Dwight, below is the transcript of the conference which took place
yesterday on Compuserve
Anne/Moderator | Welcome to the Intranet Forum <GO INTRANET>!
| Today's conference is in conjunction with
| TriTeal Corporation and we'll be
| discussing interactive forum on networking
| issues for the next millenium.
| Barry Harman, director of product marketing
| for TriTeal, will field questions
| and offer information about the following
| topics:
| How can a MIS shop provide a solution to
| their users, while keeping their
| support and maintenance issues to a minimum?
| Are there solutions available that provide
| ample connectivity, without
| requiring time-consuming system
| administrative assistance?
| What does a MIS shop need to consider when
| planning an effective
| UNIX-to-NT integration solution?
| and When to integrate advanced technology
| solutions such as network
| computers and object-oriented/Java technology
| just as examples
| If you have a question for Barry, please type
| a single ? and we'll take your
| questions in order!
Barry Hartman | let me start this out
| Let me get things going with an introduction
| to the needs and issues associated with
| integrating Windows
| and Unix environments.
|
| There are two significant dynamics occurring
| in the enterprise today: the rapid adoption
| of Windows NT for
| both client and server systems and the
| continued growth of Unix servers fueled by
| the need to make
| enterprise applications more readily
| accessible to all clients.
|
| The result is a clear need to deliver Unix
| applications and data to Windows clients, and
| Windows
| applications and data to Unix clients.
|
| Many issues need to be explored in developing
| and executing an integration plan for
| corporate-wide
| deployment of NT and UNIX systems.
| To seed areas of questions, I believe that
| the hurdles to interoperating include the
| following
|
| ú Access to applications (emulation?, port?,
| client/server?, dual desktops?, display push?)
| ú Data sharing
| ú Security
| ú Printing
| ú Email
| ú Systems Administration and Systems
| Management
Fletcher | ?
Anne/Moderator | Go ahead, Fletcher!
Fletcher | Bear with me please being new to this topic
| but this is quite a topic to grasp
| surely retraining staff would be a major issue
| in any implimetation..
| GA
Barry Hartman | Retraining is a major issue in any new
| implementation
| so look at several things:
| tools that can reduce the learning curve for
| both end-users and sys admin
| take end-users first
| if windows users are to interoperate with
| Unix, want to provide mechanism for them to
| access applications
| in a manner they already know
| an example:
| use explorer to locate files on a unix file
| store
| and double click to launch the app
| especially if the data file is for a unix app
| take the side of the administrator on this
| capability
| there are tools that can automatically locate
| unix apps and create icons on the windows
| desktop and
| automatically export the unix file system
| without requiring admin overhead
| does that make sense fletcher
Fletcher | Yes.
| It could be done
| seemlesly so the user wouldn't even be
| aware of most changes to the system
Barry Hartman | same holds true for the unix user getting
| access to windows apps and data
| exactly
Fletcher | Thank you...
DAN W BYRON | ? WHO'S IN CONTROL TODAY AND THE NEAR FUTURE:
| UNIX OR NT
Barry Hartman | TriTeal does have solutions for both
| directions today.
| let me get dan's question now
| question is who is in control today: UNIX or
| NT
| One immediate thing to consider is the
| operational environment at IT shops
| any solutions (plan, implementation,
| deployment and management of) requires
| bringing together
| two or more disparate groups in IS
| so both groups are in control of their
| respective IT infrastructure
| an example area is file sharing
| several things to consider:
| technology: NFS or SMB or the poor man's
| solution, FTP
| policies: authentication and authorization
| so again, consider tools that reduce the work
| but also plans between the departments
| does that bring up further questions???
DAN W BYRON | ?ARE THE TOOLS REALLY SEAMLESS AND IF SO IS
| THERE REALLY A PROBLEM?
Barry Hartman | I am not sure what you are asking with the
| problem?
Fletcher Cook | ?
Barry Hartman | What is seamless is the operating environment
| for the user. THe tools
DAN W BYRON | IF THE TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE TO MAKE A NT USER
| USE A UNIX APP AND MAKE IT APPEAR
| AS A NT APP., THEN THE TWO SYSTEM WORKING
| TOGETHER IS NOT A PROBLEM. AM I
| MAKING EVEN A LITTLE SENSE?
Barry Hartman | help reduce the complexity for the admin, but
| they do not do everything yet
| yes. seamless for the end user but still work
| for the administrator
| one of the things TriTeal has focused on is
| reducing the work for the admin by automating
| a lot of the effort
| so the admin can focus more on policy etc
| We have begun delivering this capability from
| a central point and will be providing more in
| the future
| Any company that is migrating from one
| environment to another, whether all users or
| just a subset, has the
| need to make the transition easy for the
| users and manageable by MIS
DAN W BYRON | THANKS FOR YOUR TIME. I NEED TO RELEARN TO
| SPELL UNIX AND I'LL RETURN IN THE
| NEAR FUTURE
Barry Hartman | thanks for your time
Fletcher Cook | Simply, is there a need for integration of
| this type for the majority of
| companies/businesses..? Are there enough
| multiple location networks with a ne
| ed..?
