-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
Copy pathMicrosoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX.html
3312 lines (2853 loc) · 160 KB
/
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
<!-- saved from url=(0074)http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/ -->
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<script type="text/javascript" src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/analytics.js"></script><style type="text/css"></style>
<script type="text/javascript">archive_analytics.values.server_name="wwwb-app19.us.archive.org";archive_analytics.values.server_ms=3249;</script>
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/banner-styles.css">
<meta name="description" content="UNIX versus Windows NT -
Information every manager should know when planning a corporate network or
the purchase of server hardware.">
<meta name="keywords" content="NT vs UNIX, UNIX vs NT, NT vs. UNIX,
UNIX vs. NT, nt versus unix, unix versus nt, IIS, apache, sendmail,
exchange server, microsoft, smp, aix, hp-ux, digital unix, solaris,
freebsd, bsdi, linux, windows nt, corporate network, mail servers,
operating systems, cost effective solutions, mission critical
operations, sendmail, apache, iis, system administration, microsoft">
<title>Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"><div id="wm-ipp" lang="en" style="display: none;">
<div style="position:fixed;left:0;top:0;width:100%!important">
<div id="wm-ipp-inside">
<table style="width:100%;"><tbody><tr>
<td id="wm-logo">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/" title="Wayback Machine home page"><img src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/wayback-toolbar-logo.png" alt="Wayback Machine" width="110" height="39" border="0"></a>
</td>
<td class="c">
<table style="margin:0 auto;"><tbody><tr>
<td class="u" colspan="2">
<form target="_top" method="get" action="http://web.archive.org/web/form-submit.jsp" name="wmtb" id="wmtb"><input type="text" name="url" id="wmtbURL" value="http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/" style="width:400px;" onfocus="this.focus();this.select();"><input type="hidden" name="type" value="replay"><input type="hidden" name="date" value="20000815100517"><input type="submit" value="Go"><span id="wm_tb_options" style="display:block;"></span></form>
</td>
<td class="n" rowspan="2">
<table><tbody>
<!-- NEXT/PREV MONTH NAV AND MONTH INDICATOR -->
<tr class="m">
<td class="b" nowrap="nowrap">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000706213010/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch" title="6 Jul 2000">JUL</a>
</td>
<td class="c" id="displayMonthEl" title="You are here: 10:05:17 Aug 15, 2000">AUG</td>
<td class="f" nowrap="nowrap">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20001017114158/http://unix-vs-nt.org/kirch" title="17 Oct 2000"><strong>OCT</strong></a>
</td>
</tr>
<!-- NEXT/PREV CAPTURE NAV AND DAY OF MONTH INDICATOR -->
<tr class="d">
<td class="b" nowrap="nowrap">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000706213010/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch" title="21:30:10 Jul 6, 2000"><img src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/wm_tb_prv_on.png" alt="Previous capture" width="14" height="16" border="0"></a>
</td>
<td class="c" id="displayDayEl" style="width:34px;font-size:24px;" title="You are here: 10:05:17 Aug 15, 2000">15</td>
<td class="f" nowrap="nowrap">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000816171907/http://unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/" title="17:19:07 Aug 16, 2000"><img src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/wm_tb_nxt_on.png" alt="Next capture" width="14" height="16" border="0"></a>
</td>
</tr>
<!-- NEXT/PREV YEAR NAV AND YEAR INDICATOR -->
<tr class="y">
<td class="b" nowrap="nowrap">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/19990508220433/http://unix-vs-nt.org/kirch" title="8 May 1999"><strong>1999</strong></a>
</td>
<td class="c" id="displayYearEl" title="You are here: 10:05:17 Aug 15, 2000">2000</td>
<td class="f" nowrap="nowrap">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20020205110720/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/" title="5 Feb 2002"><strong>2002</strong></a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="s">
<a class="t" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517*/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/" title="See a list of every capture for this URL">179 captures</a>
<div class="r" title="Timespan for captures of this URL">17 Jan 99 - 6 May 16</div>
</td>
<td class="k">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/" id="wm-graph-anchor">
<div id="wm-ipp-sparkline" title="Explore captures for this URL">
<img id="sparklineImgId" alt="sparklines" onmouseover="__wm.st(1)" onmouseout="__wm.st(0)" onmousemove="__wm.mv(event,this)" width="525" height="27" border="0" src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/graph.jsp">
<div class="yt" style="display: none; width: 25px; height: 27px;"></div><div class="mt" style="display: none; width: 2px; height: 27px;"></div></div>
</a>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table>
</td>
<td class="r">
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#close" onclick="__wm.h();return false;" style="background-image:url(/static/images/toolbar/wm_tb_close.png);top:5px;" title="Close the toolbar">Close</a>
<a href="http://faq.web.archive.org/" style="background-image:url(/static/images/toolbar/wm_tb_help.png);bottom:5px;" title="Get some help using the Wayback Machine">Help</a>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!-- BEGIN WAYBACK TOOLBAR INSERT -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/disclaim-element.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="./Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX_files/graph-calc.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">//<![CDATA[
