---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SUNSOFT CONTRIBUTES SOLARIS TECHNOLOGIES TO UNIX INTERNATIONAL'S ATLAS SunFLASH Vol 33 #12 September 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following announcement was made today, September 16, 1991 by SunSoft, Inc. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 16, 1991 - SunSoft, the system software subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., today announced that it will contribute significant technologies from its Solaris(TM) 2.0 product to UNIX International's Atlas (UI-Atlas(TM)) distributed computing framework. SunSoft introduced Solaris, the industry's first shrink-wrapped distributed computing solution, earlier this month. A core technology within UNIX International's Atlas is ONC, a SunSoft solution that is the industry's most widely-used product for connecting heterogeneous computers. SunSoft will contribute technologies in the area of ONC networking and distributed objects to the Atlas framework. These include the enhanced NFS(TM) distributed file system, the new Network Information Service Plus (NIS+) naming service, and the distributed object management facility (Distributed OMF), which was jointly developed by SunSoft and Hewlett-Packard. These technology contributions will fully complement UNIX Inter- national's System V Release 4 (SVR4) road map, of which the Atlas framework is a part. "While the `80s was the decade of the killer application, the `90s will be the decade of the killer environment, "said Bill Coleman, vice president of system software for Sun Soft. "Through Solaris and initiatives such as Atlas, SunSoft will bring the power of distributed computing to every type of user -- end user, software developer and system administrator." As the Atlas framework uses ONC networking at its base, UI's technology partners can build new solutions on top of Atlas, while protecting their users' current software investments. Today, ONC has an installed base of almost 2 million nodes and has been licensed to more than 300 companies including IBM, Apple, DEC, HP and Novell. In addition, ONC implementations provide interoperability across all major types of computers from PCs to mainframes and across all major operating systems including MS-DOS, MacOS, OS/2, UNIX, MVS and VMS. SunSoft will contribute the following Solaris 2.0 technologies to UI's Atlas. Enhanced NFS Distributed File System The enhanced NFS file system solution within the Solaris 2.0 environment incorporates a number of technologies, such as multithreading and support for new authentication forms and encryption technologies. These additions enable the NFS system to create a faster, more secure distributed file system for application and file sharing. NFS also sup ports the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Kerberos network authentication technology. SunSoft will work with UI and UNIX System Laboratories (USL) to offer greater enhancements to the NFS system in the next two years. These include the ability to run NFS over the TCP/IP network protocol suite, allowing for increased performance over WANs (Wide Area Networks) and local caching of remote files for reducing network traf fic. In addition, SunSoft and Locus Computing Corp., located in Inglewood, Calif., have signed a letter of intent to enhance the NFS system to include features for file replication over the network, providing for greater availability and performance of remote files. New Naming Service Extending to Project DOE (Distributed Objects Everywhere) Solaris 2.0 offers the new NIS+ solution, a flexible and powerful naming service particularly suited for streamlined system and network administration. With NIS+, system administrators can easily access and manage information such as host names, network addresses, and user names over networks that span the world. NIS+ is designed to work in today's software environments as well as in emerging distributed object-oriented environments. In addition to NIS+, SunSoft will deliver a new naming service for its object-oritechnology being realized through Project DOE, SunSoft's vision for distributed objects. This new federated naming service, to be incorporated into the Atlas framework, will be optimized to work in next-generation distributed object environments. A federated naming service is an extensible naming infrastructure, unlike traditional point solutions, allowing for independent naming systems to work together. This infrastructure enables independent naming systems for many classes of objects to work together to deliver a uniform object-oriented naming interface to the distributed object environment. Distributed Object Management Facility A key component of Project DOE is the distributed object management facility (Distributed OMF) specification, which was jointly developed by SunSoft and Hewlett-Packard and submitted to the Object Management Group. UNIX International has endorsed the Distributed OMF. It will provide the basis for managing and using objects within Atlas, giving users greater ease of use and access over the network. Solaris SunSoft's Solaris is the industry's first shrink-wrapped distributed computing solution. Based on the world's leading UNIX implementation (SunOS), Solaris gives users a powerful, simple graphical environment for high-performance computing with a path toward the next generation of distributed objects technology. Solaris 2.0 will be offered on the SPARC(R) RISC and Intel X86 platforms. Solaris 2.0 is divided into three layers. The foundation consists of SunOS system 5.0 --with an enhanced SVR4 kernel -- and ONC networking standard. The application framework includes the OpenWindows(TM) Version 3 graphical windowing product, the ToolTalk object-based application interoperability software and other developer tools. The user environment incorporates the intuitive OPEN LOOK graphical user interface and DeskSet Version 3 productivity tools, including multimedia mail, network-based calendar manager and magnified help. Solaris 2.0 will be shipped in the second half of 1992 on both platforms. Pricing and distribution will be announced at a later date. SunSoft, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc. The company is the leading worldwide supplier of system software solutions for distributed computing. SunSoft's products are targeted at software developers, systems administrators and end users, and are licensed by SunSoft and sold through major computer system manufacturers and VARs (value added resellers) worldwide. ### Sun, SunSoft, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, NFS, Solaris, SunOS, ONC, OpenWindows, ToolTalk and DeskSet are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. licensed to SunSoft, Inc. UNIX and OPEN LOOK are registered trademarks of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. PR contacts: SunSoft, Inc. Laura Ramsey (415) 336-0739 Hi-Tech Public Relations, Inc. Claudia Carasso (415) 864-5600 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu and paris.cs.miami.edu. All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.