Brisbane, Australia based Anvil Designs Pty Ltd, better known as a intelligent inputoutput board manufacturer, is moving into the software market with the release of two performance monitoring applications for Unix system users in the UK, via its deal with PC Distribution Ltd, Birmingham. First up is Crocodile, which monitors disk activity, and using idle system time, rearranges the disk layout to allow faster access times. Data is pulled off disk, optimised, then the most frequently used files are written back to the front of the disk in a continuous fashion, overcoming Unix’s haphazard system of disk file arrangement, whilst leaving the file structure itself intact – a step towards system-managed storage in the Unix environment. Crocodile has a menu controlled interface, user defined parameters and a graphical on-line reporting system, and it costs just UKP400 – eat your heart out, IBM mainframe users. The Monitor application was developed out of Crocodile’s front end, and is a higher level diagnostic tool which evaluates system performance and identifies bottlenecks, with statistical information on a range of system routines and processes. Monitor has a graphics-driven menu interface – but no price yet. Both applications run on any AT or PS/2 compatible Unix host, and will ship in eight weeks. Anvil is currently working with AT&T Co to put Streams functionality on its board products, and the Santa Cruz Operation to implement the TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s X Window System for implementing screen windows into Unix boxes.