var __wm = (function(imgWidth,imgHeight,yearImgWidth,monthImgWidth){
var wbPrefix = "/web/";
var wbCurrentUrl = "http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/";
var firstYear = 1996;
var displayDay = "15";
var displayMonth = "Aug";
var displayYear = "2000";
var prettyMonths = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"];
var $D=document,$=function(n){return document.getElementById(n)};
var trackerVal,curYear = -1,curMonth = -1;
var yearTracker,monthTracker;
function showTrackers(val) {
if (val===trackerVal) return;
var $ipp=$("wm-ipp");
var $y=$("displayYearEl"),$m=$("displayMonthEl"),$d=$("displayDayEl");
if (val) {
$ipp.className="hi";
} else {
$ipp.className="";
$y.innerHTML=displayYear;$m.innerHTML=displayMonth;$d.innerHTML=displayDay;
}
yearTracker.style.display=val?"inline":"none";
monthTracker.style.display=val?"inline":"none";
trackerVal = val;
}
function trackMouseMove(event,element) {
var eventX = getEventX(event);
var elementX = getElementX(element);
var xOff = Math.min(Math.max(0, eventX - elementX),imgWidth);
var monthOff = xOff % yearImgWidth;
var year = Math.floor(xOff / yearImgWidth);
var monthOfYear = Math.min(11,Math.floor(monthOff / monthImgWidth));
// 1 extra border pixel at the left edge of the year:
var month = (year * 12) + monthOfYear;
var day = monthOff % 2==1?15:1;
var dateString = zeroPad(year + firstYear) + zeroPad(monthOfYear+1,2) +
zeroPad(day,2) + "000000";
$("displayYearEl").innerHTML=year+firstYear;
$("displayMonthEl").innerHTML=prettyMonths[monthOfYear];
// looks too jarring when it changes..
//$("displayDayEl").innerHTML=zeroPad(day,2);
var url = wbPrefix + dateString + '/' + wbCurrentUrl;
$("wm-graph-anchor").href=url;
if(curYear != year) {
var yrOff = year * yearImgWidth;
yearTracker.style.left = yrOff + "px";
curYear = year;
}
if(curMonth != month) {
var mtOff = year + (month * monthImgWidth) + 1;
monthTracker.style.left = mtOff + "px";
curMonth = month;
}
}
function hideToolbar() {
$("wm-ipp").style.display="none";
}
function bootstrap() {
var $spk=$("wm-ipp-sparkline");
yearTracker=$D.createElement('div');
yearTracker.className='yt';
with(yearTracker.style){
display='none';width=yearImgWidth+"px";height=imgHeight+"px";
}
monthTracker=$D.createElement('div');
monthTracker.className='mt';
with(monthTracker.style){
display='none';width=monthImgWidth+"px";height=imgHeight+"px";
}
$spk.appendChild(yearTracker);
$spk.appendChild(monthTracker);
var $ipp=$("wm-ipp");
$ipp&&disclaimElement($ipp);
}
return{st:showTrackers,mv:trackMouseMove,h:hideToolbar,bt:bootstrap};
})(525, 27, 25, 2);//]]>
</script>
<style type="text/css">
body {
margin-top:0 !important;
padding-top:0 !important;
min-width:800px !important;
}
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">__wm.bt();</script>
<!-- END WAYBACK TOOLBAR INSERT -->
<center>
<table width="85%" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<center>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/translations/chinese/">
Chinese</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://linux.hr/misc/hr_unix-nt.html">
Croatian</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.penguin.cz/~had/unix-nt/">
Czech</a>
<!--A HREF="/web/20000815100517/http://www.eleves.ens.fr/home/blondeel/traduc/kirch/unix-vs-nt.html"-->
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.linux-france.com/article/these/unix-vs-nt/unix-vs-nt.html">
French</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.lot-germany.com/magazin/unix-nt.htm">
German</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://adhi.linux-smg.or.id/unix-vs-nt/ID-unix-vs-nt.html">
Indonesia</a>
<p>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ne.jp/asahi/personal/kobayashi-osamu/Translation/kirch.net/unix-nt.j.html">
Japanese</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.linuxkorea.co.kr/news/internet/unix-nt.html">
Korean</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.microlink.com.br/~buick/dragons/op1/unixvsnt.html">
Portuguese</a>
<!--A HREF="translations/russian.html"-->
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.atlas.net.ru/unix-nt/unix-nt.html">
Russian</a>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.fisica.uson.mx/carlos/Unix-NT/unix-nt-notes.html">
Spanish</a>
</p><p>
</p><hr>
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/updates.html">
Recent Updates</a></b>
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/cgi-bin/count?kirch">
Access Counter</a></b>
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/">
Mirror</a></b>
<hr>
</center>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table width="85%" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h1>Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX</h1>
<h3>by</h3>
<h3>John Kirch</h3>
<h3>Networking Consultant and
Microsoft Certified Professional (Windows NT)</h3>
<p><i>Last update: 7 August 1999</i>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table width="85%" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<hr>
<h2>Executive Summary</h2>
<p>IT managers worldwide are being confronted with the question, should
we go with Microsoft Windows NT Server or one of the UNIX operating
systems? As you may already know, UNIX is not a single operating
system; it refers to a family of operating systems which includes AIX,
BSDI, Digital UNIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, Linux, NetBSD, OpenBSD,
Pyramid, SCO, Solaris, SunOS, just to name the more prominent ones.
