---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash X/Open Adopts Federated Naming As Preliminary Specification SunFLASH Vol 67 #11 July 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Electronic Journal For Sun Users Since 1988 John J. Mclaughlin, Publisher & Editor - flash@sun.com ____________________________________________________________________________ 67.11 From: sanjay@gigahz-37.Eng.Sun.COM (Sanjay Sinha) I am pleased to inform you X/Open today announced adoption of Federated Naming Service (XFN) as a "Preliminary Specification." SunSoft started advanced development of Federated Naming technology as early as 1990 and holds patents on the Federated Naming. In order to proliferate and ensure industry-wide acceptance of Federated Naming, we worked closely with DEC, HP, IBM, OSF, and Siemens Nixdorf in the development of the XFN specification and its submission to X/Open. This annoucement reiterates SunSoft's leadership position in defining networking technologies and cooperating with major industry players to solve Global 1000 customers heterogeneous enterprise computing needs. - Jim Billmaier VP and General Manager, Network Products Business, SunSoft (243 lines) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- XFN is key to allowing enterprise-wide information access across heterogeneous network. The XFN specification defines a standard interface that provides access to and federation among multiple naming services such as ONC+ NIS+, DCE CDS, OSI X.500 and Internet DNS. Developers can take advantage of XFN and build applications that are portable because the underlying naming/directory services are not exposed. Therefore, customers can continue deploying Solaris and NIS+ and be assured their investment is protected as XFN-compliant applications can seamlessly access NIS+ information as well as interoperate with multiple network computing architectures of an enterprise. SunSoft plans to aggressively incorporate XFN in key system services in Solaris, and also in CDE applications: - XFN will be used to federate NIS+, Internet DNS, and other naming services. - Network file services in Solaris will use XFN to provide a coherent and consistent view to a global name space. - Applications such as calendar manager and network printing will use XFN to provide seamless access to networked resources enterprise-wide. Jim Billmaier VP and General Manager, Network Products Business, SunSoft (Included below is the X/Open XFN Press Release) ------------------------ X/Open XFN Press Release ------------------------ ------ X/OPEN CO., LTD. 1010 El Camino Real #380 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Jeff Hansen (415) 323-7992 -or- REGIS McKENNA INC. 1755 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 Craig Broadbent (415) 494-2030 X/Open Adopts Federated Naming As Preliminary Specification Specification Enables Interoperability Among Different Distributed Computing Environments MENLO PARK, CA -- July 6, 1994 -- X/Open Company, Ltd. today announced that the X/Open Federated Naming Service (XFN) was adopted by X/Open as a "Preliminary Specification." XFN will deliver important benefits to both developers and end users. It is key to enabling interoperability of network directory services and applications in heterogeneous, multivendor distributed computing environments on a global, enterprise-wide scale. In addition, a new class of portable applications for enterprise-wide information sharing and administration is expected to emerge due to XFN's simple and powerful API (application programming interface) and policy set. The XFN specification was submitted to X/Open on March 15th of this year. Following a quality review and formatting, the formal "Fast-Track" review of the specification was initiated in April. X/Open's adoption of XFN as a Preliminary Specification in only three months marks one of the most successful Fast-Track submissions to date. The XFN Champion companies who worked cooperatively in the development of this specification and its submission to X/Open included Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corp., the Open Software Foundation, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG, and SunSoft, Inc. "The adoption of this specification by X/Open is a major step toward unifying the end user environment," said Mr. Arthur Gaylord, Director, Project Pilgrim, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "Recognizing that most large user organizations have multiple naming schemes, the XFN specification allows for coexistence rather than dictating one naming structure. This is critical for the protection of current investments and the integration of new technologies." Dr Petr Janecek, X/Open's Common Application Development Business Unit Manager said, "Since different distributed environments like DCE and ONC+ use different naming systems, the existence of a service which makes it possible to resolve composite names is an essential precondition for successful interoperability between such environments." Dr. Janecek added, "The industry agreement to submit to X/Open the XFN specification, confirms that such interoperability is high on the agenda for the industry and that X/Open is recognized as the proper keeper of definitions of tools making distributed