Evaluating a SPARC-Based Portable Workstation in

The Debate Between UNIX vs. NT

1.   Abstract

Justifying a SPARC-based portable workstation may appear to be a difficult proposition, based on the perception that MicrosoftÕs Windows NT is more cost-effective than UNIX. An executive level examination of the functional realities, however, leads to a different conclusion. 

This white paper reviews some of the major issues surrounding the choice for  portable computing within a mix of platforms. An examination will be made of the key strengths and weaknesses of UNIX and NT, and of UNIX-based and Intel-based portable systems. Some compute-intensive applications will be reviewed and portable solutions suggested.

2.  Introduction

Once considered a luxury, portable computing  has often become mission-critical. In  the business world, an increase in employee mobility, decentralized organizations and demand for quicker response times are catalysts that have driven demand for portable computing. In military/intelligence environments, information gathering and analysis and deployable computing with real time information updates are critical. 

In determining the choice for portable computing within a mix of platforms, function should be the primary selection criteria. Some mobile users simply need general office productivity tools. An Intel-based laptop running the organization's choice of Microsoft Windows 3.x or Windows 95 is an obvious fit with the functional requirements of the user who runs the same applications on his or her desktop system. Regardless, MicrosoftÕs extensive marketing, coupled with low cost portable systems, make a Windows portable solution enticing. 

However, for many compute-intensive applications, an Intel-based system may not be the best solution.  These applications include software development, remote access, field missions, environmental research, software demonstration, network administration, and field technical support. 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.  These compute-intensive applications are traditionally performed on UNIX-based systems. A comparison between UNIX and NT shows why. 

3.  An Examination of UNIX vs. NT

UNIX: The Maturity of 25 Years of Experience
UNIX offers a 25-year heritage and remains a strong growth market. It has prevailed because of the maturity and stability of its architecture. It offers strengths such as reliability, scalability and high throughput. UNIX is compatible with a wealth of large, traditional IS applications such as databases, CAD/CAM, electronic data interchange (EDI), configuration management, email and the internet. Throughout its evolution, UNIX has garnered trust and confidence because it is a robust, reliable, proven system. 

Multi-User O/S vs. Single-User O/S
UNIX is truly a multi-tasking and multi-user operating system, providing flexibility at the server, desktop, and portable levels. Multiple users can log into the UNIX server and run completely centralized applications in the manner of traditional IT operations. The application can also be partitioned between the user's desktop or portable system and the central server, with user ID adding another layer of control for the application developer. 

The fundamental orientation of NT is the sharing of files and printers across a network. File and printer sharing is the computing model originated within the desktop PC environment. Although multi-tasking, NT is a single-user operating system; a fact that Microsoft tends to discount but others see as NT's fundamental shortcoming for enterprise-level applications. 

Scalability in UNIX and NT
UNIX systems demonstrate scalability up to 64 CPUs in Symmetric Multi-Processor (SMP) configurations and into the thousands of CPUs for parallel processing. This scalability allows UNIX systems to handle multiple users running applications of greater complexity, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of other costly elements in the system such as memory and hard disk storage. 

However, NT currently does not scale well beyond four CPU systems. Of course, this can significantly reduce the cost-effectiveness of the additional CPUs. Although it is likely that NT will achieve similar levels of scalability in the future, UNIX development is significantly ahead on the SMP learning curve. SMP UNIX systems, after all, have been available since the mid 1980s, giving UNIX developers what amounts to a 10-year head start on NT. 

Open vs. Closed Standards
UNIX standards have evolved in an open and public arena in which the entire industry Ñ vendors, international standards organizations, and the user community Ñ  has been able to contribute. This openness has allowed a high degree of interoperability between the various implementations for different CPUs. 

Microsoft, however, has chosen the admittedly more efficient approach of developing its standards behind closed doors, often ignoring international standards that contribute to interoperability. This proprietary system results in application inefficiencies and driver incompatibility, with most integration and interoperability issues to be solved by other operating systems that must interface with NT. 

Security Issues
As a result of the openness in UNIX, a full spectrum of protection against potential security violations is available from hardware manufacturers and third party vendors. For example, SunÕs Solaris 2.5 provides C2 functionality, a high security classification enabling users to work with information at various security levels while enforcing access controls. Solaris is in compliance with the DoD Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (Orange Book). SunÕs Trusted Solaris 2.5 offers an even higher level of security for enhanced systems. In addition, Sun offers levels of security ranging from layered security software for firewalls to ÒstealthÓ black box solutions. 