Windows NT Server is increasing in popularity, but is it increasing the
productivity of your MIS operations? Most important of all, though,
for you as a manager is, are you increasing the profits of your company
when you choose a Microsoft solution?
</p><p>The bottom line is, which is cheaper? Hardware costs, software
licenses, technical support agreements, prices of upgrades/service
packs, costs of hardware upgrades, profits lost for every hour of
downtime, personnel costs for recovering/recreating data lost due to
product defects in the operating system and/or hardware platform
required by your choice of operating systems, and personnel costs for
systems administrators, these are only some of the factors that
contribute to the overall budget resulting from your decision. It is
not a trivial consideration.
</p><p>Although money is the bottom line for you as a manager, given the
complex set of factors I've just presented, a technically superior
combination of server hardware and operating systems could prove to be
less expensive in the long run. UNIX is a mature, technically superior
group of operating systems with a proven track record for performance,
reliability, and security in a server environment. The almost thirty
years of continual development, performed often by volunteers who
believe in what they're doing, has produced a group of operating
systems--and extremely powerful multiprocessor server hardware
tailor-made to its needs, whose performance is still unparalleled by
Intel hardware--that not only meets the demands of today's computing
needs, but in many cases exceeds them.
</p><p>Why Windows NT Server 4.0 continues to exist in the enterprise would
be a topic appropriate for an investigative report in the field of
psychology or marketing, not an article on information technology.
Technically, Windows NT Server 4.0 is no match for any UNIX operating
system, not even the non-commercial BSDs or Linux. A manager is not
expected to have the technical expertise of a systems administrator
with 15 years of industry experience. There is no shame in not having
the facts, only in being ignorant of such facts, which will in the end
cost your employer, and eventually all consumers, money. The aim of
this article is to give you the resources which will enable you to make
thoughtful and informed decisions regarding your organization's
IT planning and operations.
</p><p>The following article relies on my experience in this industry,
which started back in 1979 with Chevron Geosciences Company, and on
roughly 150 links to other technical articles, white papers, and
executive summaries. At this point it should be noted that I am not
promoting the product of any one company, nor would my employer benefit
should you choose UNIX. My goal is to ease the burden of systems
administrators, promote more efficient and economical computing
worldwide, and encourage a more fair and diverse community of software
vendors.
</p><hr>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table width="85%">
<tbody><tr>
<td valign="TOP">
<h2>Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#intro">Introduction</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#os">Operating Systems</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#costs">Product costs and licensing issues</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#functionality">Functionality</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#reliability">Reliability</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#management">System Management</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#performance">Performance</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#security">Security</a>
</li></ul>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#misconceptions">Some Common Misconceptions</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#views">Views of Other MIS Professionals</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/feedback/">
Feedback from Readers of this Article</a>
</li>
</ul>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#web">Web Servers</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#conclusion">Conclusion</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#compare">Linux and NT Server 4.0 at a Glance</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#bigguys">What are Major Companies Deploying?</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#links">Related Links</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/legal.html">Disclaimers and Other Legal Information</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#acknowledgments">Acknowledgments</a>
</li></ul>
</td><td valign="TOP">
<h2><a name="highlights">Highlights in this Article</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#ms-solaris">Why Microsoft uses Solaris instead of NT</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#ms-summit">Microsoft admits that NT trails Solaris</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#graphs">Graphical comparison of the various operating systems</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#stability">Which operating systems do professionals choose when
stability is the most important issue?</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#win95">A little-known fact about <b>windows95.com</b></a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#KickAss">UNIX on a single processor PC outperforms a dual processor
NT machine?</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#cisco">Cisco changing from Linux to Windows NT?</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#usps">Linux and the United States Postal Service</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#web">Web Server software; What do the Royal Family and the
FBI have in common?</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/#gui">Show me some UNIX, I want to <i>see</i> what it looks like!</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.netcraft.com/cgi-bin/Survey/whats">
What is that Site Running?</a>
</li><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/resources.html">FreeBSD and Linux Resources with
answers to the following questions:</a>
<ul>
<li>Where can I get Linux/FreeBSD to try this out?
