Transcript Windows NT vs. Unix

Windows NT vs. Unix
COSC513 Operating Systems
6/3/2000
Tao Peng
Unix
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Unix was originated at Bell Labs in 1969
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OS of choice for science, engineering, research, and higher
education
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A family of operating systems which includes AIX, BSDI,
Digital Unix, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, Linux, NetBSD,
OpenBSD, Pyramid, SCO, Solaris, SunOS, etc.
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Is a mature, technically superior group of operating systems
with a proven record for performance, reliability, and
security in a server environment.
Unix
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The de facto choice for delivering services that are not file
and print-related
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Its strong preemptive multitasking and protected memory
support make it well-architectured as an application server
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Standard for building large-scale application servers such
as Internet services, enterprise messaging systems,
database management systems and transaction processing
systems for a simple reason: Unix solutions are capable of
handling the load.
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Success was confined to expensive high-margin hardware
Windows NT
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Introduced in 1997, proprietary product.
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Actually two products: Microsoft NT Workstation and
Microsoft NT Server.
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The Workstation: is designed for users, especially business
users, who need faster performance and a system a little
more fail-safe than Windows 95 and Windows 98).
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The NT Server: The Server is designed for business
machines that need to provide services for LAN-attached
computers. Is probably the second most installed network
server operating system.
MS claimed NT benefits
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NOS of all trades--a single OS to support all client/server
solutions—from file and print services to network
infrastructure and management to application services.
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GUI-style management--Its slew of GUI-based
management applications simplify server administration—
reducing support costs.
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Runs all the popular software in a familiar environment
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MS promotion: with ever-reducing prices of PC processing
power, NT will eventually be able to match the performance
of high-priced Unix RISC workstations and servers at a
much lower price
NT will not take over Unix
NT and Unix each has its specific
strengths and weaknesses.
Technically, Unix is superior to NT.
Unix Strengths
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Scalability:used on various hardware platforms, from
workstations to supercomputers
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Management: managed at a very low level through a
character-based interface, making it easy to access all
administrative functions remotely. X windows is networkenabled, letting any GUI utilities be accessed remotely.
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Large Scale directory services: Lacks a standard directory
service, but products like NIS and DCE directory services
integrate closely with the OS and offer Unix-specific
schemas by default
Unix Weaknesses
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Not standardized: incompatible versions of Unix-applications written to one environment must be ported to
another. Most portable Unix applications are not
multithreaded
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Cost--capital: scalable, high performance RISC solutions
are very expensive compared to PC hardware
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cost--management: complex OS requires experienced
administrators. Most versions have simplified installation
processes and each vendor offers different management
utilities
NT strengths
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Low cost: primary market for NT is the PC platform
Standardization: controlled by a single vendor--all versions
of NT share the same APIs and system calls; most NT
applications are multithreaded
Multiplatform support: available on multiple platforms(x86
and Alpha); standardized APIs mean that porting to
another NT version means a simple recompilation
Strong ISV support: software vendors strongly support NT,
resulting in a large software library
Cost--administration: driven by relatively easy-to-use GUI
utilities
Client/Sever: offers both a NOS and application server
solution out of box
NT weaknesses
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Scalability: tied to PC platform. Available for Digital Alpha,
but most applications focus on the dominant PC market.
Scalability is largely driven by the Intel architecture
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Scripting: lack of solid scripting utilities and characterbased applications
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Remote management: managing an NT server remotely
requires specialized GUI utilities. Severely restricted
functionality, if limited to a character-based interface
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Directory services: Limited to NT domains, which don’t tie
into non-NT networking
Functionality(1)
Multi-user aspect
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Once a user is logged on to the NT network, all he/she can
do is access files and printers, the NT user can only run
special applications that have been written in two pieces,
i.e. client/server applications
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When a user logs into a Unix server, he/she can then run
any applications (provided being authorized), thus taking
the processing load off his/her workstation. This also
includes graphics-based applications since X-server
software is standard issue on all Unix operating systems.
Functionality(2)
Email Programs
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With NT, users have to buy a separate software package in
order to set up an email server
Unix comes with built in Sendmail program
Scripting Languages
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Unix is equipped with scripting languages (Bourne Shell,
Korn Shell, C Shell, etc) and a cron facility for scheduling
jobs to run at fixed intervals
NT only has limited cmd.exe scripting environment
System Management(1)
Administration of the Sever
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Users can run any Unix application and even manage the
Unix server from any of the following clients:
Any of a variety of character mode terminals, most typically ANSI
or VT100 series
Any PC with an operating system that includes a Telnet client
Any X terminal
Any PC running X server software
Any workstation running any version of Unix that supports
X11R6, including anything from an UltraSPARC running Solaris to
a 386 PC running FreeBSD
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Users can not manage an NT server from the same
Software to manage NT server will only work with a MS OS
capable of understanding them
System Management(2)
GUI vs. CLI
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Unix does not require a GUI to function. NT does. And
graphics require incredible amounts of disk space and
memory
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With Unix, you can run GUI tools over the network-enabled
X Window System, and now through Java versions of
system control tools
System Management(3)
Configuration Changes
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Any Unix with loadable module support is by nature more
appropriate for a server environment because almost all
configuration changes do not require system restarts.
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Even insignificant changes to a Windows NT configuration
require a shutdown and reboot in order to make the
changes take effect. e.g. changing the IP address of your
default gateway or changing the type of modem you use
for a dial-up PPP connection. None of these limitations
exist in Unix.
Directory Structure--Unix
organized standard set of directories
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/
/dev
/bin
/sbin
/lib
/usr/bin
/usr/sbin
/usr/lib
/usr/include
/usr/local
/usr/X11R6
/etc
root directory
direct access to devices
system executable files
system administration executable files
some shared libraries
standard executables not needed at boot
system administration executables not needed at boot
shared library files
shared header files
miscellaneous programs you install
the starting point for the X directory tree
configuration files
Directory Structure--NT
Having to maintain compatibility with its roots in DOS and Windows 3.1
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\
C:\temp
C:\winnt
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C:\winnt\system
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C:\winnt\system32
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C:\winnt\system32\drivers
C:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc
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boot files, some boot configuration files
temporary installation files
NT system files, boot and program
configuration files, user configuration files and
access control, commonly used applet
programs
NT system files, driver files, shared libraries,
configuration files
system files, shared libraries, program files,
configuration files
more drivers
more configuration files
Future of Contention
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Successful marketing can often distract customers from
considering their need for functionality.NT is often chosen
for budget reasons in small-to-medium-scale application
server environments since many customers are not willing
to pay for the more expensive hardware required by most
commercial flavors of Unix.
Unix is increasing in popularity, due to its economy,
scalability, stability, technical superiority and, in some
cases, freely available open source. This presents a direct
threat to NT market penetration in the enterprise-server
space.
Environments where performance or scalability is the
primary concern will most likely continue to support Unix.