NT News Analysis - 01 Sep 1998

To deploy or not to deploy — that's the question foremost inthe minds of IS planners as they begin to evaluate the second beta of Windows NT 5.0. When is it safe to migrate? How do you weigh the risks associated with a major new operating system (OS) release against the potential benefits of Active Directory (AD), IntelliMirror, and the rest of NT 5.0's features?

According to Giga Information Group, an IS advisory services companyknown for its conservative stance on NT, you can't weigh the risks against thebenefits. As a result, Giga is arguing against adopting NT Server 5.0 untilafter Microsoft ships the third service pack—and even then Giga says youneed to adopt NT Server 5.0 in a very controlled fashion. As for NT Workstation5.0, Giga advises that you don't touch it until you have to.

Because Giga has more than 800 clients, most of whom are senior ISdecision makers at large international companies, its comments fueled theheadlines of several technology weeklies. Giga claims to have extensivelyresearched NT 5.0's enterprise readiness before unveiling its conservativerecommendations. However, some industry analysts disagree with Giga'srecommendations. Right or wrong, the industry's reaction to Giga's commentsreveals a deep-seated concern over NT's role in the enterprise.

Rather than challenge Giga's assertions with just opinion, I've decidedto measure the risk vs. reward of an early NT 5.0 migration. I'll be lookinghard at the NT 5.0 beta in an effort to assess how significant the potentialrisks are. I'll then summarize my findings in a future issue of Windows NT Magazine. My goal is simple: To provide you with the information you need to decide whether NT 5.0 is a hot-button issue and worthy of immediate attention or a go-slow technology overhaul that belongs on the back burner of the IS stove.

—Craig Barth

Office 2000 Is Coming into Focus
With the forthcoming Office 2000 productivity suite due in beta by the endof summer, Microsoft has been releasing details about the product's new Webintegration features. The suite's Office Web Discussions capability will letusers collaborate over the Internet, whereas its Office Web Components will letusers more easily extract data from otherwise static Web pages. However, thefeature that is stealing the limelight isn't Web-related. The suite's Installertechnology--part of IntelliMirror, a Zero Administration for Windows (ZAW)mechanism in Windows NT 5.0--is a repair function. Installer will automaticallyrepair malfunctioning applications on the fly. Through a new table-driven setuparchitecture, Office 2000 can repair an installation that has become corruptedor is missing a setting or component file.

Installer will also let you preconfigure an Office 2000 installation,selecting those applications and subcomponents you want to install onusers' systems. For example, you can preconfigure Office 2000 so that the coreproductivity applications of Word and Excel, but not the Microsoft Info utility,install locally on users' systems. Another way in which you can control Office2000 deployments is by preconfiguring how users gain access to optionalcomponents. For example, you can preconfigure Microsoft Graph to install ondemand.

Although Office 2000 provides an interesting glimpse of where Microsoft isgoing with Installer, customers will fully realize Installer's real benefitsonly when they move to an NT 5.0 environment. Once that happens, capabilitiessuch as install-on-demand and seamless, client-side persistent caching will helporganizations move toward distributed computing. Until then, organizations canuse a subset of these benefits by deploying Office 2000 on NT 4.0.

—Craig Barth

TerraServer: One Serious Proof of Concept!
What do you do with an 8-way Alpha server and some time to kill? Why, mapthe earth, of course! Microsoft's TerraServer project is an ambitious attempt todemonstrate the power of the company's forthcoming SQL Server 7.0 relationaldatabase platform. Using aerial photography data compiled by the US Geological Survey and Aerial Images, Microsoft is delivering a birds-eye view of rooftops, swimming pools, and even automobiles (but not people).

When you first visit the project's Web site (http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com), you'll likely spend some time zooming in to your neighborhood,favorite vacation spots, and other points of inter-est. However, once thenewness wears off, the reality of what you're seeing sinks in: The TerraServerdatabase contains more than 3.5TB of uncompressed data. (The compressed databasesize is 1TB.)