</li><li>Where can I buy a workstation/server with Linux/FreeBSD
pre-installed?
</li><li>Where can I find a consultant for these operating systems?
</li></ul>
</li></ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table width="85%" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<p>
</p><hr>
<h2><a name="intro">Introduction</a></h2>
The choice of server platforms can be difficult for managers who do not
have highly specialized training in systems and network administration.
In this paper, Microsoft Windows NT Server is compared to UNIX, a large
family of commercial and non-commercial operating systems with a common
heritage and many similarities. The main focus of the comparison is on
the areas of functionality, reliability, system management, and
performance. This paper is about servers, not workstations. Other
factors, such as product pricing, quantity and quality of bundled
software, and a section on common misconceptions about both groups of
operating systems are presented to provide a more complete view of
these products. The information used in this comparison is derived
from a variety of sources: white papers, case studies by third parties,
articles from technical periodicals, and observations made by IT
professionals who have industry experience in the implementation and
administration of both Microsoft Windows NT and various UNIX operating
systems.
<p>This article should be considered a work in progress. Anyone
wishing to contribute to this project is welcome to send me <a href="mailto:[email protected]"><b>e-mail</b></a>. Please confine your
e-mail to <i>constructive</i> comments or criticism.
</p><hr>
<h2><a name="os">Operating Systems</a></h2>
<h3><a name="costs">Product costs and licensing issues</a></h3>
<p>Most managers will agree that the mere cost of an operating system
is trivial when looking at the big picture. Although Windows NT Server
4.0 can be more expensive than some commercial UNIX operating systems,
it can be had for trivial amounts at trade shows.
</p><p>
</p><center>
<b>Price List for Windows NT Server 4.0 (Source:
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.microsoft.com/products/prodref/458_pr_st.htm">Microsoft</a>)</b>
</center>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<center>
<table border="2">
<tbody><tr>
<th>Product</th><th>Price (US-$)
</th></tr><tr>
<td>NT Server 4.0 (5-user version)
</td><td align="RIGHT">$809
</td></tr><tr>
<td>NT Server 4.0 (10-user version)
</td><td align="RIGHT">$1,129
</td></tr><tr>
<td>NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition (25-user version)
</td><td align="RIGHT">$3,999
</td></tr><tr>
<td>NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition (50-user version)
</td><td align="RIGHT">$4,799
</td></tr><tr>
<td>NT Server 4.0 Documentation Kit
</td><td align="RIGHT">$69.95
</td></tr><tr>
<td>20 Quantity Client License
</td><td align="RIGHT">$329
</td></tr><tr>
<td>Single Quantity Client License
</td><td align="RIGHT">$19.95
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</center>
<p>
<table width="85%" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
Is NT Server really worth its price? See <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.zdnet.com/pccomp/features/fea0797/nt/sub6.html">
NT Lies: Lie 6 - NT Server is worth more</a></b>. What
is not trivial, however, is that a networked operating system in this
price range should ship without a telnet server, SMTP server (e-mail),
disk quotas, news server, or at least a DNS server that works to
customers' satisfaction (many NT administrators feel compelled to go
with third party DNS solutions). In order to match the functionality of
a BSDI installation, additional Microsoft products and third-party
solutions would bring the final price of a comparable NT solution to
around $4,000, according to <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.bsdi.com/white-papers/compare">BSDI</a></b>.
Maggie Biggs, a senior analyst in the InfoWorld who specializes in
database technology and application design, development, and deployment
via intranets and other networks, estimates a price of <b>$4,636 for a
comparable Windows NT 4.0 solution</b> in her <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://currents.net/magazine/national/1524/inet1524.html">
article</a></b> which compares NT 4.0 to Red Hat's <i>commercial</i>
Linux (for only <b>$49.95</b>).
Here one sees that successful marketing can often distract customers
from considering their need for functionality.
<p>NT is often chosen for budget reasons since many customers are not
willing to pay for the more expensive hardware required by most
commercial flavors of UNIX. More important, however, is the overall
cost of implementation which includes system administration along with
several other factors like downtime, telephone support calls, loss of
data due to unreliability, etc. For a more detailed discussion of NT's
hidden costs, see the following
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.informationweek.com/">
InformationWeek</a> article:
</p><blockquote>
"Windows NT systems carry lower sticker prices than
their Unix counterparts, but ongoing maintenance and
support requirements can make them much more costly
to run."
<p>
-- Martin J. Garvey,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.informationweek.com/692/92iuhid.htm">
The Hidden Cost Of NT</a></b>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.informationweek.com/">
InformationWeek</a>, 20 July 1998.
