🚀 go-pugleaf

Addressed to: felix eng <englf@singnet.com.sg>


Network operating system OS/2 Warp Server a great value                        
                                                                               
        By Douglas A. Zelinka                                                  
                                                                               
        Those who are contemplating changing network operating systems         
or running server-based applications in their enterprise should                
seriously consider IBM's OS/2 Warp Server. Version 4.0 offers many             
compelling features at a competitive price. And for shops using Lotus          
Development Corp.'s Notes, OS/2 Warp Server is the platform of choice.         
        Warp Server, which shipped late last month, unites OS/2 Warp's         
multitasking with LAN Server 4.0 and includes a comprehensive set of           
system management services. Unlike previous versions of LAN Server,  
Warp       
Server is a complete network operating system (NOS) solution.  
Therefore,       
you won't have to invest in a lot of separate IBM products.                    
        OS/2 Warp Server doesn't currently support symmetric                   
multiprocessing (SMP), but IBM plans to offer a free SMP upgrade to  
Warp       
Server users in the third quarter.                                             
                                                                               
        Run for the money                                                      
        The basic edition of Warp Server supports approximately 120            
clients. The high-end Advanced edition supports as many as 1,000  
clients       
and includes an improved High Performance File System (HPFS386), fault         
tolerance, enhanced Pentium optimization, and the ability to set disk          
limits.                                                                        
        Warp Server supports DOS and all variants of OS/2 and Windows          
network clients. The NOS includes the client code and you have to pay          
only for the number of concurrent connections. So, if you install 100          
new workstations, you don't necessarily pay 100 license fees.                  
        The new pricing structure is extremely competitive for IBM and         
advantageous for its customers. Eventually, IBM will provide the means         
to meter client connections, but for now, it's all on the honor system.        
However, you can use a Windows 95 client as a management console for           
OS/2 Warp Server.                                                              
                                                                               
        At last, an easy IBM installation                                      
        Warp Server's installation program could very well be the best         
IBM has ever produced, particularly for such a complex, feature-rich           
product.                                                                       
        The product offers two installation options -- Easy and                
Advanced. The Easy option installs OS/2 Warp Server using defaults on          
the C: drive. And, if you're installing Warp Server over a previous            
version of OS/2, the operating system preserves the current OS/2  
desktop       
settings.                                                                      
        I installed OS/2 Warp Server Advanced on a Compaq Computer  
Corp.       
Deskpro XL 590 with 80MB of RAM, using the Advanced option. If you're          
giving Warp Server a test drive, use the High Performance File System          
and don't waste your time with the File Allocation Table file system.          
With the Advanced version, you'll want the HPFS386 to speed up disk            
access and to set disk-space restrictions.                                     
                                                                               
                                                                               
        The HPFS386 is extremely fast because it utilizes common cache         
between server components and responds to requests on interrupt. In my         
experience, Warp Server's HPFS386 easily outperforms the Windows NT  
File       
System on identical hardware.                                                  
        Unlike Windows NT and NetWare, Warp Server's HPFS386 has no            
built-in disk compression. Those who want this capability can use a            
third-party product.                                                           
        Installing Warp Server was identical to installing OS/2 Warp           
Connect until I selected server components. Warp Server detected my ATI        
Technologies Inc. video adapter. However, the network operating system         
didn't recognize my Compaq SCSI adapter, so I copied the driver to the         
second bootable disk and modified the CONFIG.SYS so OS/2 Warp would            
recognize my SCSI CD-ROM drive.                                                
        Warp Server also didn't include support for my Compaq  
integrated       
PCI Ethernet adapter. But the installation program copied the Ethernet         
driver from a Compaq OS/2 support disk.                                        
        Limited hardware compatibility remains OS/2 Warp Server's              
biggest drawback. Strangely, I can't get built-in Compaq drivers in  
Warp       
Server from IBM because of a legal obstacle. Compaq will, however,             
provide its OS/2 drivers when Warp Server appears on Compaq's  
SmartStart       
CD-ROM. Unlike IBM, Microsoft Corp. provides drivers for the same  
Compaq       
hardware in Windows NT.                                                        
        After I finished selecting server components and naming the            
domain and server, the installation program proceeded unattended and           
completed successfully in approximately 1 hour. When the server                
restarted, though, I discovered that the installation program  
configured       
my network adapter's support for NetWare using Token Ring settings. I          
was able to easily correct this.                                               
                                                                               
