Just the Facts--And More
Often, news sections in magazines include a lot of straight reporting pieces, giving you the details of who did what and when. But reporting just the facts doesn't help you interpret how the news might affect you. For this reason, NT News Network is changing its title and its mission. Now called NT News Analysis, this revamped section will discuss what's happening in the Windows NT industry and analyze what these events mean to you. With this information, you can make better decisions and do your job more effectively and efficiently.
This section will cover issues and products integral to NT. In addition, it will cover Microsoft's competitors and third-party products, because these products also affect the NT market and, hence, you. If after reading NT News Analysis, you have suggestions on how to further improve it, you can send your ideas to Craig Barth, news editor, at news@winntmag.com, or call 970-203-2940.
Digital and Microsoft Renew Their Vows
Microsoft recently inked a new partnership--the Alliance for Enterprise Computing (AEC) II--with Digital Equipment. AEC II is a solid extension of the original partnership that Microsoft and Digital formed about 5 years ago. AEC II gives Microsoft the services muscle it needs to further penetrate the enterprise while simultaneously guaranteeing the ongoing viability of Digital Equipment's technology and platforms.
Under the terms of AEC II agreement, Digital Equipment will commit additional development and support resources in a joint effort to promote Windows NT and BackOffice in the enterprise. Microsoft, in return, will continue to support the Alpha platform.
Taken as a whole, the real winner in the AEC II is Microsoft. Digital Equipment will aggressively promote Microsoft's messaging, infrastructure, and database wares. In addition, Digital Equipment's services group will train several hundred additional MCSEs, which will result in a surrogate services arm. This services arm will let Microsoft compete more aggressively against end-to-end solution providers, such as HP and IBM, while sidestepping scrutiny by the Department of Justice. (The formation of a Microsoft services group would have set off alarms in Washington, DC.)
Microsoft isn't the only one to gain from AEC II. In return for pushing the Microsoft enterprise message, Digital Equipment will become the Prime Worldwide Integrator for Microsoft solutions. Thus, Digital Equipment will have the inside track on all the big Microsoft integration gigs. Perhaps even more notable is that Digital Equipment will become the first Microsoft integrator officially authorized to deliver complete, end-to-end NT solutions, including design, implementation, and support. AEC II calls this concept Complete Lifecycle Support.
To ensure that Digital Equipment's systems people don't feel left out, Microsoft has promised to maintain its policy of parallel NT development for both the Alpha and Intel CPU platforms. This promise includes NT 5.0 (which will now come bundled with Digital Equipment's FX!32 technology) and the 64-bit follow-on version (which is scheduled for release 9 to 12 months after the 32-bit product). (For more information on the 64-bit follow-on, see "64-Bit NT to Debut in 1998," page 48.) Other AEC II commitments include Digital Equipment's creation of an early adopter program for NT 5.0 customers and the development of new symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) technologies to improve NT scalability.
One wildcard in the AEC II game plan is Compaq. Now that the Compaq holds Digital's reins, it's anybody's guess how much or how little of AEC II will see the light of day. The hardware pond is particularly murky. How long will the x86-centric Compaq support Digital's sinking Alpha-based product line? And what, if any, effect will Compaq's decision have on Microsoft's commitment to parallel development for NT 5.0 and 64-bit NT? These questions cannot be answered today, which means they should weigh heavily on the brow of anyone considering a new Alpha rollout.
Citrix Defrags Thin-Client/Server Landscape
In a move to consolidate the client access market for Microsoft's Windows-based Terminal Server, Citrix Systems has acquired all Insignia Solutions' Intelligent Console Architecture (ICA)-based technology assets. Insignia Solutions is one of Microsoft's core development partners. The deal includes Insignia's UNIX, Macintosh ICA clients, and the NTrigue server platform.
The move was well received by industry analysts, with most citing the growing importance of heterogeneous access to Windows applications as the driving factor behind the purchase. "Citrix has positioned itself as the gatekeeper to Terminal Server," said Randall C. Kennedy, senior analyst with Giga Information Group. "Citrix sees heterogeneous Windows access as its market with the most to lose, so it makes sense for Citrix to bring as many key components in-house as possible."
