---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SUNERGY Newsletter Part 5 SunFLASH Vol 40 #5 April 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ************************************** *5* Making the Move to SOLARIS 2.0 * ************************************** Companies who use computers today need increasingly powerful systems to remain competitive; but they want these products to be based on industry standards. To deliver the distributed computing capabilities users are demanding, the UNIX(R) operating system is quickly emerging as the software platform of the '90s. Among the existing UNIX versions and new UNIX-like products being developed, there is one leading standard: System V Release 4 (SVR4). It is the preferred platform for many reasons. Besides further expanding the capabilities of distributed computing, it unifies today's leading UNIX operating systems, representing 80 percent of the market's installed base. In addition, SVR4 is available and being shipped today, which is a major advantage to buyers who cannot afford to wait for new products, nor take the risks inherent in basing their computing resources on untested, unproven solutions. Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC), a business unit of Sun Microsystems, has fully committed to the SVR4 standard (which will be part of SunSoft's Solaris(R) 2.0 distributed computing environment) and is now working with customers to plan and implement their migration to SVR4. The migration process can be long and difficult; thus SMCC has developed a deliberate, methodical strategy that will bring its customers to SVR4 while allowing them maximum use of their current computing resources in the interim. This document outlines the key benefits of migrating to SVR4, shows where SVR4 fits into the SMCC product framework, describes the migration process itself, and details the types of migration support SMCC is providing its customers. WHY SVR4? SVR4 merges the best features of the most popular versions of UNIX (SunOS(TM), Xenix, BSD and System V), and thereby serves as a platform for unifying the UNIX market. Designed specifically for high- performance network-based applications, SVR4 adds a wealth of new capabilities such as symmetric multiprocessing with multithreading, to "turbo-charge" mission-critical applications such as databases and transaction processing. SVR4 lets users get optimum performance out of their hardware and software resources, offering added internationalization capabilities, security enhancements and other features to the UNIX environment. According to UNIX International, more than 1,000 vendors worldwide are shipping SVR4-based products. This list includes 983 software vendors, 62 hardware vendors and 42 distributors. There are currently more than 2,300 applications using SVR4. SVR4 offers distinct advantages to each of SMCC's primary customer groups - developers, end users and system administrators. It provides them with the performance and features they need to do their jobs more effectively today, and will give them access to emerging technologies such as multimedia and object-oriented technology in the future. In essence, SVR4 provides customers with the technology base for the advanced new products being developed by Sun Microsystems companies in the coming years. For Developers: A Consistent ABI --------------------------------- The unification of UNIX under the SVR4 platform means there will be a single, consistent Application Binary Interface (ABI) for software developers, which assures them of more seats available for the products they produce. Because of the scalability of SVR4-compliant UNIX, many different computers made by a variety of vendors-from PCs to mainframe and supercomputers-will be able to run SVR4 software, further expanding the market. Meanwhile, the ABI available for SPARC(R) assures developers that their applications written for SVR4 will run unchanged on SPARC systems from any vendor. For End Users: Interoperable, Easy-to-Use Applications ------------------------------------------------------ The SMCC SPARC platform has the largest compatible RISC application base in the industry; more than 4,000 third-party products are currently available. With many software vendors now standardizing on the SVR4 platform, users are assured that they will continue to have a wide range of applications to choose from. SVR4 applications will be designed for distributed computing, allowing more users to conveniently access applications stored remotely from their desktop computers. And because the SVR4 ABI lets systems from different vendors work together, applications are interoperable from one computer to the next. For System Administrators: Access to GUI-Based Management, Enhanced Security ----------------------------------------------------------------- SVR4 includes many new services and utilities that will make the system administration task simpler. For example, SVR4 contains an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) agent, which allows the system to be managed by any SNMP platform, including the SunNet(TM) Manager GUI-based product. SunNet Manager allows system administrators to monitor and fault-check systems on large, heterogeneous networks at a glance. SVR4 also enhances UNIX security with features such as shadow password files, password aging and auto-logout. Access to Emerging Technologies ------------------------------- Sun believes that SVR4 is the wave of the future in part because it offers a standard platform for emerging technologies as well as delivering increased internationalization capabilities. Sun is actively involved in continuously expanding the potential of SVR4 by working with organizations such as UNIX International and UNIX System Laboratories to enrich this standard operating system with new features and capabilities that will meet the computing needs of the future. IMPLEMENTING SVR4: THE SOLARIS DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING SOLUTION UNIX was invented by AT&T's Bell Labs more than 20 years ago. Thus AT&T's SVR4 is the product of all this experience and reflects the input of developers, end users, system administrators and customers over that time. Meanwhile, SunOS also benefits from the years of experience with UNIX. This mature, stable, tested operating system incorporates almost 10 years of refinement. SunOS is at the heart of Solaris, a complete operating environment that includes the tools and services users need to take full advantage of their computer equipment.Solaris comes from SunSoft, another operating unit of Sun Microsystems. SMCC then ports, tests, tunes and adds some features to this environment and makes it available to its hardware customers. Besides SunOS, Solaris contains ONC(R), a suite of networking products and services (including NFS(R), the de facto standard for file sharing); the OpenWindows(TM) windowing environment, which uses the OPEN LOOK(R) graphical interface; and the DeskSet(TM) desktop productivity applications. Solaris is a tightly integrated suite of technologies and products that maximize the power of UNIX, ease development and greatly simplify use through an intuitive interface that brings the friendliness of a personal computer to a high-performance workstation. Timetable --------- The joint Sun/AT&T development effort on SVR4, initiated in 1987, was completed in 1990, and Sun has been moving toward SVR4-based SunOS as its default operating system since that time. Solaris 2.0, which will contain this new version of SunOS, will be shipped in mid-1992. THE MIGRATION PROCESS SMCC recognizes that the migration process is a demanding, long- term project for most companies. It can be an arduous, time- consuming and potentially expensive proposition. There are applications to port; device drivers, driver/kernel interfaces and windowing systems to convert; new libraries to add; users to re- educate; and more. There is no simple way to state how the migration process should optimally proceed within an organization; every company's circumstances-current compatibility status, numbers and types of systems used, etc.