environment interoperability come true." The XFN specification defines a standard interface that provides access to and federation among multiple naming services such as DCE CDS, ONC+ NIS+, OSI X.500 and Internet DNS. As different computing environments implement support for XFN, and applications and utilities integrate it, access across these diverse environments will be simplified. XFN also simplifies system administration by integrating the heterogeneous enterprise network, and improves end user ease-of-use by enabling network applications and services to transparently locate and refer to information in a heterogeneous enterprise-wide network. Developers can take advantage of XFN and build applications that are portable because the underlying naming/directory services are not exposed. In addition, these applications become more powerful because they now can span multiple network computing architectures of an enterprise. A "Preliminary Specification" from X/Open is an interim document that addresses an emerging area of technology. Preliminary Specifications are analogous to "trial-use" standards issued by formal standards bodies, and, while they are as stable as possible, changes may be made before they are published as final X/Open CAE Specifications. Until published as a final CAE Specification supported by testing and formal branding, there is no basis for conformance claims to a Preliminary Specification. The XFN Preliminary Specification will be available from X/Open in August. Its full title is : "Federated Naming: The XFN Specification. X/Open Document Number P403 ISBN 1-85912-075-8 It will be $70 in hard copy. X/Open Company, Ltd., founded in 1984, is a worldwide, independent open systems organization dedicated to providing a unified path to open systems specification and implementation. This unification is achieved through the close co-operation and integration of input from users, vendors and standards organizations worldwide. The X/Open specification, which covers both interoperability and applications portability elements, is based on de facto and international standards. X/Open operates a test and verification process for products developed in line with its specification, and awards its brand as the mark of compliance. ### X/Open and the "X" device are registered trademarks of X/Open Company Ltd. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited. All other product or service names mentioned here in are trademarks of their respective owners. ****** Supporting Statements For The X/Open XFN Press Release July 6, 1994 Hewlett-Packard Company: Contact: Kelly Emo (408) 447-5334 "This cooperative XFN spec is a basis for future products that will provide significant benefits for customers looking to distribute applications across multivendor networks. By having multiple vendors involved in the development and support of the XFN specification, interoperability is enhanced. Key naming services customers use today will be supported by XFN, and subsequently, customers will have a powerful tool for integrating these services across their networks." Fred Luiz, general manager of HP's Open Systems Software Division. Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI): Contact: Gianni Rabaioli (011) 49 89 636 41135 Werner Pfadler, vice president of SNI said, "Siemens Nixdorf as a leading supplier of X.500-based directory products, welcomes the acceptance of XFN as an X/Open Preliminary Specification. SNI believes that XFN will stimulate the use of naming services and lead to the development of new directory applications in heterogeneous corporate network environments. This will also help to preserve and optimize customer's investments. SNI was involved in the XFN specification from the very beginning. As a supplier of X.500 technology to OSF, SNI plans to work with the DCE partners to incorporate XFN into DCE GDS and into its own X.500 product DIR.X, which was distinguished with the Hot Product Award 1994 by the Data Communication magazine." SunSoft, Inc.: Contact: Carol Sacks (415) 336-1462 "CIOs in Global 1000 companies need to integrate existing islands of information into a coherent global network. XFN is key to allowing enterprise-wide information access across heterogeneous networks. We worked closely with our industry partners in developing the XFN Spec, which is another example of the open standards process delivering greater interoperability to users worldwide." Jim Billmaier, vice-president and general manager, Network Products Business, SunSoft Inc. Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, and ONC+ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Additional Company Contacts: Digital Equipment Corp.: Contact: Chuck Malkiel (508) 493-4164 IBM: Contact: Deborah Wood (512) 823-3258 Open Software Foundation: Contact: Jane Smeloff (617) 621-8997 ### ------------------------------------------------------------------------ __ _ \\ / X/Open Company Limited Jeff Hansen \\/ 1010, El Camino Real, Suite 380 Director /\\ Menlo Park, California 94025 Marketing Communications / \\ Tel: +1 (415) 323-7992 x235 / \\_ Fax: +1 (415) 323-8204 O EMail: j.hansen@xopen.co.uk "X/Open and the X device are trademarks of X/Open Company Ltd." ------------------------------------------------------------------------