.
As a server in the NetWare environment, the UnixWare Application Server can also begin advertising its applications on the network through the IPX router and SAP just as any other NetWare server. The UnixWare Application Server is a fully functional multiuser system using NetWare's network virtual terminal facility, allowing network clients to log in and execute Unix multiuser applications. The UnixWare Application Server can also provide multiuser access to Windows applications for DOS/Windows clients.
Windows NT is designed to work with LAN Manager. Although Windows NT contains the NetWare transport protocols and requester technology, these features merely provides a conduit to network services. For an application to actually access and use NetWare services through a Windows NT server, considerable setup and extensive programming effort are required for each application. Because the Netware core protocols are not available, the Windows NT server is not a NetWare server. It isn't even a NetWare client.

WOSA
To effectively serve an enterprise-level network, an operating system must provide the set of services -- such as electronic messaging, database access and communications -- most used or needed by applications in that environment. Microsoft traditionally has not provided the network services required for enterprise-level computing.
Microsoft is attempting to fill this gap by legislating "standard" bridges or interfaces between its own position of strength -- DOS/Windows desktop applications -- and all the major back-end, network-based services, a market dominated by Novell and IBM. The Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA) is a framework for providing DOS/Windows applications with standard access (via published APIs) to global network services. WOSA is intended to be the glue that makes it easy to connect Windows to the enterprise-wide computing environment while hiding the complexity from the user.
Conceptually, WOSA appears to be a step in the right direction. It is a simple idea that is easy to understand, and it builds upon a familiar desktop standard, Windows. As a result, WOSA is something users can relate to and potentially support.
But WOSA is a double-edged sword. In addition to requiring application developers to access each class of network services through a set of standard interfaces on the front end, WOSA also requires service providers to develop code to link their service to WOSA through another set of interfaces Microsoft calls the Service Provider Interface (SPI) on the back end.
There is the question, of course, of how many and which service providers will actually add these WOSA interfaces to their products once specifications become firm and available. It will be interesting to see, for example, how Microsoft intends to incent or force Novell and IBM, the dominant service providers and two of Microsoft's principal rivals, to cooperate and make their services available through WOSA.
Further complicating matters, the proposed WOSA interfaces conflict with existing interfaces. WOSA's messaging API (MAPI), for example, is competing with Vendor Independent Messaging (VIM), backed by Apple, Borland, Lotus and Novell. Likewise, although Windows NT will support the Open Software Foundation's Distributed Computing Environment (DCE), WOSA includes its own set of remote procedure calls (RPC) that is only interoperable with but not identical to the DCE-defined RPC. Finally, major database vendors were not able to agree amongst themselves on a call-level interface proposed by the SQL Access Group, subsequently withdrawing most of their financial support from this group, and yet this is the same interface Microsoft will employ, along with its own differentiating extensions.
The problem with such interfacing attempts is their narrowness. For example, each database vendor has developed their own functionality and performance enhancements beyond "standard" SQL to differentiate themselves from the competition. These will not be accessible through WOSA, and may even produce unpredictable results for the same request. Enterprise systems demanding high-performance, on-line transaction processing will likely choose to write an optimized interface to a specific database anyway, rather than take the less-than-optimal, generic approach of WOSA.
Thus, WOSA misses the needs of the very market it appears it was designed for, leaving WOSA out of the mainstream MIS environment. It is attempting to codify environments that are constantly changing, both from the MIS perspective as well as from the services provided by the myriad providers of databases, networks, electronic mail, etc. (who tend to be more attuned to the needs of the market), making WOSA a dynamic, constantly changing architecture.
Univel will deliver standard network services to all applications regardless of the underlying operating system or networking protocol by enhancing the individual values of NetWare as a services platform and Unix as an applications platform into a single, integrated product.

The Bottom Line
The availability of inexpensive, powerful computers based on Intel processors will have a profound effect on the business world as corporations shift their enterprise-level applications to networks of PCs. Key to the success of these installations will be an operating environment that not only meets the basic functional specifications, but also provides a stable, mature, robust system with the immediate availability of custom and semi-custom applications, plug-and-play access to the application services already available on most of the corporation's existing networks, and an infrastructure capable of delivering the support, service and training that will be required. Only Univel and the UnixWare operating environment can deliver on all counts.

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