Open Systems

The Reality

Terry A. Critchley, Ken Batty

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1993, 390 pages

ISBN: 0-13-030735-1

Keywords: Networks

Last modified: April 26, 2021, 5:59 p.m.

Synopsis

This book is a guide to the complex world of open systems and is aimed at technical managers and analysts who need to understand, evaluate and implement open systems strategies or anybody who is seriously contemplating open systems. Many texts gloss over the constraints and problems associated with open systems — this book confronts them head-on.

The areas of standards for:

  • portability
  • interoperability
  • user interfaces

are examined in some detail with special emphasis on the merging areas of distributed online transaction processing (OLTP) and distributed relational databases. The topic of open systems manageability also receives attention, particularly where the popular topic of downsizing is discussed.

Table of Contents

  • Part 1: Setting the Scene
    1. Introduction
      1. How to Use This Book
      2. Our Objectives
      3. Key Things to Consider
    2. Perceptions of Open Systems
      1. Open Systems — Open Season on Definitions
      2. Making Sense of Open Systems
        1. Where Does Openness Reside?
        2. Which Standards Confer Openness?
        3. Are There Degrees of Openness?
      3. Definitions — Do They Match User Requirements?
        1. IDC White Paper
        2. X/Open Xtra Survey
        3. Forrester Reseach — July, 1991
        4. CSC-Index — January 1993
        5. GUIDE 82 (1992)
      4. Conclusions
  • Part 2: History and Development of IT Systems
    1. Information Technology — Ancestry and History
      1. In the Beginning…
      2. Departmental and Personal Computing
      3. The Problem of Multiple Systems
      4. The Way Forward
    2. Proprietary Systems and Networks
      1. Computer Systems
        1. Source and Binary Code
        2. Application Binary Interfaces (ABIs)
        3. Operating Systems Concepts and Development
        4. An API Analogy
      2. Computer Networks
        1. Networking Concepts and Development
        2. Network Architecture Development
        3. Isolation by Layered Architectures
      3. IBM's System Application Architecture (SAA)
      4. DEC's Network Application Support (NAS)
      5. Conclusions
    3. Unix Systems and Networks
      1. UNIX versus Unix
      2. The Origins of UNIX
      3. The Portability of UNIX
      4. The Popularity of UNIX
      5. The Proliferation of UNIX
      6. UNIX Communications History
      7. Conclusions
    4. Today's Network Environment
      1. OSI 'Networks'
        1. The OSI Standards
      2. Network Choices
      3. Conclusions
    5. Distributed Computing Concepts
        1. Client/Server Concepts
        2. Interprocess Communication
      1. Remote Data Access
      2. Remote Process Access
      3. The ISO Open Distributed Processing Model
      4. Conclusions
  • Part 3: The World of Standards
    1. Open Systems — Where and Why Standards?
      1. Standards in Context
      2. Portability
        1. Programming Languages
        2. Database
        3. Graphics
        4. Object Oriented Technologies
        5. Program Development and CASE
      3. Interoperability
        1. Security
        2. Database Interoperability
        3. Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)
        4. Distributed OLTP
        5. Management of Heterogeneous Networks
        6. Printing
      4. User Interfaces
      5. Conclusions
    2. Standards — Setters and Specifiers
      1. ISO
      2. Other Standard Bodies
        1. International Standards Bodies
        2. national Standards Organizations
        3. Government Standards Bodies
      3. IEEE
      4. X/Open
      5. Internet Activities Board (IAB)
      6. Conclusions
    3. Standards — The Implementers
      1. Open Software Foundations (OSF)
        1. Technology and Innovation
      2. UNIX International (UI)
        1. Origins and Mission
        2. Request for Proposal
        3. The UI Roadmap
      3. Petrotechnical Open Software Corporation (POSC)
      4. Standards Promotion and Applicaation Group (SPAG)
      5. Common Open Software Environment (COSE)
      6. Conclusions
  • Part 4: The Path to Openness
    1. Preamble
      1. Overview
      2. The IT Spectrum Today
      3. Conclusions
    2. Downsizing and Rightsizing
      1. Downsizing and Rightsizing Defined
      2. Examples of Successful Downsizing and Rightsizing
      3. Advantage of Downsizing and Rightsizing
        1. Cost Savings
        2. Business Need
        3. Technical Unsuitability of Current Systems
        4. Disadvantages of Downsizing and Rightsizing
      4. Summary
      5. Downsizing Considerations
        1. Rules of Thumb for Distributed Processing
        2. Implementation Checklist
        3. Downsizing Resource Requirements
        4. Application Dependency Matrix
        5. Manageability Issues
      6. Conclusions
