1. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 1 Jun 13th, 1997 KNOWLEDGE...COMMUNICATION...INNOVATION... WORLDWIDE... Network Computers: The Future Clients Some of the presentation data got from IDG survey results

2. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 2 Jun 13th, 1997 The Network Defines the Client Network maturity and bandwidth satisfies demand Software development delivers the opportunities Established platforms offer best integration potential

3. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 3 Jun 13th, 1997 The NC defined... The NC is not a product, it is a spectrum of client devices NCs will differ in capability from consumer devices NCs will be used to access corporate information Intranet and Extranet growth will feed NC adoption in early stages The next generation client needs to be designed for intranet/extranet implementation

4. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 4 Jun 13th, 1997 What is a Network Computer? Apple, IBM, Netscape, Oracle and Sun are introducing a Reference Profile for the Network Computer: the NC&trade This Reference Profile is intended to provide a common denominator of popular and widely used features and functions across a broad range of scaleable network computing devices, including personal computers

5. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 5 Jun 13th, 1997 In practice what is a NC? One of the simplest example of Client-Server network based application Powerful low cost RISC CPU and RAM Disk or diskless peripheral device LAN card for the comminucation I/O Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse and Audio Output

6. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 6 Jun 13th, 1997 IP-based protcols defined TCP - Transmission Control Protocol FTP - File Transfer Protocol Telnet - Terminal emulation and remote login NFS - Network File System UDP - User Datagram Protocol SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Bootp - Boot Protocol

7. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 7 Jun 13th, 1997 World Wide Web Standards HTML - HyperText Markup Language is the publishing format for WWW sites HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol Java Application Environment –Java Virtual Machine and runtime environment –Java class libraries

8. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 8 Jun 13th, 1997 Mail protocols SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol IMAP4 - Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4 POP3 - Post Office Protocol Version 3

9. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 9 Jun 13th, 1997 Common Multimidia Formats Pictures and bitmap images: GIF and JPEG Sounds and audio: WAV and AU And security supported ISO 7816 (SmartCards) Europay / MasterCard / Visa specifications OpenCard Framework

10. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 10 Jun 13th, 1997 In practice a particular evolution of the classical X-Terminals But with local CPU running applications capability: –HTML Browser –Java Developer Kit and Java class libraries –Java interpreter –Java Virtual Machine –X-Windows –Windows NT Operating System (Windd, etc) –Security for the Intranet and Extranet support

11. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 11 Jun 13th, 1997 Cost-To-Use analysis is key IDG research utilises Cost-To-Use model Established model measures business computing costs IDG survey contacted 125 IT managers in France, Germany, UK and US All businesses had networked PCs and X- terminals (Intranet NC) Cost-To-Use model reveals significant savings when deploying X-terminals

12. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 12 Jun 13th, 1997 Survey finds Intranet NC attractive NC has lower acquisition cost Offers reduced costs for software and for software maintenance and distribution Offers reduced administration, support, training and backup costs Costs less to upgrade and maintain Provides universal access to applications and information together with Internet integration

13. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 13 Jun 13th, 1997 Cost-To-Use model reveals potential

14. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 14 Jun 13th, 1997 Cost-To-Use reveals savings All line items yield a cost saving for the Intranet NC over the networked PC Most significant savings in hardware upgrades and applications development staff Five year costs of Intranet NC show 44% savings compared to networked PC ($39,114 vs $69,686)

15. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 15 Jun 13th, 1997 Down time critical to user productivity

16. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 16 Jun 13th, 1997 Upgrades impact productivity Hardware and software upgrades extend the user down time Loss of productivity due to scheduled upgrades for intranet NC 25% of networked PC costs Loss of productivity due to unscheduled down time for intranet NC 36% of networked PC costs

17. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 17 Jun 13th, 1997 Intranet NC easiest to install...

18. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 18 Jun 13th, 1997 …and to manage

19. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 19 Jun 13th, 1997 System attributes top purchase criteria

20. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 20 Jun 13th, 1997 NCs: high growth expected Source: IDG 1997

21. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 21 Jun 13th, 1997 Network offers choice Rise in network development offers choice to IT managers for occupational fit NCs provide the ideal client characteristics: simple, standard access without the cost and support expenses NCs promise is low-cost, low-administration, highly secure, enterprise access client desktops Intranet NCs deliver the NCs promise

22. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 22 Jun 13th, 1997 Tests in the LNF Already tested: –IBM –Tektronix –Sun To test soon: –HP –NCD

23. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 23 Jun 13th, 1997 IBM Network Station H/W: Low cost Power PC, 32 Mbytes RAM, no disk (with partnership of NCD) S/W: NetStation Support downloaded from an IBM AIX system Advantages –Good X-Terminal –Java Virtual Machine Disadvantages –HTML Browser not yet available

24. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 24 Jun 13th, 1997 Tektronix Network Station H/W: RISC CPU, 24 Mbytes RAM, no disk (model: XP421C) S/W: XPressWare Version 4.1 downloaded from a Digital OSF system Advantages –Good X-Terminal –HTML browser (NAVIO = Netscape) Disadvantages –Java interpreter and JVM not yet available

25. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 25 Jun 13th, 1997 Sun Net Station H/W: RISC CPU 32 Mbytes RAM, no disk (model: Java Station) S/W: Name Netra J Version 3.1 downloaded from a Sun Solaris system Advantages –JAVA Interpreter and Java Virtual Machine –HTML browser Disadvantages –X-Terminal S/W not yet available

26. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 26 Jun 13th, 1997 HP and NCD (not tested yet) We don’t know anything yet about HP NC For the NCD are available both HTML Browser and Java Virtual Machine (the XWindows S/W is already well known in the LNF) The already installed NCD (Explora series only) are upgradable to become Network Station with a simple S/W reinstallation on the X Server HMX model has best performance of Explora- pro

27. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 27 Jun 13th, 1997 SUN JAVA chip Sun announced PICOJAVA chip Specifically engineered to run Java applications Built to execute in H/W many Java instructions Available in late 1997 at very low cost Seconds Javac testsRayTracer tests

28. Network Computers Massimo Pistoni Computing Service 28 Jun 13th, 1997 Questions?