</p></blockquote>
<p>Tippett Studio, the company
responsible for the graphics in <i>Starship Trooper</i>, which received
an Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects, uses 130 SGI (
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.sgi.com/">Silicon Graphics, Inc.</a>) machines running
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.sgi.com/origin/products/irix.html">IRIX</a>, SGI's
very own UNIX operating system. Tippett's studio operations manager
explains why they use SGI with IRIX instead of an NT solution:
</p><blockquote>
"'SGIs are cheap for what they do,' says Tippett's Jeff Stringer, the
studio's operations manager. 'The cost of maintaining an NT system is
pretty high when you think of all the system administrators you have to
hire.'"
<p>"Hiring is an especially big concern for the small studio. Unlike
the super-studios, Tippett -- which designed the bugs that threaten
humanity in "Starship Troopers" -- is an f/x boutique."
</p><p>-- Greg Lindsay,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/article/0,2334,13125,00.html">
Oscar Tech</a>, The Netly News, 27 February 1998.
</p></blockquote>
<p>For the most cost-conscious customer,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.linux.org/">Linux</a></b>,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a></b>,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.netbsd.org/">NetBSD</a></b>, or
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.openbsd.org/">OpenBSD</a></b>
would be the obvious choices. They cost <i>nothing</i>, yet they are
just as stable and offer as much functionality as, if not more than,
the commercial UNIX operating systems.
</p><p>Journalists R. Scott Raynovich and Polly Sprenger at <i>LAN Times</i>
indirectly point out the flexibility of the
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.opensource.org/">Open Source</a></b> concept
in their recent article on Linux and how
commercial organizations can benefit from it:
</p><blockquote>
" . . . Linux
can be downloaded for free over the Internet or obtained
inexpensively with support and documentation from a
number of commercial vendors. This makes it an
attractive product for companies trying to reduce the
cost of licensing and managing OSes.
<p>-- R. Scott Raynovich and Polly Sprenger,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.lantimes.com/98/98aug/808b001a.html?st.ne.fd.mnaw">
Linux legitimacy rallies NT skeptics</a></b>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.lantimes.com/">LAN Times</a>,
17 August 1998.
</p></blockquote>
In <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.softwaremagazine.com/">Software Magazine</a>'s
recent cover story on Linux, Ann Harrison points out how even large
companies are finding a cost effective alternative to Microsoft in the
deployment of Linux servers:
<blockquote>
"Randy Kessell, manager of technical analysis for a Southwestern Bell
operation center, notes that
because Linux allows his company to do more remote network
administration and software loads
than was possible with either Microsoft or NetWare products, it has
driven down their network management costs."
<p>-- Ann Harrison,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.softwaremag.com/Sept98/sm098cv.htm">
In LINUX We . . .</a></b>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.softwaremagazine.com/">
Software Magazine</a>, Cover Story, September 1998.
</p></blockquote>
<p>One reader informed me that
mentioning Linux would detract from the credibility of this article. I
beg to differ. The existence of such alliances as mentioned in the
article
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980402S0013">
Andreessen Sees Mozilla-Linux Upset of Windows</a></b> clearly shows
that Linux is strengthening its presence in commercial environments.
(For newcomers to this arena, Mozilla is the name of the
Netscape/Communicator code and Marc Andreessen is Cofounder and
Executive VP of Products at Netscape.) Also noteworthy is a new
alliance between
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.sun.com/">Sun Microsystems</a> and <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.li.org/">Linux International</a>.
(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://slashdot.org/">Slashdot</a>:
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://slashdot.org/articles/9804211730214.shtml">
Sun Joins Linux International</a></b>, 21 May 1998)
Yet another recent development is <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.corel.com/">Corel</a>'s special relationship with
Linux:
</p><blockquote>
". . . <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.corel.com/">Corel</a>, which has already
announced plans to build a Linux-based network computer, said it will
next month post free Linux-based development tools to its Web site,
joining a number of software companies supporting the Linux open source
movement."<br>
-- Erich Luening,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,21929,00.html">
Corel joins Linux fest</a></b>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.news.com/">CNET News.Com</a>, 8 May 1998.
</blockquote>
<p>The very latest headlines indicate that Linux is well on its way into
the major leagues:
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/zdnn_smgraph_display/0,3441,2121004,00.html">
Informix, Oracle ready to port to Linux</a></b>
(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/">PCWeek Online</a>, 20 July 1998),
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/news/0720/20morac.html">
Oracle to port database to Linux</a></b>
(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/">PCWeek Online</a>, 20 July 1998),
and
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,20863,00.html?st.ne.ni.rel">
Netscape: Linux a top priority</a></b>
(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.news.com/">CNET News.Com</a>, 7 April 1998).
</p><p>Historically, large corporations have steered clear of free software
due to the unfounded assumption that anything free can't be worthwhile.
