“UNIX was the first operating system designed to run on ‘dissimilar’computers by converting most hardware specific commands in machine language intoan independent programming language called ‘C,’” Jon Wolfe writes in theNashville Business Journal. (Wolfe 29) UNIX was the basis of AT&T’stelephone system and the government’s wide area network system. Then it becamethe basis of communication between engineers and scientists, and eventually thebasis of communication for everyone worldwide (World Wide Web (Web)).
It hasheld this remarkable spot since 1969. However, in the 1990s there arecompetitors in the market, namely, Microsoft Corporation with its Windows NTproduct. But UNIX-based software suppliers are not just turning over and lettingthe competitors win. UNIX supporters are many, and UNIX remains, and will remaina major player in the marketplace. The unique advantage of the UNIX operatingsystem when it was introduced was that it could (and still does) run ondissimilar machines, unheard of prior to 1969.
UNIX also can run more than oneprogram at a time, store complex graphics and databases, and link to other UNIXand mainframe computer systems, including DOS since the late 1980s. UNIX-basedsystems control various programs written by many companies to distributeinformation between multiple computers within the network. This minimizes usercosts and eliminates system-wide hardware crashes. Some of the original UNIXprograms are “still evident today.” (Wolfe 29) UNIX was developed atAT&T in 1969, primarily for controlling the phone network and handlinggovernment communications. Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun Systems, other U.
S.companies and international companies now sell versions of UNIX that work beston their computers. UNIX at first worked over ARPnet, “named after its sponsorfrom the Pentagon.” (Sembawang 1997). The ARPA network grew throughout the1970s when computer networks from various organizations, both nationally andinternationally, began to link to ARPAnet, mostly for transferring engineeringand scientific research data. “With the advent of satellite transmissions, thefirst international network connection was made with the University of London(England) and the Royal Radar Establishment of Norway in 1973.
” (Sembawang1997) In 1979, the National Science Foundation established the Computer ScienceResearch Network (CSnet), which connected to ARPAnet through a gateway. Thissystem was used for e-mail and sharing technical information. (Sembawang 1997)In the early 1980's, the NSF created its own network, NSFnet, which addededucational links for schools and libraries. However, access to NSFnet waslimited to these government or government research organizations. (Sembawang1997) In 1992, NSF created Advanced Network and Services, Inc. (ANS), used tomanage the NSFnet, which opened up the Internet to everyone.
ANS also opened upthe potential for multimedia on the Internet through the World Wide Web. (Sembawang1997) Once the potential was there, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics(CERN) began a project to create the international internet. The CERN projectoperated on TCP/IP transfer protocols developed inside a Berkeley UNIX system.The project was started in the mid-1980s and completed in 1990. By 1993, theinternet had become a world-wide phenomenon. (Segal 1995) The Web allows usersto easily browse through hypertext and multimedia located on various computersand main frame systems around the world.
Prior to the CERN project, internetusers had to know UNIX programming language and move around in a cumbersome UNIXshell environment. (Segal 1995) The Web can best be described as a “globalinteractive, dynamic, cross-platform, distributed, graphical hypertextinformation system that operates over the internet. (Lemay 4) It operates onmany protocols, including FTP, Gopher, UseNet, WAIS databases, and TELNET. Mostof the text transferred over the internet is written in hypertext markuplanguage (HTML).
Graphics are transferred via standard generalized markuplanguage (SGML) through the UNIX operating system. No one owns the web, but aconsortium of U.S. and European individuals and organizations who support itsoperation, called the World Wide Web (W3) Consortium, established the protocolsand languages that will be supported on the web.
(Lemay 12). Popular browsersinclude Netscape, NCSA Mosaic, Lyna, MacWeb and WinWeb. A URL (home pages, BBSs,etc.) is a pointer to a posting on a Gopher, UseNet or FTP.
All of these arecurrently transferred over the UNIX operating system. “Today, the Internet isstill growing in terms of size and number of connections. It is estimated thatthere are now about 50 million Internet users worldwide, from as many as 100countries.” (Sembawang 1997).
UNIX has enjoyed a long, exclusive history, butMicrosoft is trying to establish Windows NT as the premier Web server andreplace UNIX’s dominant position as the internet’s operating system.Although the internet was originally developed around UNIX, some companies whodesign software for the internet are becoming “reluctant to embrace UNIX forthis purpose.” (Harvey (74(2)) A major reason for moving to NT instead of UNIXis that the UNIX operating system is expensive, whereas Microsoft Windows NT isaffordable to everyday users. (Harvey (74(2)). The other major advantage ofMicrosoft Windows NT is “significantly easier to install and maintain.”(Harvey (74(2)).