According to Kennedy, the UNIX and Macintosh clients are additions that will let Citrix pitch its pICAsso add-on package more aggressively in shops where these platforms are prevalent. He also noted that bringing the technology in-house will let Citrix better control the quality of development. "The UNIX and Macintosh platforms are too important to entrust to a third party," said Kennedy. "Citrix was smart to rein in this segment of the ICA access market."
Bringing the technology in-house also lets Citrix integrate UNIX and Macintosh support into its base pICAsso offering, which will lower deployment costs and streamline the customer support process. With the forthcoming Terminal Server and pICAsso marriage already causing fragmentation at the server--Microsoft and Citrix will ship their products separately--the Insignia acquisition appears to be a sound preemptive action that will simplify the deployment roadmap for heterogeneous shops.
NetShow 3.0 to Extend NT's Reach in Several Ways
Microsoft's forthcoming NetShow 3.0 multimedia authoring platform is poised to significantly extend the firm's streaming audio and video reach. As a result, Microsoft is making significant strides in positioning Windows NT as a top-of-the-line media server platform. However, Microsoft is making even more significant progress in its backroom dealings with the bearers of other media standards.
Take, for example, Microsoft's deal with Starlight Networks. Microsoft committed to adding support for Starlight's streaming media formats to its NetShow client. When you consider that NetShow supports Microsoft's Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) and Starlight's streaming formats, you recognize that Microsoft is positioning the NetShow client as a universal platform for viewing any vendor's streaming content.
Microsoft is smart to embrace Starlight's format. This move shifts the real battle to the server, where Microsoft has the advantage. But Starlight benefits, too, because it gains access to the rapidly expanding base of NetShow-enabled clients, a huge marketplace that includes every copy of Internet Explorer (IE) 4.0, Windows 98, and NT 5.0.
NetShow 3.0 will contain several client and server upgrades. On the client side, NetShow 3.0 will feature an intelligent streaming architecture that lets client software adjust the data rate if the performance of the connection changes. In addition, NetShow 3.0 will include better compression. NetShow's enhanced compression-decompression algorithms (codecs) will compress files by as much as a 109:1 ratio, letting administrators deliver greater quality sound and video within the same bandwidth.
Microsoft has also simplified the client by no longer requiring user configuration. For example, the new NetShow client includes a feature that determines when it needs certain plugins or other software. The NetShow client will then let users automatically connect to a Microsoft Web site to download those plugins.
On the server side, NetShow 3.0 can support a significantly larger streaming audience. Microsoft claims that a Pentium II server can support up to 1200 simultaneous 28.8 Kilobits per second (Kbps) users from a single video stream. Integration with Office 97 (administrators can embed PowerPoint presentations directly) and a new ad-banner tool (administrators can embed advertising data into a video stream) round out the list of new and improved features.
Compaq Pushes the Edge of the Envelope with E2000
Dispelling doubts about the practicality of its Tandem acquisition, Compaq unveiled its E2000 Platform Architecture, a server clustering solution based largely on the Tandem's ServerNet software architecture. Designed to provide both scalability and high availability, E2000 promises unparalleled Windows NT performance and a reduction in cluster downtime to as few as 10 hours per year. The goal is to match the UNIX community in terms of scalability and performance. Based on Compaq's demonstrations, the firm is fulfilling its promises and more.
During the platform's debut in London, Compaq showed a cluster of six 4-way ProLiant servers running NT and connected to more than 1TB of shared storage. According to Compaq officials, the resulting 24-CPU configuration could process more than 1000 transactions per second, a significant leap forward for nonmainframe computing environments. However, the industry won't know for certain how powerful E200 is until an independent testing organization performs audited transactions per minute-C (tpm-C) testing.
Many big name software vendors (including Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP) have already committed to supporting E2000. Of these vendors, Oracle seems to be in the best position to tap the new platform's power. The firm is reportedly readying a multinode version of its Parallel Server for Windows NT, which will be in the channel later this year.
If a combined E2000 and Oracle solution delivers on Compaq's promise of 1000 transactions per second, Microsoft could be looking at the best opportunity yet for NT to make inroads against UNIX in the high-end data warehousing market. (For a perspective on Compaq's purchase of Tandem and Digital Equipment, refer to Mark Smith's editorial, "The New Compaq," page 11.)
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