The Windows Workhorse: NT 4.0
CMP Media Inc. - Saturday, November 20, 1999
Nov. 19, 1999 (InternetWeek - CMP via COMTEX) -- Since I've been banging on
Linux a lot lately, I figured it was time to pay a visit to an old and recently quiet friend:
Windows NT 4.0. A lot of folks have stopped paying attention to the old geezer
since these newfangled operating systems like Linux and Windows 2000 have
started taking over. But if you're thinking of jumping ship, you should take a step
back and reconsider that position.
Let's face it: Both these operating systems have promise, but the real workhorse in
many networks is still good ole' Windows NT 4.0. And it's going to stay that way for
a bit longer. (Actually, the real workhorse is probably NetWare, but we won't go there
right now.)
So what's new with NT 4.0? Not much aside from yet another service pack. Service
Pack 6 (SP6) was released just a few weeks ago; you can download it from
www.microsoft.com/ntserver/.SP6 is a cumulative version of all the previous NT
service packs, but it carries around 125 new bug fixes as well as three more Y2K
patches. Even so, Microsoft says it doesn't require users to install SP6 in order to
be Y2K-compliant. Does that mean you're safe without it? Honestly, there's no way
to tell.
Running SP6 in our test network showed little in the way of tangible improvements,
either in stability or performance. A key problem that has been reported, however, is
that after a basic install, SP6 modifies the TCP/IP stack to force anyone using an
application that requires an assigned port to have administrative rights. Microsoft has
yet to respond to these reports.
The only other bug of note was one involving certain Compaq ProLiant servers
running Compaq's Network Teaming technology; these poor machines began to drop
into Blue Screen of Death mode after SP6 was installed. Compaq has released a fix
for this problem, which is available at its Web site.
To be honest, I'm not sure why Microsoft issued SP6 at all. SP5 has installed
flawlessly on 17 different occasions, and I have yet to encounter any significant
problems related to it. The thing just ran-which is a nice change when you're talking
about NT. SP6 hasn't given me many problems either (though I'm not presently
running anything that requires specific IP ports, like Lotus Notes). But then again, it
hasn't really added much in the way of benefit, either.
My advice is to check out SP6's contents in detail at the Microsoft Web site, and
then install it only if it directly addresses a problem you're having. Otherwise, SP5 is
just fine.
Frankly, I'm having so many headaches getting ready for Y2K that I only want to deal
with a service pack if I absolutely must.
Oliver Rist is contributing technical editor at InternetWeek and technical director at
Grand Central Network Labs. He can be reached at orist@cmp.com.
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