NetView Distribution Manager acquires Configuration, Installation and Distribution
IBM Corp’s NetView Distribution Manager software for departmental networks has been fitted with new Configuration, Installation and Distribution technology in an attempt to clear the desktop bottlenecks caused by software ‘cloning’. The technology enables OS/2 system products and applications and other software to be customised and distributed without requiring the involvement of the desktop user. IBM reckons the new process can reduce the time the end user spends on the installation of a workstation software package – in some cases, from one and a half hours to less than one minute. IBM has also introduced Configuration, Installation and Distribution components into its new LANfocus range with LANfocus Start/2. Until now, NetView DM/2 allowed for ‘cloning’, where software is distributed by duplicating the files across the network. However, these duplicated files did not always fit individual workstation environments and sometimes required extensive changes from the local user.
Already configured
With the new technology, users can automatically receive new software already configured for their computers. MS-DOS and Windows users will continue to be supported by cloning, with integrated support for MS-DOS clients to be provided by mid-1993. The new products include NetView Distribution Manager Release 4 for MVS, which resides on the mainframe and can distribute system software, applications, data and microcode changes to many types of network hardware, from AS/400 computers to smaller cluster controllers, to PS/2s and other personal computers; NetView DM/2 Version 2.0, which distributes software to personal computers and other devices on local area networks, where resources such as files, applications and printers are shared. Servers running NetView DM/2 can also communicate among themselves in large, interconnected local network environments. NetView DM/2 works independently of NetView DM, or in conjunction with it, in larger networks. The client-server interaction of NetView DM and NetView DM/2 enables network administrators to send large numbers of software updates in a single session from the host to the local network with automatic distribution to individual workstations. In another announcement, the Software Profile Management Facility, IBM claims the distribution process is dramatically streamlined by enabling the administrator to focus on five or six key packages rather than on thousands of individual workstations. For instance, a network administrator can distribute software to workstations classified by the functions they perform – such as teller, loan processor, and branch manager. Profiling can also aid customers in managing the distribution and installation of multiple levels or versions of software, a feature inherent in both NetView DM and DM/2 which can define the version or level as part of their tracking and recording capabilities. IBM is actively encouraging other hardware and software vendors to support NetView DM and NetView DM/2 on their products. Currently, NetView DM and NetView DM/2 can distribute software and data to NetWare local area networks in addition to IBM Systems Network Architecture, OS/2, MS-DOS, and Windows networks. NetView DM also supports a wide variety of hardware systems including the 3174 terminal concentrator or Establishment Controller, the 4680 banking terminal line, System/88, 8100, RS/6000, Series/1, AS/400, System/36, 9370, 4381, MS-DOS machines and PS/2. Prices and availability: NetView Distribution Manager for MVS 4.0 costs $2,175 to $3,945 and will be out at the end of December; NetView Distribution Manager/2 2.0 – server: $1,495, per client: $95; also available at year-end.
PS/VP range does not signal end of Micro Channel, IBM insists
IBM was anxious to make clear that its launch of the new PS/VP range last week did not signal the end of the line for Micro Channel. The new IBM LANfocus Management/2 family (CI No 2,023) of machine auditing software and adaptors is designed to oper
ate on OS/2 and the new PS/2 client-server systems, which the company believes still present the best solution for heavy workload computing. The new products will enable customers to manage local area network resources, such as files, applications and printers, from a single workstation on a network. IBM also claims it will reduce the costs of managing multivendor local networks across an enterprise. LANfocus Management/2 is based on the Open Software Foundation’s Distribution Management Environment, supporting industry standards such as the CMIP Common Management Information Protocol and SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol. It implements major portions of SystemView, IBM’s strategy for enterprise-wide systems management, just as the recently announced AIX SystemView NetView/6000 Version 2 (CI No 1,950) does for IBM’s AIX-based networks. The company claims that the LANfocus Management/2 products are among the first management products in the industry to incorporate elements of the Foundation’s DME technology. LANfocus comprises two main groups of products: one enables the local network administrator to build and execute different systems management applications that streamline such management tasks as detecting hardware or software failures on the network. The second set comprises systems management applications for overseeing performance and system use; viewing configuration and handling problems; managing NetWare servers; and providing connections to NetView, IBM’s host-based network management product. LANfocus Management/2 also provides a set of common application programming interfaces for third party developers. One of these interfaces is X/Open Co Ltd Management Protocol which enables developers to create applications without having to know the underlying management and transport protocols, such as CMIP and SNMP. SystemView has adopted XMP as its Common Management Interface Protocol.
Datahub family of SystemView products enables database management from an OS/2 personal computer
Help for customers with Systems Application Architecture relational databases came in the shape of IBM’s new Datahub, a family of SystemView-conforming software products that enables the database management from an OS/2 workstation, regardless of operating system platform or physical location of data. All DataHub products share a common object-based graphical interface and automation features to speed information gathering. DataHub supports both DataHub products and database management tools from IBM and other software vendors. Three companies simultaneously announced their intention to support DataHub: Candle Corp and Platinum Technology Inc, both SystemView International Alliance Members, and Legent Corp, a SystemView Development Partner.
