Introducing NT into a UNIX Enterprise

Windows NT servers are increasingly encroaching on traditional UNIX environments. Neither NT nor UNIX is a one-size-fits-all OS. Microsoft and UNIX officials generally prefer networks to adopt only their respective solutions, but many vendors (including Microsoft, HP, Compaq, and SCO) have adopted aggressive interoperability programs. Most enterprises benefit from networks that run both NT and UNIX, because each OS offers unique functionality.

You need to answer a few fundamental questions before you decide to integrate NT into your UNIX enterprise. First, consider what factors are motivating your desire to add NT to your network. Do pressing business reasons drive you, or are you merely following the industry trend? Second, look at the cost of the hardware and software a mixed network would require throughout a 5-year period. Third, consider the hidden costs of such an integration, including its effect on your network's users (e.g., training, potential downtime, resistance to change). Fourth, decide whether NT applications can meet your organization's requirements. Fifth, determine whether the benefits of adding those NT applications outweigh the costs involved in integrating the two OSs.

If you decide to combine NT and UNIX on your network, you need to develop an integration plan that meets your organization's needs. Systems administrators who face the task of introducing NT to a UNIX enterprise can easily become overwhelmed. Unfortunately, you can't use a clear blueprint for mixing the two OSs. No one solution is right for every firm, and you can't use a top-down approach to plan most mixed networks. You'll need to review, define, and execute several parts of your integration plan at the same time.

Take an IS Inventory
The first step in creating an integration plan must involve taking stock of your current hardware and software configurations. Evaluating what you have will help you determine which parts of your enterprise you can migrate to NT and what resources such a migration would require. Review your UNIX environment to answer the following questions.

Do users access the UNIX system through dumb terminals, character-based terminals, X terminals, PCs running emulation software, NT boxes running X Server software, or individual UNIX workstations? How do users' terminals, workstations, and PCs connect to the UNIX processor--­do they connect directly or via a TCP/IP network, a modem, or other networking equipment? How many physical locations does your network connect? Where are these locations, and how many users are in each location?

What peripherals (e.g., printers, fax machines, tape drives, modems) does your network include? Where are these peripherals? How do they connect to the network? Will you be able to implement NT software and device drivers for all these peripherals? Which of your current applications work best in UNIX? Which applications can you port to NT? How will you manage or migrate legacy software and hardware?

Most organizations do not have the luxury of abandoning their current equipment, software, and employees. You need to think about how you will accommodate old equipment with your plan. In addition, because new devices are only as functional as the people who use them, employee retraining must also be part of your integration plan.

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