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Note 3860.0 OpenVMS + WindowsNT = $$$$$$$ 1 reply
ODIXIE::RYANKE "AttitUde......" 140 lines 8-MAY-1995 14:50
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From LIVEWIRE
New program integrates OpenVMS with Windows NT
In conjunction with Microsoft Corp., Digital today unveiled a new
OpenVMS operating system strategy, along with new product plans and
services, to allow seamless interoperability of OpenVMS with Windows
NT. The announcement was made jointly by Digital and Microsoft at the
spring meeting of the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS)
in Washington, D.C.
The new strategy builds on the mission-critical strength of
OpenVMS and fosters a new integrated approach to enterprise-scale
computing. It promises a unified environment that enables customers
and software developers to write applications once on Windows NT, and
simply deploy to both Windows NT and OpenVMS platforms.
"Digital is teaming up with Microsoft Corp. to develop an
integrated systems environment that combines the enterprise strengths
of OpenVMS with the growing applications library and functionality of
the increasingly popular Windows NT operating system," said Enrico
Pesatori, vice president and general manager, Computer Systems Division.
"Integrating the best features of OpenVMS and Windows NT in a
seamless environment will provide OpenVMS customers with the richest
set of applications, tools and functionality," he said.
Paul Maritz, senior vice president, Systems Division at
Microsoft added, "Today's announcement will accelerate the rapid
movement of Windows NT into the enterprise, and will better integrate
OpenVMS with Windows-based desktops, and with new business applications
being deployed on Windows NT.
"Windows NT and OpenVMS is a potent combination," Maritz
continued. "It facilitates the deployment of Windows-based
client/server solutions, with OpenVMS enterprise attributes proven in
the most demanding environments. Microsoft is working with Digital on
this technology and on joint marketing efforts to fully exploit this
exciting combination."
Digital is aggressively enhancing the OpenVMS environment's
enterprise functionality to extend its leadership position for
customers who require the utmost dependability, data integrity,
security and scalability. Over the next year, Digital will add new
functionality to OpenVMS in the areas of 64-bit addressing, an
innovative log-structured file system, kernel threads and cluster
technology. These features will dramatically extend the OpenVMS
quantifiable lead in the areas of full 24x365 availability, multisite
computing and disaster tolerance.
Moving toward the future
Digital's top priority is to meet the needs of the millions of
current OpenVMS users. The strategy moves OpenVMS customers forward,
extends their bulletproof environment, and brings them the benefits of
an application-rich Windows NT environment.
"This strategy can help customers build Windows-based
client/server solutions today. These solutions can scale beyond the
largest mainframe, have higher levels of data integrity and security,
unrivaled availability, including 24x365 availability, and disaster
tolerance. OpenVMS provides an enterprise 'high-end' for Windows,
seamlessly," said Wes Melling, vice president, OpenVMS Systems
Business.
Pesatori added, "Unlike IBM and HP, Digital's operating system
strategy recognizes the market reality that application developers for
servers are gravitating to both UNIX and Windows NT. Our strategy is
to enhance our leadership position in each.
"Last month, with Oracle, we announced a major breakthrough in
the UNIX industry, the world's first 64-bit database. Our Windows NT
strategy is to bring Windows to the enterprise, with value-added
software, systems, and services. With Microsoft, we are integrating
our OpenVMS strategy with Windows NT to provide enterprise-strength
client/server solutions."
Three-tier client/server computing
Three-tier client/server software architecture provides the
framework for the synergy between OpenVMS and Windows NT. Analysts and
customers recognize the three-tier approach as the most flexible way to
implement enterprise-scale client/server applications. The independent
software vendor community also is moving rapidly in this direction.
"The three-tier approach provides the ultimate in flexibility for
our customers," said Melling. "OpenVMS excels in providing customer
value in an enterprise environment. Every day, OpenVMS runs
mission-critical applications worldwide.
"By building for an integrated OpenVMS/Windows NT environment,
our customers get the best of both worlds -- and they can start today,"
said Melling.
Key to customers attaining the full benefits of this approach is
the use of well-defined and accepted interfaces, or middleware, to
integrate the three software tiers. Digital is the industry leader in
providing this technology. The company delivers CORBA-compliant
middleware with ObjectBroker (that contains built-in compatibility with
Microsoft's OLE technology), by providing the DCE implementation for
Windows NT, and message-oriented middleware with DECMessageQ.
Digital also announced the availability of its Reliable
Transaction Router (RTR) middleware on Windows NT. RTR provides fault
tolerant transaction routing over networks, and is already in use on
OpenVMS running stock exchange and money transfer systems around the
world. Customers can now build highly reliable, three-tier transaction
processing systems for Windows NT or for combinations of OpenVMS and
Windows NT.
Central to the strategy is the ability to develop applications
that can be deployed across both the OpenVMS and Windows NT
environments. Digital and software partners will provide the tools and
utilities that enable the development of applications on Windows NT,
for easy deployment on both Windows NT servers and OpenVMS.
Leading-edge customers have already written their mission-critical
applications in such a way that they draw on the strengths of OpenVMS
and Windows NT.
With the introduction of this program, Digital and Microsoft will
simplify the implementation of this approach and bring it broadly to
enterprise customers.
"OpenVMS has a leadership portfolio of enterprise applications
today. The new strategy assures our customers that they will also have
access to the fastest-growing application environment in the industry,
Windows NT, to run in their integrated OpenVMS/Windows NT
environments," said Melling.
Solutions for the popular development tools were outlined --
Visual Basic, C, C++, NATURAL, and Forte' -- which allow the development
of three-tier applications deployable on OpenVMS and Windows NT. While
procedures today require some programmer awareness of the deployment
platforms, Digital's program will provide tools and utilities that will
make the deployment increasingly platform-transparent to the
programmer.
Digital announced it will soon add Win32 APIs to OpenVMS and add
other tools to aid in making the development process more integrated
for the programmer. The tens of thousands of existing OpenVMS
applications will continue to run alongside the new client/server
applications, with data stored on common servers.
Implementation and training services
Digital also announced a family of services to help customers
build and deploy integrated OpenVMS with Windows NT solutions. New
services will assist customers to design, develop, deploy and manage
the new environment. These services allow customers to begin
implementation today, with Digital's assistance, to gain the full
benefits of client/server solutions.
Beginning this summer, Digital will introduce training courses
to help customers and partners train their staffs in how to design
and implement new applications under development. Included will
be CD-ROM and on-line courseware. Digital is already a market leader
in delivering a wide array of training products specifically addressing
the Windows environments.
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