    3. Standards for Portability
      1. X/Open
        1. X/Open Portability Guides
        2. X/Open Common Applications Environment (CAE)
        3. The X/Open SYSMAN Group
        4. The X/Open Xtra Requirements Process
        5. X/Open and Vendors
        6. X/Open CoMIX Initiative
        7. The X/Open Roadmap
      2. POSIX
        1. 1003.0 POSIX Guide
        2. Non-Unix POSIX
      3. Programming Languages
      4. Relational Databases (RDB)
      5. Graphics
      6. CASE
      7. Object Orientation
      8. Conclusions
    4. User Interfaces
      1. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)
        1. Why GUIs?
        2. Origins of GUIs
        3. OSF/Motif
        4. OpenLook
        5. AlphaWindow
        6. Unix Shells
      2. Conclusions
    5. Pragmatic Interoperability
      1. LAN Interoperability
        1. Bridges
        2. Gateways
        3. Routers
        4. Brouters
      2. Unix to Proprietary
        1. Unix-ICL IPA
        2. Unix-DECnet
        3. Unix-SNA
        4. Unix-PCs
        5. Unix-Macintosh
      3. Proprietary to Proprietary
        1. DECnet/SNA
        2. Tactical Network 'Standards'
        3. PICK
        4. MUMPS
      4. Conclusions
    6. Standards for Interoperability
      1. Security
        1. ISO Security Model
      2. Database
        1. Why Distributed Database?
        2. Distributed Database Standards
        3. Summary
      3. OLTP
        1. OSI Distributed Transaction Processing (OSI TP)
        2. X/Open Distributed Transaction Processing Model (X/Open DTP)
        3. How Do X/Open DTP and OSI TP Model Relate?
        4. OLTP with Encina
        5. OLTP with Tuxedo
        6. Coexistance with Encina
      4. Network File System (NFS)
      5. Network Computing System (NCS)
        1. NCR RPC
        2. NCS NIDL
        3. NCS Location Broker
      6. X Windows
        1. Origins of 'X'
      7. TCP/IP
        1. Telnet
        2. SMTP
        3. FTP
        4. Networked GUIs
      8. OSI
        1. Virtual Terminal
        2. Message Handling Services (MHS)
        3. File Transfer and Management (FTAM)
        4. X.500 Directory Services
        5. OSI Management
      9. Network Management
        1. TCP/IP SNMP
        2. OSI CMIP
        3. LAN Management
      10. 'Open' Printing and Standards
        1. ISO Distributed Printing Standard (DPA 10175)
        2. DME Palladium
        3. Network Printing Alliance (NPA)
        4. Summary
      11. Conclusions and Summary
        1. Standards Summary Matrix
        2. Interoperability — The Task Ahead
    7. Open Operating Systems
      1. Proprietary but Open
        1. DEC and VMS
        2. IBM and MVS/ESA
        3. IBM and OS/400
        4. ICL and VME
        5. Summary
      2. Mainframe Unix
        1. IBM's AIX/ESA
        2. Amdahl's UTS
        3. Summary
      3. OSF/1
        1. The OSF/1 Kernel
        2. Systems Management in OSF/1
        3. The Logical Volume Manager
        4. Security
        5. The Application Environment Specification (AES)
        6. The Future
        7. Summary
      4. System V Release 4
        1. SVR4 enhancements
        2. Security and Multi-processing
        3. The Veritas File System
        4. The Future
        5. Summary
      5. OSF/1 and System V Release 4: a Comparison
    8. Open Interoperability
      1. Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
        1. Operating System and Transport Services
        2. Threads
        3. Remote Procedure Call
        4. Distributed Time Services
        5. Directory and Naming Services
        6. Distributed File System
        7. Security
        8. Diskless Support Service
        9. Building a Distributed Computing Environment
        10. DCE Technologies
      2. Distributed Management Environment (DME)
        1. Management User Interface
        2. Management Applications
        3. Application and Management Services
        4. Object Services
        5. Management Protocols
        6. Application Development Tools
        7. DME Technologies
        8. OMNIPoint
        9. Availability of DME
        10. Conclusions
      3. UI-ATLAS
        1. Background
        2. The UI-ATLAS Model
        3. The UI-ATLAS Layers
        4. UI Computing Environments
      4. Architecture Neutral Distribution Format (ANDF)
      5. Conclusion
    9. Final Thoughts
      1. The Way Forward
      2. Postscript
  • Part 5: The World of Technical Reference
    1. POSIX Standardization Details
      1. POSIX Status, April 1993
    2. Open Systems Organizations
      1. Reports on Open Systems
    3. Further Reading
      1. Reference Sources
        1. 88Open
  • Part 6: Glossary
    • Open Systems Terminology

Reviews

Open Systems

Reviewed by Roland Buresund

Very Good ******** (8 out of 10)

Last modified: May 21, 2007, 3:16 a.m.

Opinion

What Open Systems really is about. Probably totally foreign to the current Windows and Linux crowd. A very good book.

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