        Administrative assistance                                              
        Even if you're unfamiliar with OS/2 Warp's Workplace Shell, the        
drag-and-drop administration interface is more intuitive and powerful          
than anything offered by Novell Inc. or Microsoft. For example, you            
don't have to edit a log-in script.                                            
        You can also share a resource by simply dragging a directory           
template, for instance, from the template pad and filling in the               
Settings Notebook that pops up. Then, you can give people access to the        
new resource by dragging user or group objects to its icon.                    
        Warp Server clients can access NetWare resources via the NOS'          
NetWare gateway.                                                               
        Warp Server's SystemView is based on IBM's NetView technology          
for OS/2 and AIX. Unlike Microsoft's Storage Management System for NT          
Server, which requires SQL Server, SystemView doesn't require an               
additional server to perform software distribution functions.                  
        SystemView includes a flexible scheduler that allows software          
inventory and distribution as well as backup schedules to run during           
off-peak hours, reducing any impact on network traffic.                        
        In addition, administrators can control remotely the display,          
mouse, and keyboard of a client running Warp Server's Simple Network           
Management Protocol agent; monitor that workstation's performance; or          
set alerts to page or notify them when critical files are modified.            
        IBM's multimedia-enabled Personally Safe'n'Sound                       
backup-and-recovery system takes advantage of the Workplace Shell  
object       
paradigm to let you create backup jobs from templates you drag to the          
Personally Safe'n'Sound workspace.                                             
        The most significant recovery feature is the capability to             
restore an entire server, including the OS, from two bootable disks and        
a tape. You can perform backups to OS/2 Warp Server or an Adstar               
Distributed Storage Manager; to NetWare servers or OS/2, AIX, OS/400,          
MVS; and to Hewlett-Packard Co., Digital Equipment Corp., or Sun               
                                                                               
                                                                               
Microsystems Inc. Unix systems.                                                
        Warp Server provides a combination of features that makes a            
general-purpose operating system such as OS/2 Warp a robust print              
server. Version 4.0's advanced print capabilities enable users to send         
PostScript print jobs to non-PostScript printers and Advanced Function         
Printers. Warp Server supports as many as 16 printers simultaneously  
and       
can route jobs to host-connected printers.                                     
        Organizations will need to purchase an add-on product from IBM         
to print from a mainframe to a network printer, although I think few           
will complain.                                                                 
                                                                               
        Going the distance                                                     
        Dynamic IP addressing should be reason enough for any                  
organization with WANs to use OS/2 Warp Server, regardless of existing         
hardware platforms. Like Windows NT Server, Warp Server supports  
Dynamic       
Host Configuration Protocol and Domain Name System.                            
        Both Microsoft's Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) and            
IBM's Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) dynamically assign an IP  
address       
to a corresponding English name. The WINS approach, however, is less           
flexible than DDNS.                                                            
        WINS assigns IP addresses to corresponding NetBIOS names, and          
WINS works only with Microsoft operating systems. IBM's DDNS matches IP        
addresses to IP host names using industry-standard protocols and  
doesn't       
require you to use NetBIOS over TCP/IP for name resolution.                    
        If you take your notebook computer home and dial up to Warp            
Server's remote-access service, LAN Distance, you get an IP address and        
host name no matter where you are. LAN Distance supports a variety of          
modems and as many as 32 concurrent dial-up users. Performance is              
especially snappy using TCP/IP.                                                
        Currently, LAN Distance supports only OS/2 Warp, Warp Connect,         
and Windows 3.1 clients, but IBM is readying support for other clients,        
including Windows 95. Dynamic IP and LAN Distance combine to make OS/2         
Warp Server a suitable Internet server platform.                               
        IBM continues to trim the stack of part numbers by offering            
server modules, called Project Eagle, that integrate with Warp Server,         
including the Directory and Security Server (DSS) (see product reviews,        
Feb. 19, page 101), Internet Connection Server, Communications Server,         
Database Server, and Transaction Server. DSS for OS/2 Warp Server              
provides an Open Software Foundation 1.1-compliant scalable directory          
service that integrates with many vendor platforms -- a significant            
advantage over NetWare 4.1's NetWare Directory Services (NDS).                 
        NetWare 3.12 shops that haven't committed to NetWare 4.1 and  
NDS       
should think seriously about implementing OS/2 Warp Server. An IBM             
migration tool included with Warp Server duplicates NetWare 3.x bindery        
information, user and group definitions, and trustee assignments to an         
OS/2 Warp Server over a LAN connection.                                        
        Douglas A. Zelinka is a software engineer and Certified OS/2           
Engineer and has worked with OS/2 since 1991. His Internet address is          
74762.1557@compuserve.com.                                                     
                                                                               