Microsoft claims TerraServer is the largest publicly accessible database onthe Internet, a statement that, so far, has gone unchallenged. More important,Microsoft is hosting TerraServer entirely on its software, which speaks volumesabout the scalability and capacity of SQL Server 7.0.

The server hardware consists of a Compaq AlphaServer 8400 with eight 400MHz64-bit Alpha CPUs connected to a Compaq StorageWorks Enterprise Storage Array10000 subsystem. Storage Technology's 9710 and 9714 DLT libraries provide systembackups. The 9714 provides as much as 3.5TB of uncompressed data storage at athroughput rate of 108GB per hour. The system uses NetWorker storage managementsoftware from Legato Systems for backup and disaster recovery.

Does TerraServer prove that Microsoft has finally mastered the nuances ofenterprise database management? Probably not. Although TerraServer is animpressive single-system feat, a more impressive demonstration would have beento deploy SQL Server 7.0 across multiple servers in a clusteredconfiguration--a scenario more representative of current database architecturetrends. Still, you've got to hand it to the Microsoft SQL Server marketing teammembers. They certainly know how to make a statement.

—Craig Barth

AT&T Sues Microsoft Over Contract
What's in a name? If you're AT&T, it could be the future of apotentially lucrative source code licensing agreement. In a development thattook most of the industry by surprise, the telecommunications giant filed suitagainst Microsoft in a US District Court in New Jersey. In the complaint, AT&Tclaims breach of contract and intentional interference with AT&T'sprospective business advantage.

At stake is a source code license for Windows NT. AT&T and Microsoftnegotiated the backroom licensing deal in 1991 and renewed the relationship in1994. Microsoft is now trying to revoke it. AT&T uses the source code in itsAdvanced Server for UNIX, which AT&T claims is an important tool forintegrating Windows and UNIX. Many UNIX vendors resell Advanced Server for UNIXunder a different name as a component of their various UNIX offerings.However, nearly all the current Advanced Server for UNIX resellers--DataGeneral, Digital Equipment, Groupe Bull, HP, ICL, NCR, and Siemens NixdorfInformationssysteme AG--are also Microsoft enterprise partners, obviatingthe need for Advanced Server for UNIX in many cases.

In the suit, AT&T is seeking current builds of the NT source code andan unspecified amount for compensatory and punitive damages. AT&T might havea legitimate claim. According to sources close to the company, AT&T ischallenging Microsoft based on AT&T's interpretation of language within theoriginal contract. Microsoft apparently agreed to provide access to source codefor NT 3.x, for NT 4.x, and for "Cairo, a future version of Windows NT."

AT&T will argue that Cairo is synonymous with NT 5.0 and that Microsoftknew it was agreeing to license the NT 5.0 platform as part of the overallcontract. Microsoft will likely counter that the contract did not define Cairoand that Microsoft uses Cairo as blanket term to describe a variety oftechnologies, not a specific product.

You can expect lots of expert testimony from industry insiders who willtestify for and against the Cairo-as-NT-5.0 connection. L.A. Law itisn't, but at least those Microsoft legal eagles won't go hungry.

—Craig Barth

Microsoft Pushes NT Workstation 4.0
In a bid to keep the upgrade sales flowing, Microsoft outlinedrecommendations regarding client operating system (OS) migration of Windows NT5.0. Not surprisingly, the company has come out against widespread corporateadoption of Windows 98 and is instead advocating NT Workstation 4.0 as the bestshort-term migration path. Microsoft's logic behind this recommendation is thatWin98's Registry is sufficiently different from that of NT so that a seamlessupgrade to NT 5.0 might not be possible from Win98. Microsoft is thereforerecommending that customers bite the bullet and start migrating workstations toNT 4.0. By beginning the migration to NT Workstation, organizations will bebetter prepared to upgrade directly to NT 5.0, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft's newfound interest in promoting NT 4.0 as a client OS will nodoubt strike many in the NT user community as ironic. NT Workstation users havelong taken a back seat to Win9x users in terms of public endorsement byMicrosoft. With Microsoft now declaring NT 4.0 as the platform of choice forcustomers seeking the next step beyond DOS and Windows 3.x, many of these usersno doubt feel vindicated, if not prescient.

