UNIX Should Not Be Ruled Out In Mission Critical Applications
by Michael G. Moran, RDI Government Programs Manager

There may be a bandwagon mentality in the current shift to Microsoft Windows-NT.  However, a review of the strengths and advantages of a UNIX operating system shows why the military/intelligence community continues to rely on UNIX.

Many computer-intensive applications have been traditionally performed on UNIX systems.  Military/intelligence environments often involve tactical applications that typically embody aspects of high availability, real-time computing, where near-continuous operation over long periods of time and deterministic response to outside events are basic requirements.

UNIX has a 25-year tradition and remains strong in the market.  Its supporters say it has prevailed because of the stability of its architecture and because it is compatible with a wealth of large, traditional information applications in both the commercial and military worlds, such as databases, CAD/CAM, electronic data interchange, configuration management, e-mail, and the Internet.

Tactical and Non-Tactical
Because of the widespread use of Microsoft software in home and business applications, many customers assume that NT is easier to use. Some encounter difficulty in running mission-critical, UNIX-based command and control applications on an NT platform.  This may be particularly true in the military and intelligence environments.  Tactical and non-tactical applications frequently have very different requirements and design considerations.

With the move to COE (common operating environment), the underlying operating system will become more transparent to the user, homogenizing touch and feel for all users, making applications easier to learn and use. Standards will extend across platforms and across operating systems.  As a result, any perceived NT advantage may diminish.

Development and Deployment
Many system and application developers support this notion.  Jim Pietrocini, director of defense programs, TriTeal Corporation, expects that the federal information technology and C4I market will provide opportunities for solutions that offer interoperability between UNIX and NT based systems.  TriTeal's Enterprise Desktop (TED) was selected as part of Defense Information Systems Agency defense information infrastructure COE in order to provide a common user interface between various UNIX systems, according to Pietrocini.  TriTeal also delivers NTED, a product that allows Windows NT based applications to run from a UNIX workstation.  Conversely, TriTeal's WinTED allows NT integration of X based applications which can be launched from a Windows NT desktop.  The Navy, for example, has several thousand existing UNIX based workstations in the fleet.

Other prominent industry players have advocated tools that work well in this environment such as Java.  "Besides solving the age-old issue of interoperability, Java has reduced cost of ownership, and has shortened development and deployment cycles," said John Leahy, group manager of government affairs at Sun Microsystems Federal Inc.  "Java computing is the key to transparent, universal connectivity and exchange and Java adoption is accelerated rapidly."

As prices for different hardware platforms have decreased, variance in cost of ownership is more visible in development.  A tactical application originally written in UNIX, for instance, may cost more to port to NT than the long term savings it may or may not provide.  As for new applications, the industryÕs migration to Java should lower the cost of programming for generating these applications and maintaining
them.

Many customers feel UNIX is better suitedÑand less costly to maintainÑover a network.  Multiple users can log into the UNIX server and run completely centralized applications in the manner of networked military/intelligence operations.  The fundamental orientation of NT is the sharing of files and printers across a network.  Although multi-tasking, NT is a single-user operating systemÑa fact that Microsoft tends to discount but some see as NTÕs fundamental shortcoming for enterprise-level applications.

Hackers and Pranksters
Many in the industry have questioned the level of security NT can offer.  "In our rush to use the Internet as a central repository for the intelligence community, we must not overlook the distinct possibility of misinformation and/or viruses being placed on official web sites," said Steven Brown of the international systems division of SAIC, Sari Diego, and a member of the Naval Intelligence Professionals. ÒWe read about corporate or government sites being breached.  Both the Defense Department and the intelligence community have been hit.  Currently, most of the hackers are more pranksters than Ôcyber-terrorists,Õ but as the Internet becomes a greater part of the intelligence community this scenario becomes more of a reality and concern.Ó 

Some computer industry officials believe programming UNIX code-based viruses is more difficult than doing so for an NT system.  Additionally, the security "module" of UNIX platforms is considered by many experts to be more mature and robust than that of an NT system.

Security breaches have been well documented by third parties.  In a March 31, 1997, article posted on EE Times Online, a security flaw uncovered in NT enabled a user dialing in from a remote location to unscramble encrypted information Ñ including a corporate networkÕs entire registry of user passwords Ñ and display it as plain text.  According to Yobie Benjamin, senior consulting architect for emerging technologies at Cambridge Technology Partners, "If somebody wanted to crack an NT server today, for malicious purposes or financial gain, the pieces of the puzzle are now all there."

The March 3, 1997, issue of Computergram reports that the domain-based security model of NT will most likely be replaced due to its non-scalability, poor documentation and design, and inability to operate over the Internet.  It should be noted, though, that these flaws are being corrected in the NT 5.0 series.

Dual or Multiple
Intel processors have come close to the speed of RISC processors.  A 32 bit CPU versus a 64 bit CPU at the same clock rate offers major performance differences.  Networking capabilities, numbers of servers, addressable memory, and floating point performance also need to be assessed. These considerations are necessary for CPU-intensive applications, such as highend graphics and animation. Applications like dual or multiple displays are only just becoming available on NT platforms.

In the Intel-based systems marketplace, portable systems have become, in some cases, a substitute for desktops.  This could not have been said a year ago about UNIX based systems, but improvements in processors, liquid crystal display technology and expansion capabilities have enabled a similar transformation to take place.

Non-tactical applications typically can tolerate the occasional glitch, or a system lock-up. Tactical/mission critical applications do not provide this luxury. Developers and users of mission critical applications will continue to demand a highly reliable, stable, scaleable, secure, mainframe-class server system.