Barry Hartman | On the need for integrating these environments
| we have many customers with large deployments
| of both UNIX and NT workstations
| They are all currently planning or
| implementing projects to bring these two
| environments together
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | ?
Barry Hartman | goes from just sharing data via email or file
| systems to the other end of all users,
| regardless of desktop,
| accessing data and APPs from both environments
| so the organization choses the desktop that
| best fits the end-user and still have access
| to all applications
| ???
J.P. | ?
Fletcher Cook | I see the sense in that, thank you... ga
Barry Hartman | Should we take #sig's ???
J.P. | ?I'm very new to this, but that's where we're
| headed. Is there any good intro-reading that
| you
| suggest?
Barry Hartman | on sources for NT/UNIX material a good site,
| especially on the specific technical
| questions is
| www. unixnt.com
| they have a forum for questions and other
| material
| hey and TriTeal has information on our
| solution too at www.triteal.com
Daniel Pinoncely | ?
Anne/Moderator | There's also a UNIX Forum here on CompuServe,
| GO UNIXFOR
#sig | ? are you able to take propriatry software
| and
| intergrate it to an NT server.
Barry Hartman | the proprietary question
| sig, define the software you are interested in
#sig | we run an estimating system on unix and we
| are
| converting to nt and want to transfere the
| data to nt
Barry Hartman | there are many levels to work through on this
| first level is running that unix app directly
| from NT
| second level is using products like OpenNT
| that provide OS level support for POSIX on NT
| you only compile and then run
#sig | At present we will have to run dual systems
| because
| of being unable to transfere information
Barry Hartman | next level is running though UNIX shell on
| Win32 ala NutCracker
| sounds like you are going directly to rewrite
| the application
#sig | Yes
Barry Hartman | can you use file sharing between the two
| versions?
JoOwl | ?
Barry Hartman | flat files or database?
#sig | In the past we used pro com plus to access
| the
| program
Barry Hartman | We really need to have closer interaction on
| this one. Please send an email to me at
| "hartman@triteal.com"
| I will certainly respond. we can come back
| to compuserve and provide to the forum
#sig | I'm not real literate with what is being
| done, but
| looking for information to pass on to
| programers
Barry Hartman | other ???
Anne/Moderator | Ok Barry
| go ahead, Tom!
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | I think we've had our question answered,
| basically this is a client server type
| thing. One that runs on the desktop and one
| that runs runs on the server.
Barry Hartman | client/server applications already match well
| to the mixed environment
| there may be other areas to consider
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | Such as?
Barry Hartman | such as file sharing or access, printing in
| the mixed environment
| beyond the client/server application, you may
| want to also access other apps that are not
| c/s
| or you may just choose to save windows data
| on more persistent Unix servers
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | Any plans to support the DRS/NX from Fujitsu?
Barry Hartman | we are big believers for the growth in what
| many call network computing
| We are not familiar with that
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | I agree.
| Ok
Barry Hartman | However, the integration we provide often
| takes more than just tools
| that is where consulting comes in
| plan the solution
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | How does you product compare to PC-Connect
| from SCO?
Barry Hartman | augment with customization
| pilot and deploy
Michelle Balconi | ?
Barry Hartman | Let me come back to PC connect in a moment
| <GA>
Anne/Moderator | Go ahead, Daniel!
Daniel Pinoncely | Which tools you think are better to built an
| Intranet Microsoft tools or Lotus?
Barry Hartman | it does really depend on what you are trying
| to do
Daniel Pinoncely | What do you think about Visual Interdev?
Barry Hartman | if you have a microsoft only environment than
| Micrrosoft is okay
| otherwise you certainly want to consider
| other than microsoft
Daniel Pinoncely | What about an hibrid Intranet?
Barry Hartman | No experience here at TriTeal on Visual
| Interdev
| do you mean Unix servers and NT servers?
Daniel Pinoncely | Lotus for the workflow and Microsoft for the
| file transferences?
Barry Hartman | We endorse the idea of mixed environments.
| It is exactly what we are about.
Daniel Pinoncely | Thank you.
Barry Hartman | Pick the app or the workstation or the server
| that best fits the needs and work to integrate
| <GA>
Anne/Moderator | Go ahead, JoOwl!
JoOwl | You may have already answered this (I came in
| late); can you tell us more about NutCracker?
J.P. | ?
Barry Hartman | NutCracker provides a tool for assisting in
| the migration of UNIX apps to NT
JoOwl | Who makes/sells it?