Of course, Registry conflicts aren't the only points of concern in aWin98-to-NT 5.0 migration. As veteran NT deployment technicians will attest,subtle nuances at the hardware level can make or break an NT installation.Nuances such as bus timing and BIOS shadowing and caching can make installing NTonto a legacy Pentium-class PC a challenge. These nuances also make the task ofqualifying NT 5.0-compatible hardware much more important. For example, justbecause a device says Plug and Play (PnP) on the box doesn't mean that it willwork under NT 5.0. New software and hardware technologies, such as the WindowsDriver Model (WDM) and Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), arenecessary before NT 5.0 can strut its autoconfiguration stuff. NT 5.0 will likely better support those devices that qualify and have supporting drivers under NT 4.0 than those devices that are currently NT-hostile.

—Craig Barth

Toothless Wolfpack to Ship with NT 5.0
Customers who were looking to Windows NT 5.0 as a solution to a 2-nodeceiling in Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS--formerly code-named Wolfpack) willhave to look elsewhere. Microsoft has decided not to roll out its Phase 2 MSCSinitiative until after Windows NT 5.0 ships next year, which means customerswill be lucky to see any improvement beyond the current 2-node system before theturn of the century. (For more information about clustering, see Mark Smith, "NTClustering Solutions Are Here," June 1998. For more information about MSCS,see Richard R. Lee, "MSCS Update," June 1998.)

NT 5.0 will have a few MSCS enhancements, such as load balancingenhancements and rolling operating system (OS) and services upgrades. "Thisfeature set is locked and loaded, said Ed Muth, a Microsoft NT program manager.However, NT 5.0 still won't support clustering of application services, such asMicrosoft Transaction Server (MTS). According to Muth, Microsoft is slating thiscapability for the post-NT 5.0 timeframe. Other MSCS capabilities thatare missing include support for COM+ and software RAID support.

For enterprise IS shops wanting to take NT to the next level of clusteringreliability and performance, NT 5.0 is a major disappointment. This Wolfpack hasno bite behind its bark.

—Craig Barth

System Preparation Tool to Ease NT Deployment
In a move that surprised no one, Microsoft announced this past spring thatit would finally embrace the practice of system cloning as a means forlarge-scale Windows NT rollouts. However, few expected Microsoft to go so far asto develop new software technology in support of the process.

Later this year, Microsoft plans to release the Microsoft SystemPreparation Tool for Windows NT Workstation 4.0, a free utility that you can usewith ghosting software packages to streamline the process of creating cloned NTPCs. The procedure is relatively straightforward: You create an image PC toserve as the cloning source machine and include the System Preparation Tool aspart of the installed software configuration. When you boot a cloned version ofthe source machine, the System Preparation Tool automatically generates anappropriate security ID (SID) for the system.

The System Preparation Tool is great news for systems administrators whohave been walking the fine line between the need for Microsoft licensingcompliance and the desire to simplify large-scale NT Workstation rollouts.Before Microsoft's announcement, the only supported way to install NT was to usethe CD-ROM.

—Craig Barth

Netscape Drops JVM— A Sign of theTimes?
Many analysts are interpreting Netscape's decision to drop out of the JavaVirtual Machine (JVM) business as a sign that hard times are ahead forproponents of the write once, run anywhere programming language. By declaringthe client-side Java development strategy (i.e., the notion that you can compilea Java application once and deploy it across any vendor's JVM) untenable,Netscape has set back the anti-Windows coalition.

Some analysts believe that the client-side Java will fail anyway because,although the strategy looks great on paper, it isn't panning out. Too many JVMpermutations, coupled with a refusal by the language's developer, SunMicrosystems, to surrender control of Java to a standards body, will ultimatelydoom the architecture.

Netscape's defection leaves IBM and Sun Microsystems as the only seriousproponents of client-side Java technology. (For a complete list of JVM players,see Dana Gardner and Niall McKay, "Netscape Drops Development of JavaVirtual Machines," at http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayArchive.pl?/98/27/t08-27.8.htm.) Most other enterprisedevelopers are looking to Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)--a server-sideimplementation that lets you create cross-platform enterprise serverapplications--as the best way to leverage the nascent development platform.However, analysts are already raising questions about EJB's suitability for thattask.