The recent trend among some corporations is to use these
cost-effective operating systems. Hewlett-Packard used Linux instead
of its own HP-UX operating system "to port the Carnegie Mellon Mach
kernel to HP
PA-RISC in order to use it for their imagery work."
(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ssc.com/lj/issue44/2355.html">
full story</a>) Schlumberger chose Linux over SCO for its new point of sale computers.
(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ssc.com/lj/">
Linux Journal</a>, November 1997, Issue 43, pp. 83-4) It is
interesting to note that <b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.sun.com/">SunWorld
On-Line</a></b> gives Linux positive press in one of its articles, <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.sun.com/sunworldonline/swol-01-1998/swol-01-linux.html">
Linux lines up for the enterprise</a></b>.
</p><p>The September 1998
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.softwaremagazine.com/">Software Magazine</a>
cover story reveals just how far Linux has managed to infiltrate
corporate America and how it is not about to go away:
</p><blockquote>
"Tim Payne, director of
database marketing at Oracle, says many of his company's corporate
customers have made large
investments in Linux. When Oracle announced in July that it would be
offering 24x7 support for
Oracle8 on Linux, he says 300 customers called the next day asking
about availability. 'It's reliable,
it's proven, it runs on commodity Intel boxes, and it's a really
low-cost alternative to NT,' says
Payne. 'The fact that you are going to be able to get enterprise
quality support from Oracle to deploy on
the Linux platform will help customers adopt Linux.'
<p>-- Ann Harrison,
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.softwaremag.com/Sept98/sm098cv.htm">
In LINUX We . . .</a></b>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.softwaremagazine.com/">
Software Magazine</a>, Cover Story, September 1998.
</p></blockquote>
<p>Since these operating
systems are free for use even in commercial environments, many ISPs run
on Linux or FreeBSD. NetBSD will run on practically anything: DEC
Alpha, Motorola 68k (Amiga, Atari, Mac, MVME, Sharp, Sun3), PowerPC,
Intel, DEC VAX, Acorn RISC, MIPS (Sony NEWS, DECstation), etc.
OpenBSD's primary focus is on correctness and security. Linux is the
most popular and will run on a wide range hardware: Sun, Intel, DEC
Alpha, PowerPC, PowerMac, etc.
Paul Krill's recent articles in
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.infoworld.com/">InfoWorld</a>
(<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980710.whlinux.htm">
Linux picking up steam</a></b> and <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980715.ehlinux.htm">
Linux supporters rally around freeware OS</a></b>) focus on the ever
increasing support of major vendors and future plans for added
functionality, i.e. support for Intel's 64-bit Merced processor.
Currently, Linux is perhaps the fastest
growing operating system on the market. For more information, see <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.linuxresources.com/">Linux Resources</a></b> or <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat Software</a></b>.
</p><p>Nicholas Petreley, editor-in-chief of <i>NC World</i> and columnist
for <i>InfoWorld</i> and <i>NT World Japan</i> provides an explanation
for the rise of Linux and FreeBSD in IT departments:
</p><blockquote>
"Yesterday's college students learned their UNIX expertise on Linux and
FreeBSD. Today they're working in IT departments, and many of them are
openly hostile to both Microsoft and Windows NT. As a result, Linux,
BSD, Solaris, and other forms of UNIX are finding their way into IT
departments, both overtly and on the sly.
<p>"For example, are you sure that's an NT server you're connecting to
at work? IS employees in many corporations have secretly installed UNIX
servers that provide native NT services. Why take such a risk? Linux
and FreeBSD are free, as is SAMBA, the software that provides NT
services. So the IS department saves money. And managers are unlikely
to find out UNIX is behind the scenes because fewer people will
complain about server downtime.
</p><p>"Fewer people will complain because the servers are more stable than
Windows NT. Linux, FreeBSD, and BSDI UNIX outperform Windows NT by a
wide margin on limited hardware, and under some circumstances can
perform as well or better than NT on the best hardware. Once behind in
scalability features, UNIX on Intel is catching up and may soon surpass
NT in the number of processors it can use, and how it uses them.
</p><p>-- Nicholas Petreley,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ncworldmag.com/ncworld/ncw-04-1998/ncw-04-nextten.html">
The new UNIX alters NT's orbit: The re-emergence of UNIX threatens to
modify the future direction of NT</a>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ncworldmag.com/ncworld/">
<i>NC World</i></a>, April 1998.
</p></blockquote>
<p>Even <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.economist.com/">The Economist</a> is now
reporting on the rising popularity of Linux:
</p><blockquote>
"Oracle, a database firm, is planning to offer Linux versions of some
of its software. . . . Even without such endorsements, Linux has
achieved a measure of success. In only a few
years, the program has evolved from a hacker's toy into software that
is, at least in part,
technically superior to Windows NT.