-are all different. In general, however, the migration to SVR4 should occur through a carefully-planned process, moving from one area of technology or one department within an organization at a time. SMCC calls this the "islands of migration" approach. Few, if any, companies will find it expedient to complete all their migration- related projects contemporaneously. SMCC has prepared exhaustive documentation on the migration -- including the SunOS 4.1.1-to-Solaris 2.0 Migration and Compatibility Guide, a wide range of technical white papers and release reports, and product specifications--to facilitate the education process. Migration Support Tools ----------------------- SMCC has taken every step to assure that the migration process is as nondisruptive and efficient as possible. In addition to the documentation mentioned above, SMCC has also developed a "Migration Kit" for customers that contains porting tools for developers and system administrators, migration planning guides and documentation. The Migration Kit will be available free of charge. SMCC will also utilize its existing porting centers to assist customers. SMCC is establishing a new model in the industry for the quality and breadth of its porting tools. For example, the Pipeline Tool for developers--part of the Migration Kit--is particularly user friendly. This easy-to-use, mouse-based product scans application code for standards compliance (with SVID-3 {System V Interface Definition} and SCD2.0 {SPARC Compliance Definition}) and recommends solutions to any incompatibility it encounters. In addition, SMCC has made key products needed in the migration process available to customers in advance. For example, OpenWindows 3.0, the window system environment to be included under Solaris 2.0, is being offered today so that companies can begin the process of converting their applications to run under SVR4's OPEN LOOK graphical user interface. While SMCC supports users and resellers in their move to SVR4, SunSoft has a program to assist application vendors in this task. Solaris 2.0 Early Access, for the SPARC development environment, is now available to SunSoft Catalyst developers. Through this offer you receive Solaris 2.0 Early Access software and tools to help you with your development efforts. SunSoft has designed a porting kit, has tools available and is also including a predetermined number of hours of technical support. A porting hotline will be part of this effort. SMCC will continue to support customers in their migration efforts in every way possible. The first step, however, is up to them: they must prepare their individualized migration strategy. To assist with this effort, SMCC has defined the following basic framework for the migration process-a checklist of steps that typically must be taken-which customers can adapt to their situations. THE MIGRATION CHECKLIST The major porting effort for most applications will involve compliance with SVID-3 and SCD 2.0. Tools for this process are available to simplify the transition. SMCC recommends that its customers follow these steps: 1) Use SunOS 4.1.X as the starting point. ----------------------------------------- SunOS 4.1.x creates a common source base for 4.1.x and Solaris 1.0 applications. It is fully SVID-2 compliant and 95 percent SVID-3 compliant. Tools developers need to create Solaris 2.0-ready applications are available in SunOS 4.1.x versions, and a wide array of third- party products round out the development environment. 2) Link to System V libraries. ------------------------------ System V is the default operating mode for Solaris, so by linking with System V libraries, customers can ensure binary compatibility across future Solaris releases. The adoption of System V libraries is simplified by the use of the previously mentioned Pipeline Tool, available through SMCC. 3) Convert to OpenWindows 3.0. ------------------------------ OpenWindows Version 3.0 is the window system environment for the Solaris 2.0 platform. OpenWindows contains the merged X11/NeWS(TM) window system, the graphical OPEN LOOK user interface and the DeskSet user productivity tools. The drag-and-drop/cut-and-paste functionality of OPEN LOOK allows applications to interoperate with other applications on the desktop with a consistent look and feel. SunSoft's ToolTalk(TM) and the OpenWindows Developer's Guide(TM), available through SMCC, allow developers to quickly and easily develop and integrate OpenWindows applications. 4) Dynamically link for improved portability. --------------------------------------------- Dynamic linking allows standard library functions and system calls to be linked into applications at run time. Unlike statically linked programs, a dynamically linked executable file does not contain code for all of the functions it calls. Instead, the dynamic linker resolves calls to standard (shared) library functions at run time. Because system calls can be implemented differently on different machines, this separation of the application from the underlying system is crucial for conformance with the ABI. 5) Select an ANSI C strategy. ----------------------------- A C compiler that complies with the ANSI C standard will be provided with Solaris 2.0. This compiler will make migration easier by offering varying degrees of ANSI compliance. Customers will be able to choose Common C, with no ANSI C compliance; accept a mix of Common C and ANSI C constructs; or fully comply with ANSI C, depending on their situation. CONCLUSION SVR4 is the standard UNIX solution customers have demanded for high- performance, distributed computing. Unlike so-called standard operating systems promised by other vendors, SVR4 exists and is available today, and Sun's implementation, Solaris 2.0, will be available soon. SMCC has committed its future product strategy to the Solaris platform and has invested heavily in migration support tools and services for its customers. Solaris is the wave of the future, and SMCC will continue to do everything possible to assure that customers benefit from its potential.