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Unix, NT Mix It Up
IBM's, Sun's 64-bit Unix initiatives stand up to Microsoft's new Windows plans
By Martin J. Garvey
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This article is part of a joint research and reporting project on Windows 2000 by the editors of
CMP Media's InformationWeek, Network
Computing, Computer Reseller News, and Windows magazine.
For more on Win2000, see: |
he debate over which operating system is best for enterprise deployment took a new turn last
week as IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Microsoft each pitched new or revamped software
platforms. Thought you had already figured out the Unix vs. Windows NT issue? Think again.With Intel's backing, IBM last week said it will join with SCO and Sequent Computer Systems to develop a new "open" version of Unix for Intel's next-generation IA-64 chips. Meanwhile, Sun Microsystems shipped its long-awaited 64-bit operating system, Solaris 7, which now runs on both 32-bit Intel and 64-bit Sparc chips. Not to be outdone by its Unix rivals, Microsoft disclosed plans to deliver a Datacenter Server edition of Windows 2000-the newly rechristened Windows NT-that's designed to address high-end enterprise needs (see story, p. 46).
Sun's new version advances Solaris' enterprise-class functionality. Highlights of its 64-bit Unix kernel include the ability to support applications requiring gigabytes of memory without having to split up the application; better integration with Windows NT; and easier administration and management. And, says the vendor, Solaris 7 is ready to run on Intel's forthcoming 64-bit chip when it ships sometime in 2000.
Under what they're calling Project Monterey, IBM, SCO, and Sequent will combine the best features of their Unix operating systems into a single product, as yet unnamed, to be delivered in 18 months and aimed at the IA-64 enterprise market. It will include, for example, the NUMA (non-uniform memory access) capabilities now found in Sequent's Dynix operating system. NUMA helps multiprocessor systems avoid latency problems. IBM plans to port the new operating system to both IA-64 and its own PowerPC processor. The company says its AIX Unix will remain a viable product at least through 2001.
For customers who don't want to move to 64-bit computing, the three vendors will also support SCO's existing UnixWare 7 for 32-bit Intel processors-and they'll add some high-end IBM and Sequent capabilities to it. Compaq, which sells nearly $2 billion worth of SCO servers a year, appears ready to stand behind Monterey's 32-bit upgrade, if not its 64-bit operating system. "IBM's augmentation of UnixWare with layered products will benefit our small- and medium-business thrust," says Tim Yeaton, VP and general manager of Compaq's Unix software division.
Intel will provide technical and marketing support to the Monterey project, and the partners will contribute tens of millions of dollars to generate independent software vendor support for the group's efforts. Intel's commitment to fund software vendors' support is unprecedented, says Scott Richardson, director of server marketing for the chipmaker. "It's significant that we've established a fund," he says.
Broad application support for Project Monterey's Unix is crucial, because that's what makes NT and other standard platforms so successful, say experts. Customers choose an app first, then evaluate the systems it runs on. Vendors such as Informix have already signed on to support Monterey. And Intel's support will accelerate the rate at which software vendors embrace Unix, says Steve Weick, VP of R&D for Informix.
Steve Valentine, CIO for retailer Autozone Inc. in Memphis, Tenn., says he'd consider servers based on the Monterey operating system for the company's data center. But because Autozone operates a mixed Unix environment, he hopes that Project Monterey will get attention from more software vendors.
"All IBM and SCO are saying is that there is a platform here," says Valentine. AutoZone now runs UnixWare on low-end servers in more than 2,000 stores, and an AIX-based IBM RS/6000 SP with 100 nodes inside the data center. If the deal compels software vendors to provide better application integration between high-end and departmental Unix servers, Valentine says he'll no longer be limited when he wants a solution to cut across all levels of the organization. For instance, parts could be automatically replenished to stores.
Analysts say Intel's support for the project-which the chipmaker describes as the industry's most open and strategic Unix-on-Intel effort ever-makes sense. Monterey offers Intel its best chance to drive the Unix server market it desperately wants to capture, to move its CPUs into the enterprise en masse. Says Intel's Richardson, "None of the other Unix vendors ... had committed to a shrink-wrapped offering."
It wasn't clear Intel would capture enterprise Unix customers with Compaq, HP, or Sun, says Tony Iams, a senior analyst with D.H. Brown Associates. "This one really has the potential for volume," he adds, pointing to AIX's strong technology and SCO's strong reseller channel. Sequent, a veteran of an earlier effort with Compaq to develop an IA-64 Unix, sees a better opportunity for volume sales of Sequent servers through the Monterey project, says chairman and CEO Casey Powell.
On the other hand, SCO's share of the Unix business is slight, because as a software vendor it must rely on partnerships with system vendors. The company's revenue represented only 1% of the $4.47 billion Unix server market in the second quarter, according to Dataquest, based on the percentage SCO receives from its hardware partners' system sales. IBM's share was a meatier 15%. IBM also has the largest sales and service staff in the industry, and its systems populate almost every U.S. organization.