<p>-- Stephen Morley,
<b>Revenge of the hackers</b>*
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.economist.com/">The Economist</a>,
July 11th - 17th 1998.<br>
* Hyperlink is gone. Can be purchased from <i>The Economist</i>
via their online archive.
</p></blockquote>
<h3><a name="functionality">Functionality</a></h3>
What can you expect from Windows NT Server out of the box and from UNIX
out of the box? NT can communicate with many different types of
computers. So can UNIX. NT can secure sensitive data and keep
unauthorized users off the network. So can UNIX. Essentially, both
operating systems meet the minimum requirements for operating systems
functioning in a networked environment. Put briefly, UNIX can do
anything that NT can do and more.
<p>NT is often considered to be a "multi-user" operating system, but
this is very misleading. An NT server will <i>validate</i> an
authorized user, but once the user is logged on to the NT network, all
he/she can do is access files and printers. The NT user cannot just
run <i>any</i> application on the NT server (in order to take advantage
of the superior processing power of server hardware). An NT user can
only run special applications that have been written in two pieces,
i.e. client/server applications. When a user logs in to a UNIX
server, he/she can then run <i>any</i> application (provided the user
is authorized to do so), 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.
</p><p>For most businesses, e-mail has become an indispensable tool for
communication, and most companies run their own internal/external
e-mail systems. With Windows NT, you will have to buy a separate
software package in order to set up an e-mail server. UNIX operating
systems come with a program called <b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.sendmail.org/">Sendmail</a></b>. There are other
mail server software packages (or <i>MTAs</i>, Mail Transport Agents)
available for UNIX, but this one is the most widely used, and it is
free. Some UNIX administrators feel that
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.exim.org/">exim</a></b> or
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.qmail.org/">qmail</a></b> are better choices
since they are not as difficult to configure as sendmail. Both exim
and qmail, like sendmail as well, are free for use even in a commercial
environment.
Many NT-based companies use
<b><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/default.asp">
Microsoft Exchange Server</a></b>
as their MTA. This is an expensive solution with limited success in an
enterprise environment. <b>Microsoft Exchange Server Enterprise
Edition - 25 Client Access Licenses costs $3,549.00.</b>
If you have more than 25 employees, the same package with <b>50 Client
Access Licenses costs $4,859.00</b> (Source:
<b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/55/gen/pricing.htm">Microsoft</a></b>)
For more information on this topic see
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/sendmail-exchange.html">
Microsoft Exchange versus Sendmail:
Views of Other MIS Professionals</a>.
</p><p>Since Microsoft sees NT as a viable alternative to all other
network-capable operating systems on the market, UNIX and Novell
included, one would assume that NT would come with all the tools
necessary to accomplish the most basic tasks required: file and
printer services. Any systems/network administrator knows from
experience that there are two important issues to be considered when
setting up a file server or adding a new network user: security, i.e.
passwords and file permissions; and quotas for limiting disk usage of
any new or existing users or groups. Although NT provides basic
password security, it only provides file-level security if you choose
to use its proprietary filesystem called NTFS. More important than
this issue, however, is that <b>NT does not provide any mechanism for
limiting a user's disk usage!</b> UNIX and Novell, on the other hand,
provide software for performing this seemingly elementary control.
Microsoft has announced, however, that its not yet released NT Server
5.0 will provide "new storage management features such as disk quotas .
. ." (see their press release, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/press/1997/sept97/winnt5pr.htm">
Windows NT 5.0 Beta Delivered to Over 200,000 Developers</a>).
</p><p>Another disk related design flaw in the Microsoft suite of operating
systems is its antiquated use of "drive letters," i.e. drive C:, drive
D:, etc. This schema imposes hardware specific limitations on system
administrators and users alike. This is highly inappropriate for
client/server environments where network shares and file systems are
to represent hierarchies meaningful to humans. UNIX allows shared
network filesystems to be mounted at any point in a directory structure.
A network share can also span multiple disk drives (or even different
machines!) in UNIX, thus
allowing administrators to maintain pre-existing directory structures
that are well-known to users, yet allowing them to expand the available
disk space on the server, making such system changes transparent to
users. This single difference between the UNIX and Windows operating
systems further underscores the original intentions of their respective
designers: UNIX was conceived as a client/server operating system for
professional use, whereas Windows and its descendents sprang from DOS,
an operating system that was never intended to be a player in a
client/server environment, much less a server. For more detailed
information on this topic, see Nicholas Petreley's article
<b>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayNew.pl?/petrel/np102896.htm">
It will take less drive to make most PC operating
systems work like Unix</a></b>.