For example, EJB technology requires that each platform vendor develop anappropriate wrapper to network-enable the hosted Beans. Becausesome platform vendors are also software developers, competitive pressures mightultimately drive these vendors to incorporate proprietary tweaks to supporttheir JavaBean solutions. Proprietary implementations, in turn, might fragmentthe EJB market in much the same way that proprietary JVM hooks fragmented theclient-side Java market.

Competition from Microsoft and the component object model (COM),distributed COM (DCOM), and COM+ communities might also undermine EJB development. The growing popularity of Windows NT as an application server andMicrosoft's willingness to literally give away developer tools and technology togain market and mind share, might render the entire EJB argument moot, at leastat the departmental and workgroup server level.

Is there hope for Java in any flavor? Perhaps. Digitivity (now owned byCitrix Systems) is performing amazing feats with server-side Java. Digitivity istaking a radical approach to solve the frustrating problem of client-side JVMcompatibility. Digitivity's solution takes calls from the Abstract WindowingToolkit (AWT) of a server-side application and redirects them to a lean clientrunning natively on Windows, Macintosh, or another platform. With new ownerCitrix behind the technology, who knows where it might lead?

—Craig Barth

NT 5.0 to Include Terminal Server
Windows NT 5.0 seems to include everything, including the kitchen sink.Microsoft revealed that it will integrate the core technologies of Windows NTServer 4.0, Terminal Server Edition into Windows NT Server 5.0. All NT Server5.0-based installations will be multiuser capable. In other words, customersneed only turn on the feature to enable access by devices and clients using theRemote Desktop Protocol (RDP). (How customers will turn on the feature remainsunclear.) Microsoft is reportedly considering a similar, although more limited,capability in NT Workstation 5.0.

Microsoft officials are debating whether to ship NT 5.0 with the multiusersubsystems in place or to install the subsystems as an option from the NT Server5.0 CD-ROM. No matter how Microsoft delivers Terminal Server to NT 5.0, it'lllikely generate controversy, because Terminal Server will contribute to thealready enormous NT 5.0 code base. As Mark Russinovich reported in "InsideMicrosoft Terminal Server," (July 1998), the Terminal Server hack isn't aminor one. Citrix Systems (the original designers of the MultiWin architecture)and Microsoft have had to perform a fairly impressive juggling act withwin32k.sys just to make multiuser NT work. Now, with all of the other changesand new technologies slated for NT 5.0, Terminal Server's inclusion isgenerating groans throughout the analyst community.

—Craig Barth

Announcements

New SQL Server Magazine
Windows NT Magazine announces the launch of SQL Server Magazine, an independent guide to SQL Server as a business application platform. Each month, you'll find coverage on interoperability, migration, development and implementation strategies, availability, scalability, security, and data warehousing. For more information or to subscribe, go to the SQL Server Magazine Web site at http://www.sqlmag.com.

Microsoft to Use NetIQ's AppManager for NT
Microsoft has selected NetIQ's AppManager product line to manage its network of Windows NT systems and applications. AppManager will provide centralized performance and event management to monitor the health and availability of all Microsoft production NT servers and server applications (such as Exchange Server, SQL Server, and Internet Information Server—IIS) that run on those servers.

Microsoft selected NetIQ because of AppManager's depth of monitoringacross NT and BackOffice, use of SQL Server as a database and Visual Basic forApplications (VBA) as a scripting language, and ease of implementation andcustomization. NetIQ and Microsoft will collaborate on future versions ofAppManager.

This contract is NetIQ's largest to date and one of the largest NTcontract wins by any systems management vendor. It will reposition NetIQ in the NT industry. For more information about this announcement and AppManager, contact NetIQ, 408-556-0888, or on the Web, http://www.netiq.com. Or contact Microsoft, 425-882-8080, or on the Web, http://www.microsoft.com.

—Sarah Hogan