Although Microsoft has tried to position NT as a more secure network server than alternatives available in UNIX, major security flaws have recently been uncovered in NT as well as its Internet Explorer Web browser. For example, it has been reported that although NT is C2 compliant, it is nearly impossible to maintain this level of security if the system is on a network. 

In a March 31, 1997 article posted on EE Times Online, a security flaw uncovered in NT could enable a user dialing in from a remote location to unscramble encrypted information Ñ including a corporate networkÕs entire registry of user pass-words Ñ and display it as plain text. According to Yobie Benjamin, Senior Consulting Architect for Emerging Technologies at Cambridge Technology Partners, ÒIf somebody wanted to crack an NT server today, for malicious purposes or financial gain, the pieces of the puzzle are now all there.Ó 

The March 3, 1997 issue of Computergram reports that the domains-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. The security flaws are not scheduled to be fixed until NT 5.0 ships.

4.   UNIX for Compute-Intensive Applications 

The above comparison between UNIX and NT shows why NT is gaining momentum as a low-end enterprise server, while UNIX servers are increasingly positioned as high performance applications and database servers. International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that mixed UNIX/NT environments are likely to prevail in large enterprises for the remainder of the decade. 

In the February 17, 1997 issue of Computerworld,  Maryfran Johnson, the executive editor, comments, Ò...in story after story, survey after survey, enterprise users say that when they need a highly reliable, stable, scalable, mainframe-class server system, they overwhelmingly choose UNIX.Ó

There are continuing requirements for SPARC-based software development and a continuing need to support such efforts in the field with mobile SPARC-based systems. And, while few ISVs are ignoring the potential of the NT market, most are also continuing to support and develop UNIX-based software. This leads us to the question: what choices are available in portable systems?

5.   Portable Systems

Workstation-Class Portables
Workstation users have traditionally been confined to cumbersome desktop or tower configurations. Packing the very large disk and memory capacity required for workstation performance into a notebook is a technically challenging and complex task. Recently the gap in performance between UNIX workstations and portables has been eliminated due to improvements in processors, LCD technology and expansion capabilities.

RDI Computer Corporation will soon be introducing a new mid to high-end portable UNIX workstation, a generation above the entry-level model capacity of most portable UNIX workstations. RDIÕs new UltraBookª provides identical compute performance to SunÕs mid-range Ultra1 desktop workstation. With a 200 mHz UltraSPARC 1¨ processor, it delivers performance ratings of 7.44-SPECint95 and 10.4-SPECfp95. 

The UltraBook also features a 14.1Ó, 1024x768 active matrix LCD. Prior to recent improvements in LCD technology, portable users had to contend with significantly smaller displays than on the desktop. Now nearly the same viewing area as a 16Ó CRT monitor is available on RDIÕs UltraBook.

Limited memory and hard disk space presented a third trade-off for the portable user. The UltraBook offers up to 9.0 GB removable internal disk capacity in 3 GB disk drive configurations. This technological breakthrough in performance is making RDIÕs portable UNIX workstations a viable alternative to the desktop for many users. This translates into solid financial reasons for their use, since dual systems are no longer necessary.

Intel-Based Systems
Most PC-based high performance notebooks now in use feature 133 MHz to 166 MHz Pentium¨ processors, 8 to 16 MB of RAM, multimedia capabilities and 11.3- to 12.1-inch SVGA active matrix color displays. The most frequently used applications are word processing, spreadsheets, project management and help-desk. 

Laptop manufacturers are planning to integrate NT into the portable arena. However, like UNIX, NT was originally designed for the desktop. Installing Windows NT onto a portable involves shortcomings Ñ well reported in the trade press Ñ including high power demands, large storage requirements and a lack of compatibility with PC cards. Microsoft is currently working on version 5.0 of Windows NT and it is likely that many of the portable issues will be addressed. Since few NT portables are available, Intel-based portables primarily use Windows 95 or Windows 3.x.

System Performance
How does the performance of an Intel-based portable measure up to a SPARC-based portable system? Pentium-based laptops in use typically have 133 MHz or 166 MHz chips, compared to the 200 MHz processor soom to be available in RDIÕs UltraBook system. Most Intel-based laptops are also limited in their expansion capability, with a maximum 40MB RAM capacity and a single hard disk. 