Also, UNIX requires additional utility software such as NetWarewhich is already built in to Microsoft Windows NT. (Harvey (74(2)). There are afew companies that have already switched to NT, such as Irvine, California’sPlatinum Software Corp. However, they will lose 175 customers in the process whoare tied into Sun Systems, which do not operate on Windows NT.
“A lot ofPlatinum UNIX customers are on Sun Microsystems, Inc. platforms,” MarkLefneski, a Toronto independent consultant, said. (King 4) The cost of replacingthat hardware is a strong consideration for most companies considering a switchto Microsoft Windows NT. Other users are not so quick to jump on the NTbandwagon. They believe that Microsoft's BackOffice, “which comprises the NToperating system and SQL Server database, will be less robust than theUNIX/Sybase combination.” (King 4).
UNIX designers have responded to thecompetitive threat by upgrading software and hardware to run “very largedatabases (VLDB).” (Nash 67) VLDBs can either store several hundred gigabytesor a few terabytes of data. UNIX retail companies are also reducing the price onhardware and software in combination with Informix Software, Inc. in Menlo Park,California, Oracle Corp. in Redwood Shores, California, and others.
The reducedprice “makes VLDB a viable option for UNIX shops.” (Nash 67) Kim Nash,writing for Computerworld, states that UNIX still needs to develop softwareinterfaces for planning and running even larger inventory systems. (Nash 67) TRWis working with a UNIX system that maps consumer credit histories better thancurrent systems. TRW’s system is a combined “UNIX-based Oracle andmainframe-resident IBM DB2 databases.” (Nash 67) TRW is now using VLDBs toprocess transactions, whereas “most UNIX-based VLDBs are used for datawarehousing.
...” (Nash 67) Nash writes: “..
.today's craze for datawarehousing the technology hula hoop of the 1990s that will result in UNIXusers' pushing the outer limits of database size, according to Richard Winter,an analyst at The Winter Corp., a consulting firm in Cambridge,Massachusetts.” (Nash 67) According to Winter, writes Nash, “grocery stores,clothing chains, discounters and other consumer-oriented companies to find outwhy people buy what and when.
... ‘That's really just a series of sophisticateddatabase queries on very large amounts of data,’ he said.” (Nash 67) Otherenhancements enjoyed by UNIX upgrades include quicker file transfer. Jay Milneof Network Computing writes that when NFS (Network Filing System) is installed,UNIX speed is increased by placing the burden of file transfer on the UNIXserver while program processing is still retained on individual workstations.
Milne says that NFS is integrated in the UNIX operating system and is“...available on a variety of platforms, including Novell NetWare, MicrosoftWindows NT, Digital VAX and IBM OS/2.
” (Milne 162). UNIX systems are widelyused by banking institutions and other public service industries as a means ofdoing business with their customers over the Internet. In one example, customersof Kansas City Power & Light Co. in Kansas City, Missouri can access theiraccounts to determine how much electricity they’ve used, and the company isexperimenting with “online bill payment.” (Wagner 59) Although the companysees security as a major concern, they find no reason to “stay off-line.
”The claim that internet security devices, such as encryption and firewalls are“relatively safe” security devices. Mitch Wagner writing for Computerworldwrites that “Marriott and Kansas City Power & Light shelter legacy systemsfrom the Internet by allowing access only at ‘mirror’ sites servers outsidethe firewall that contain duplicates of the data stored on internal sites.‘It's like having a lock on your door,’' said Ray Pasley, supervisor ofnetwork services at Kansas City Power & Light.” (Wagner 59) Wagner writes,“..
.the risk of being off-line outweighs the risk of being online, becausecustomers are increasingly demanding online access to data and will take theirbusiness to companies that have a dynamic online presence, Pasley said.”(Wagner 59) It is obvious that with public demand for internet services,combined with the fact that the internet is UNIX-based, there is no immediatethreat to the UNIX operating system. UNIX has served many different governmentand scientific entities in the past and continues to be enhanced by softwaredesigners in order to better serve customers by being responsive to today’smarketplace. UNIX serves, and will continue to serve the world through the Web.
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