        OS/2 Warp Server gives NT and NetWare stiff competition                
                                                                               
                            IBM Microsoft Corp.                                
                            OS/2 Warp Server Windows NT Novell Inc.            
        Feature Advanced 4.0 Server 3.51 NetWare 4.1                           
                                                                               
        File and print                                                         
        services Yes Yes Yes                                                   
                                                                               
        Application                                                            
                                                                               
                                                                               
        services Yes Yes Limited                                               
                                                                               
        Backup and                                                             
        recovery Yes Yes Limited                                               
                                                                               
        Hierarchical                                                           
        directory                                                              
        structure Sold separately No Yes                                       
                                                                               
        Remote                                                                 
        performance                                                            
        monitor Yes Server only Server only                                    
                                                                               
        Remote                                                                 
        workstation                                                            
        control Yes Sold separately Sold                                       
                                                                   
separately   
                                                                               
        Unattended                                                             
        software                                                               
        distribution Yes Sold separately Sold                                  
                                                                   
separately   
                                                                               
        Software fault                                                         
        tolerance Mirroring, Mirroring, Mirroring,                             
                            duplexing, duplexing, duplexing,                   
                            RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 5                               
                                                                               
        Dynamic Domain                                                         
        Name System Yes Yes, clients only Yes                                  
                                                                               
        Protocols                                                              
        supported NetBIOS, NetBEUI, NetBIOS, NetBEUI, TCP/IP,                  
                            TCP/IP, IPX/SPX TCP/IP, IPX/SPX IPX/SPX            
                                                                               
        Symmetric                                                              
        multiprocessing No Yes Yes                                             
                                                                               
        Integrated disk                                                        
        compression No Yes Yes                                                 
                                                                               
        Set disk limits Yes No Yes                                             
                                                                               
        Alert management Yes No Yes                                            
                                                                               
        THE BOTTOM LINE: VERY GOOD                                             
                                                                               
        OS/2 Warp Server, Version 4.0                                          
        Enterprises that want to run applications from the server, run         
Lotus Notes Server on Intel, or ease TCP/IP connectivity should  
consider       
implementing OS/2 Warp Server Advanced. This is a no-brainer upgrade  
for       
OS/2 LAN Server sites.                                                         
        Pros: Solid multitasking; excellent performance; ability to            
perform administrative tasks via drag and drop; robust systems                 
management services; Dynamic IP addressing simplifies TCP/IP                   
connections.                                                                   
        Cons: Limited hardware compatibility compared to Windows NT; no        
integrated file-system disk compression or RAID 5 capabilities; remote         
access only supports OS/2 Warp clients.                                        
        IBM, Austin, Texas; (800) 3IBM-OS2; fax: (800) IBM4FAX; World          
                                                                               
                                                                               
Wide Web: http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/warpserver.html.                   
        Price: $629 for OS/2 Warp Server, $1,299 for OS/2 Warp Server          
Advanced, $829 for OS/2 Warp Server First Step (server plus 10  
clients),       
$49 per client connection.                                                     
        Platform: DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95,        
Windows NT Workstation, OS/2 2.x, OS/2 Warp, OS/2 Warp Connect.                
Macintosh and AIX support is available separately.                             
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
 IWviaNewsEDGE                                                                 
                                                                               
Copyright (c) 1996 InfoWorld Publishing Company Received by                    
NewsEDGE/LAN: 3-8-96 09:30 PM