Those limitations may pose additional performance constraints for the developer when compared to the 9.0 GB, three disk-drive RDI UltraBook.The disk drive capacity and expansion alternatives for SPARC-based portables  are not available for Intel-based laptops.

6.   Applications for a Portable System

Software Development on UNIX
Of the 15,000 UNIX software applications, 12,000 of them have been developed on SunÕs Solaris operating system. Solaris is considered an ideal platform for mission-critical technical and high-end commercial applications, more powerful and developed as a server and desktop operating system than Windows NT. 

For software developers who require portability, cross-platform development can be an option but it has weaknesses. If the target host is a large Sun Microsystems server using SPARC or UltraSPARC CPUs, for example, it is possible to perform development tasks on an Intel-based portable running SunÕs Solaris X86 operating system. Sun has gone to considerable lengths to assure a high level of source code portability between the Intel and SPARC versions of its compilers. As a result, the SPARC and x86 versions of the Solaris C and C++ development environments are virtually identical. However, the x86 versions of other compilers, such as FORTRAN, lag. 

Although most of the differences in the chip architectures are dealt with via compiler switches, some porting effort may be needed for SPARC optimizations of code developed on an x86 machine. As a result, the x86 developerÕs primary environment will likely need to include a SPARC workstation for code optimization, recompilation and validation purposes. 

It is equally important for the operating system to be unmodified. Portable workstations with unmodified Solaris or SunOS provide 100 percent compatibility with SunOS and Solaris applications,  eliminating time-consuming alterations, while  assuring quality and increasing performance. 
		
Software Demonstration
If the primary function of the portable is to demonstrate SPARC-based software, a Pentium-based laptop is not a viable option. Even in cases where an NT version of the software being demonstrated is available, the multi-user features and the X Window/Motif user interface of UNIX software cannot be demonstrated on a single-user NT system. 

Additionally, performance is a critical factor when demonstrating a product to a potential customer. A SPARC portable allows demonstration of the actual software a customer is considering, including its multi-user features. Thus the field sales representative is not concerned about the customer impact of a potentially slower simulation on a different platform that needs to sidestep the multi-user issue. Oki Business Digital uses RDI PowerLite portable SPARC-based workstations to demonstrate their web site software in the office and at customer sites. The company believes that the compatiblity provided by the PowerLite guarantees that the web site will operate at the customer's facility exactly as it does at their office.

Networking
For networking applications, UNIX offers twenty-five years of enhancement and refinement, resulting in systems that are reliable, secure and flexible. Oki Business Digital also uses RDI portables to design, develop and maintain their web sites. The high-end disk and memory capacity of the PowerLite can store and demonstrate an entire web site, eliminating the need to access web sites through the Internet. The PowerLite is used as a primary desktop, enabling them to store all work in progress. It also ensures them the flexibility and mobility to work where and when needed.

Multi-Site System Administration
Performance is a key consideration for off-site system administration. Cascade Communications Corporation uses PowerLites for troubleshooting customer networks. Cascade provides enterprise network managers and public service providers with wide area network (WAN) switching products for frame relay, SMDS and ATM services. 

Prior to using the PowerLite, it was very difficult for Cascade software engineers to travel to a customer's facility and configure their network. The portable PC's on the market did not have the disk capacity they needed and transporting a large workstation with a monitor was very expensive and inconvenient. 

According to Brian Callahan, Cascade's UNIX system administrator, they reviewed several portable workstations, but the PowerLite was the only one that provides unmodified Solaris.  Because Solaris has standard installation patches that are compatible with their software tools, Cascade can easily install and compile their software onto the PowerLite. This software compatibility significantly reduces CascadeÕs software administration time.

7.   The  SPARC-Based Portable Solution
The foregoing explorations lead to several conclusions, all of which support a decision for a SPARC-based portable. Compute-intensive applications rely on the maturity, stability, scalability and high throughput of UNIX. Now that true desktop performance is available in SPARC-based portables, they can be used as either a principal platform or a mobile system. The use of a SPARC-based portable yields greater productivity, fewer lost opportunities, improved competitiveness and a better impression on the customer. Thus, the userÕs functional requirements translate directly and indirectly into a positive financial impact.