Hewlett-Packard, Intel's partner in the development of the IA-64 processor, agrees with Iams' view. "Intel wants to sell in volume, and what they see in IBM and SCO is the leading high-volume candidate for shrink-wrapped Unix," says Jim Carlson, HP's IA-64 marketing manager. Carlson adds that HP doesn't feel slighted by Intel's support for the initiative, because it thinks it has the better Unix strategy.
The 64-bit operating system IBM and SCO are developing will be less a high-end entry than a high-volume one-and Windows NT will be tough competition, Carlson says: "HP's goal is to support Unix for high-end systems and NT for the high-volume space." For its part, IBM says it isn't going up against Microsoft. Rajiv Samant, IBM's general manager of Unix, says it will ensure interoperability between its Unix and NT.
Two years ago, HP struck its own deal with SCO to develop a new version of Unix, but that project flopped. "We spent several months working with HP before we concluded that our goals weren't compatible," says Doug Michels, CEO and president of SCO. According to Michels, HP wanted to build an operating system to complement HP-UX, while SCO wanted one with maximum performance for high volumes, which would be useful to its other partners.
Microsoft In The SpotLight
And what about Windows 2000, formerly Windows NT 5.0? Microsoft says it will be an equally
viable alternative for high-end, not just high-volume, needs. Windows 2000 will support 64-bit
memory when it ships in mid-1999. A project to convert Windows 2000 into a fully 64-bit
operating system is also well under way. "We'll have 64-bit [Windows 2000] when IA-64 ships,
or perhaps even sooner," says Ed Muth, enterprise marketing group manager with Microsoft.
But even as Microsoft talks up its support for 64-bit memory addressing, it says its customers don't yet consider that feature very important. Sun chief operating officer Ed Zander isn't letting such comments bother him. "We're still standing here and growing," he says. "We're taking Unix to another whole level with version 7-it will be the mission-critical operating system for the new requirements." Some analysts say it will take Microsoft longer than it thinks to meet Sun on full 64-bit ground; Kim Brown of Dataquestdoesn't expect a 64-bit kernel from Microsoft until as late as 2004.
At the introduction of Solaris 7, Zander touted the fact that Sun's market-leading Unix operating system is already capable of supporting upcoming 64-bit Intel machines and existing 64-bit RISC systems, including the Sparc-based, 64-CPU UltraEnterprise 10000 server. Sun says Solaris 7 also delivers mainframe-class capacity with support for tens of thousands of simultaneous users, and reliability through parallel database support, as well as data redundancy and recovery through mirroring and RAID-5 capabilities.
Additionally, the ability to dynamically allocate unused CPU power to active users promotes easier administration. Sun also maintains that Solaris 7's network and Java integration surpasses that ofother Unix systems: Because of Solaris 7's integrated features, IT shops can give clients more efficient access to legacy and back-end information via the Web.
Forrester Research senior analyst Jon Oltsik says Solaris 7 reaffirms Sun's position as the leading Unix system vendor. "Sun is reinforcing its position as the market leader by catching up with or surpassing anything out there," Oltsik says. "Sun is neck-and-neck with HP regarding [some] capabilities, but way ahead regarding brand-new Internet-style application support."
Sun's upgraded operating system also integrates better with Windows systems. For example, Sun says customers can swap Solaris 7 servers for NT servers without having to reconfigure Windows clients on the network. Solaris 7's administrative front end is identical to that of Windows NT, Sun says, and IT administrators can add memory while the system is running.
At least one Sun customer wants to replace its NT servers. "The only reason we have NT servers in place is because of the Microsoft Access and Visual Basic tool sets we run," says Hugh Allan, manager of IT at Dunlop Tire Co. in Buffalo, N.Y. Users want Allan to deploy Access and Visual Basic apps beyond departments to the whole company, but he won't do it because of performance problems with NT servers.
"There are peak times for the system when the sales force wants data to do their jobs," says Allan. "Instead, they're sitting in front of customers waiting for information," because it takes so long for the NT servers to retrieve data and deliver it to users' notebooks. Allan expects that by exchanging the NT servers for Solaris 7 servers, he'll be able to get data to remote salespeople in seconds.
At the Solaris 7 introduction, Sun also made it clear that while it would consider adding other companies' technologies to Solaris, it has no plans to sanction an open Unix initiative. "You need a focused company behind this stuff," says Zander, speaking of Solaris 7 improvements. Oltsik concurs that initiatives similar to Project Monterey have failed because their champions couldn't agree on a vision.
Some users have reservations about these deals, too. "I'm very skeptical because every time this kind of concept is talked about, what happens is that everyone ends up with their own extensions," says Gary Cooper, VP of IS for Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, Ark. Cooper manages AIX, HP-UX, and NT servers, and expects to continue to "pick vendors and platforms depending upon what we're doing."
What if no single Unix supplier emerges? According to Cooper, "it's better to have two or three vendors duking it out. Having them fight over price and performance makes it better for us."
with additional reporting by Tom Davey, Stuart J. Johnston, and Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
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