Some 20 months after its inception, the network computer standards initiative is finally taking shape, and the meeting next week at Sun Microsystems Inc’s Menlo Park facility should give the Network Computer Profile (NCP) – as it’s known – a push towards becoming something tangible. The original spec, version 1.0, which was initiated by Sun, IBM Corp, Netscape Communications Corp, Oracle Corp and Apple Computer Inc, is going through the last stages of branding with The Open Group (TOG) and the players have now moved on to forming specs for devices other than network computers. There are three initiatives on the table at the moment, none of which has been handed to TOG yet to enable wider participation buy non-TOG members, but the plan is to do so eventually. The first – and most advanced – is for mobile devices, and the other two are for smart cards and systems management respectively. IBM Corp is the main driving force behind all the initiatives but has been joined by numerous other vendors in each area. IBM’s NC division strategist, Mark Pozefsky, who will be at the meeting next week, says the mobile work is progressing quite quickly and that the group has its own get-together next week. The Open Card group, also started by IBM is using work done in Big Blue’s Zurich laboratory to form the basis and IBM has been joined by the major smart card vendors in the work. The third group, the systems management group, was started by IBM, Sun and Oracle Corp over the summer to hammer out the important issue of interoperability between various NCs and servers. Apparently the common boot protocol has not been finalized, despite earlier assertions to the contrary, although it will be based on the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). The trio has been joined by numerous client and server vendors, including Netscape, Santa Crux Operation, Tandem Computers, Neoware, Wyse Technology and Corel, among others. However, it is not just covering booting, but also downloading images, configuring the desktop and user security as well. IBM is in the process of hooking up its NCs to servers from SCO, Sun , Tandem and two other vendors Pozefsky could not name. This group will also be working on Java interface standards, adapting the current Java Management API (JMAPI) for the job.