Barry Hartman | You should consider the idea of taking steps
| to access the app from windows while migrating
| Data Focus sells it
JoOwl | Thanks
Barry Hartman | TriTeal's WinTED product is a good transition
| tool to run the UNIX app from Windows 95/nt
| could help the plug
| could NOT help the plug
| let's go on the PC Connect
Anne/Moderator | Hey, that's part of why you're here :)
Barry Hartman | PC Connect is a terminal emulator
| allows you to run UNIX apps inside a terminal
| window on windows
| What we provide with WinTED is an environment
| that brings the app into the windows
| environment in a more
| natural manner
| you get each app in a seperate window that is
| wrap with MS windowing manager
| you get the color scheme designed for the app
| fully maintained
| you get an icon for each app
| <GA>
Anne/Moderator | Go ahead, Michelle!
Michelle Balconi | Are there standard "methodologies" that help
| facilitate the integration of NT,
| especially if trying to leverage legacy
| hardware and applications?
Barry Hartman | Pilot the work:
| ú Plan for Help desk training and expert
| knowledge
| ú IT training
| ú Operational considerations two or
| disparate IT operations, how are they going
| to work together
| ú Software that can ease the burden.
| Integrate the two environments, e.g., make
| the Unix file server look like
| windows or automatically setup Icons and
| lauch mechanism for unix applications on
| every users desktop
| ú Management tools and disciplines
| ú Does it scale?
| ú Rollout deployment -- need services to
| deal with tools that dont manage every issue
| <GA>
Anne/Moderator | go ahead, JP!
J.P. | Have you heard of the program IQ?
Barry Hartman | Nope. Tell me more
J.P. | Supposed to interrelate our database with PC
| apps..
| unix database, that is..
Barry Hartman | Sounds like a SQL client/server middleware
J.P. | yeah, just looking for info..
| But very interested in this conference; thank
| you.
Barry Hartman | do you have specific integration needs?
| Most of our software tools come out of
| integration opportunities
J.P. | just trying to bring this place into the 20th
| century...
Barry Hartman | Are you in a migration to NT desktop?
J.P. | Just going to network off the unix in the
| next months
Barry Hartman | <ga>
J.P. | yes we are.
Barry Hartman | Are you looking for running Windows apps and
| still access UNIX apps?
J.P. | yes, we will be doing that..
Barry Hartman | TriTeal's solution allows you to move some
| users to windows with seamless access to unix
| those users still on Unix can also run native
| windows applications seamlessly from UNix
| Furthermore, we focus on making it easy for
| the administrator to provide this integration
| and focus on policies etc
| remember the ease for users usually is at the
| expense of administrators efforts
| it is a trade off
J.P. | We have people on pc with emulation to the
| unix apps, and they are currently bring up
| data
| from the unix, and manually transferring to
| win apps
Barry Hartman | TriTeal's products provide for a lot of
| automation to that the integration is
| immediately available
| how are you transfering? cut and paste?
J.P. | Not even. they just write and re-enter!!!
| haha..
| There is currently no applictions unix-wise
| on this system to suuport what they are
| doing...
Barry Hartman | you can do cut and paste between UNIX and
| windows apps of either desktop with our
| solution
| also
J.P. | but this changes with the new package we add
| in the next month
| and they still will want to intermingle.
Barry Hartman | if the file can be read by either app you can
| use the file sharing we provide between the
| environments to
| access with the application
| <GA>
J.P. | interested
| thank you
Anne/Moderator | Barry, why don't you tell us a little more
| about TriTeal and how we can
| reach you
Barry Hartman | Unifying enterprise computing to TriTeal
| means providing every user access to
| information from a single
| consistent desktop regardless of the desktop
| device. TriTeal products enable our
| customers to blend
| disparate systems into a single manageable
| network. Our products provide an environment
| in which to
| deploy cross-platform software.
| We provide products on UNIX and WIndows
| desktops as well as server-based products
| that simplify the
| environment for the end-user
| and reduce the management complexity for the
| administrator.
| We also have professional services that will
| help you successfully phase your
| implementation.
| www.triteal.com
| 1-800-TRI-TEAL
| I can also be reached at:
| "hartman@triteal.com"
| <ga>
Anne/Moderator | Barry, thank you so much for your time this
| evening! Do you have any last
| thoughts or tips for us?
Barry Hartman | beyond a 20ounce Venti...
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | Sounds good to me <g>
Barry Hartman | We expect that the business computing
| environment will continue to have mixed
| operating systems
Anne/Moderator | I see that you have evaluation copies of TED
| & WinTED available at
| triteal.com so that's
| good to know :)
Barry Hartman | and the need to provide access to all
| applications and data on those disparate
| systems from any desktop of
| choice will continue to be a problem ....
| even growing more and more
| you can get a download of the Windows desktop
| product at www.triteal.com
| thanks
| <ga>
Anne/Moderator | Thank *you* Barry! This concludes today's
| conference.
Tom Arthurs[Diabete | Thank you, Barry.
Michelle Balconi | Thanks everyone for your participation and
| remember to direct further
| commments and questions to www.triteal.com
Barry Hartman | thanks all
| adios
Anne/Moderator | bye! |