</p><p>Last but not least, UNIX operating systems are equipped with
scripting languages (Bourne Shell, Korn Shell, C Shell, and sometimes
Perl, just to name a few) and a "cron" facility for scheduling jobs to
run at fixed intervals (every <i>n</i> minutes, every <i>n</i> hours,
once a week, once a month, etc.). Cron scheduling is highly
configurable and not just limited to these examples here. In short,
high-level scripting languages + cron = a powerful resource for system
administration, the likes of which cannot be found in Microsoft NT
Server 4.0. A great deal of UNIX system administration is automated
and customized for site-specific needs through the use of these tools,
which in effect cuts down on personnel costs. As one reader pointed
out, NT does have a "Scheduler" and an "at" command, and that Perl is
available for NT. Yes, this is true, however, I don't feel that NT's
limited cmd.exe scripting environment combined with the "Scheduler" or
"at" can even begin to approach the functionality offered by the UNIX
tools I've mentioned. One reader, Neil McKellar, provided an excellent
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix-vs-nt.org/kirch/feedback/neil_mckellar.job_scheduling.html">
example</a>
which supports this statement.
</p><p>Running automated tasks is only useful when the
scripts/tasks/executables can be run without human intervention. So
much that runs on NT is GUI-based, and thus, requires interaction with
a human administrator. If seen realistically, the types of automated
tasks that are being run in most shops are site-specific routines that
have to be programmed by system administrators. Based on my own
industry experience, it is a rare site indeed where Perl is installed
on NT servers and there is any NT administrator who knows the first
thing about Perl. The driving force behind buying cheap hardware goes
hand-in-hand with the hiring practice of selecting the cheapest NT
administrators available; after all, it's NT, all you have to do is
point and click!
</p><p>To summarize, once you logon to an NT network, all you can do is
read files and print. In a UNIX environment, once you log in to a UNIX
server, you can <i>be</i> on that machine and do anything on it that
you could do if you were sitting at its keyboard <i>and mouse!</i> With
NT, don't plan on being able to set up an e-mail server with the
software at hand. You will need to buy expensive mail server software
like Microsoft Exchange Server separately. If your NT server should
function as a file server - what else can you do with it really? -
don't plan on being able to prevent users from crashing the server by
filling up the disk(s) with their data.
</p><p>Ease of configuration and being able to configure a server without
causing downtime is yet another aspect of functionality:
</p><blockquote>
"Some versions of UNIX (Linux, for example) support loadable device
modules. This means you can boot Linux and reconfigure its support for
hardware and software on the fly. For example, you can boot Linux
without support for the SCSI card you have installed. You simply load
support for that SCSI card when you need to access one or more of the
SCSI-connected devices, such as an optical disk for backup. You can
unload the SCSI driver when you're finished. You can also freely load
and unload support for sound cards, network cards -- even file systems
such as HPFS, FAT, VFAT, and others (an NTFS driver is in the works).
<p>"Any UNIX with loadable module support is therefore by nature more
appropriate for a server environment because almost all configuration
changes do not require system restarts.
</p><p>"Windows NT doesn't even come close. Even insignificant changes to a
Windows NT configuration require or request a shutdown and reboot in
order to make the changes take effect. Change the IP address of your
default gateway and you need to reboot. You can't even change the type
of modem you use for a dial-up PPP connection without a reboot to
update the system. None of these limitations exist in UNIX.
</p><p>-- Nicholas Petreley,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ncworldmag.com/ncworld/ncw-04-1998/ncw-04-nextten.html">
The new UNIX alters NT's orbit: The re-emergence of UNIX threatens to
modify the future direction of NT</a>,
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.ncworldmag.com/ncworld/">
<i>NC World</i></a>, April 1998.
</p></blockquote>
<p>When it comes to more sophisticated networking functionality, it
seems that Microsoft's NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition can't hold a
candle to the more mature commercial UNIX operating systems. Although
not essential to network performance, 64-bit computing is here today
with these UNIX operating systems (as opposed to NT's 32-bit operating
system). D.H. Brown Associates Inc. reports the results of their
analysis as follows (the following quotation along with the table and
the three graphs immediately following the table are excerpts from a
Web page on Digital Equipment Corporation's site entitled
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000815100517/http://www.unix.digital.com/unix/v4/dhbrown/AIX43.htm">
AIX 4.3 Leaps To 64-Bits In Dead Heat With Digital UNIX 4.0</a>):
</p><blockquote>
AIX 4.3 takes the lead in Internet/intranet networking features
by providing the broadest set of TCP/IP extensions and adding
value with a bundled Notes server. Digital UNIX comes in second
place with strong network security capabilities, bundling not
only Web-browsing capabilities but also Web-authoring tools, with
Navigator Gold, and a solid set of TCP/IP extensions. However,
Digital UNIX lacks advanced NFS features such as CacheFS and
AutoFS. IRIX 6.4 places third, bundling CacheFS and AutoFS, and
network security features almost as strong as Digital's. But IRIX
lacks network time facilities (NTP) and TCP/IP capabilities such
as IPv6 and IPSec. Sun follows, with good support for NFS