HP Visualize c3000, Visualize b160L - Workstation, c3700 - Workstation, Visualize b132L - Plus Workstation, Visualize b180L - Workstation Supplementary Manual

VISUALIZE Workstations
Migrating UNIX Technical Environments
to Windows NT

By Scott Key

Solution Specialist

Introduction

This paper describes tools and techniques for migrating and porting UNIX technical
environments to Windows NT. The ideas provided here assume that the decision to
migrate to NT has been thoughtfully made. These ideas are centered around the following
two concerns:

§ How to transition UNIX technical environments to Windows NT

§ How to port UNIX technical applications to Windows NT

Windows NT systems are being integrated into the traditional tech nical UNIX
environment. With this integration comes the challenge to ensure that engineers being
provided NT workstations have the same functionality and environment they have come to
expect from their UNIX systems. This of course involves interoperability at the file/print
and security levels. The transition of these systems into the technical environment includes
the migration of scripts and desktop environments for continued access to UNIX-based
technical applications and data. The quest for higher performance and seamless integration
of engineering functionality onto an NT desktop platform may eventually require the
migration of many parts of today's UNIX-based technical applications to Windows NT.
The decision to transition engineers, scientists and technical personnel to a n NT platform
must be balanced with the transition considerations of this platform:

§ Are all required applications available?

§ Is sufficient application performance available?

§ Is the network infrastructure ready to support Windows NT?

§ Can the current UNIX system environment be duplicated on Windows NT?

§ Is the IT infrastructure ready to support Windows NT?

§ Is there enough long-term cost and productivity justification for the transition?

Although Windows NT is not identical to UNIX, a transition to this platform for a
technical workstation can be managed with the use of appropriate migration tools and
techniques.

There are three paths available for migrating technical workstations from UNIX to
Windows NT. These migration paths can be characterized as follows:

§ Migrating all of the UNIX environment, data and code to Windows NT platforms

§ Migrating some of the UNIX environment, data or code to Windows NT workstations

§ Migrating only the minimal client piece to Windows NT while all data, production

code and system environment remains centralized to UNIX

Each of these paths has a cost associated with it. These costs can be described in terms of:

§ Ease of migration

§ Risk to current systems infrastructure

§ Acceptance of current personnel

§ Impact on current system procedures and processes

The amount of UNIX centricity or uniqueness imbedded into tools, applications and
processes will greatly effect the amount of agony or pleasure associated with each o f these
cost factors.

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Ease of Migration

Risk to Current
Systems
Infrastructure

Ease of migration can be described as the amount of effort required to move from a
UNIX-centric environment to the Windows NT-centric environment. This would include
consideration of the percentage of information that is unique to UNIX. For instance, if
data is to be migrated, consideration must be given as to whether it is uniquely UNIX
binary data, thus requiring a translation program to be written (tested, etc.) for moving the
data to NT. If software must be migrated, the question must be asked, “Does it use UNIX­centric code?” For example, assembly or Fortran language programs are inherently UNIX­centric with little migration support for NT. In addition, it should be ascertained whether
the system environment scripts are using a standard, like the Korn Shell, or a more obscure
shell script ing language or procedure. Finally, consideration must be given to the
availability of the source to the software, scripts, procedures and documentation for the
current UNIX environment.

The risk to the curr ent system’s infrastructure needs to be assessed. This revolves around
the concern of "breaking" or at least impacting to an appreciable degree, the current
infrastructure. For example, the NT 4.0 browsing service can increase network traffic. The
lack of consistent, interoperable file security may force the use of a network file access
method that is inconsistent with organizational goals. This can also require changes to
such simple things as file backup methods and procedures and would affect such functions
as system monitoring and system wide resource sharing.

Acceptance of
Current Personnel

There is also a cost associated with ensuring that personnel will accept and utilize the new
environment. Since the UNIX application and system environment has become the
standard system, it is important that all personnel be willing and able to move from this
standard environment to the Windows NT system. This entails ensuring that all personnel
affected have been properly trained. Affected personnel include software development
team members - who must provide a cost effective development base when moving to NT,
System administrators - who must have familiarity with NT syste m too ls and terminology,
and end users - who need to be as productive in this migrated environment as they were on
the legacy systems.

Impact on Current
System Procedures
and Processes

System procedures and processes previously established in the UNIX environment will
undoubtedly be impacted by a migration to Windows NT. Procedures requiring
assessment for migration will most likely include software updates, operating system
updates and patches, user configuration and security. Migration costs will even depend on
the number of mundane procedures, such as system backups, operating system builds,

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