NT, UNIX Come Together
by: hlpinout
47593 of 47598
Monday, December 28, 1998
NT, Unix: Come Together
By Deborah Gage, Sm@rt Reseller
What's The Deal? Unix/NT interoperability is
already a hot business for resellers and will continue
to spark strong interest in 1999. Windows 2000 may
be late, but Microsoft Corp. is selling plenty of
Windows NT Server licenses (more than 1 million
units per year, according to International Data
Corp.). Meanwhile, the big Unix vendors realize
Microsoft will not achieve total domination on the
server and are investing in their own operating
systems. Hewlett-Packard Co., for one, is training
resellers to integrate HP-UX with NT.
On the desktop, Unix is still rarely found on PCs, but
Linux creator Linus Torvalds has announced his
intention to make Linux a competitor to Windows 9x.
Why It's Important Microsoft has partnerships with
both HP and Compaq Computer Corp. (via its Digital
Equipment Corp. acquisition) on Unix. The software
giant also is striking partnerships with resellers,
distributors and systems integrators, although many
claim Microsoft's real agenda is replacing Unix with
NT--not coexisting. Whatever Microsoft's intentions,
however, there is plenty of opportunity to sell services, port applications and so
on, because mixed environments are likely to continue indefinitely.
Adoption Stage Middle
The Bottom Line By bringing together Unix and NT servers, your customers can
enjoy the best of both worlds. While Unix's rock-solid stability makes it the
preferred choice for high-end database servers, Web servers and data
warehousing projects, Windows NT has emerged as the de facto standard for
running departmental e-mail applications, localized databases, as well as file and
print services.
Players
Compaq/Digital www.digital.com/integrate/
Hewlett-Packard Co. www.hp.com
IBM Corp. www.ibm.com
Sun Microsystems Inc. www.sun.com/servers/enterprise/sw/cascade/ |
