3 ms·

This article mentions a lot of hardware specifications and trends (128GB RAM, Xeon, NUMA, etc) but I think those abundant details make it hard to see the forest

by jasode 10y ago

This article mentions a lot of hardware specifications and trends (128GB RAM, Xeon, NUMA, etc) but I think those abundant details make it hard to see the forest for the trees. Here's how I would compress the article's core point... Windows Server has 3 major time periods: 1) early 1990s: the era of servers as "dumb" file & print servers. This was the time of Windows NT 3.0 and NT 3.5 competing with Novell Netware. At the time, many were debating who would win the server wars based on superficial things like NT having a GUI whereas Netware had a text console, etc. Arguing about those details was missing the point of what would dominate the next era... 2) mid 1990s to mid 2010s: the server as an "app server". Instead of being just a dumb file & print server, the programming API the server exposes enables complex applications to be built on the platform. This is where Windows Win32 API beat out Netware's NLM (Netware Loadable Modules) as a programming interface for things like mail servers (MS Exchange wins), http servers (MS IIS Intenet Information Server wins), databases (Sybase and MS SQL Server), etc. (The "wins" in this context was the defeat of Novell and IBM OS/2 -- not Linux.) 3) 2016 and beyond: the "abstraction level" of IT thinking has moved beyond "file & print server" and also beyond "app server" to the "cloud as the operating system". In this new era, the server o/s itself is no longer a centerpiece of conversation but merely a small component of a larger private cloud stack (e.g. upcoming Azure Private Cloud). This is why Windows 2016 has features such as containers, micro footprint configuration, etc. Once one has the broad brush strokes above, I think it's easier to overlay the progression of hardware technologies on top of it to see how they enabled each era. If instead, you interweave the hardware stories throughout the article, the macro trends are too easily buried in the details.

mountaineer22 10y ago
Not to nitpick, but do you think points #1 and #2 had to do with the adoption of TCP/IP vs IPX/SPX?
- jasode 10y ago
  I don't think so because I remember in 1994 that many companies were running Microsoft NETBIOS. Microsoft was already winning the server war before TCPIP became the default choice in the late 1990s. At one time, I remember having to install extra software (Hummingbird?) to get a usable TCPIP stack on MS Windows. However, I don't remember exactly which version of Microsoft Windows I had to do that.
  - chiph 10y ago
    Most people installed Trumpet Winsock on Windows 3.1 to get a TCP/IP stack (written by Peter Tattam, who never got much money out of it since few people paid the shareware fees). I'm thinking that one reason Microsoft won was because of superior developer tools. I admin'd a small Netware 4.x machine back then and I couldn't even tell you what was needed to write an NLM.
  - okket 10y ago
    AFAIK Hummingbird is/was an Windows implementation for the X11 display protocol (called 'server'). The TCP/IP protocol was added in Win98 by default IIRC, until then you had to use Trumpet Winsock (Win3.x) or something like that.
    - mhurron 10y ago
      TCP was included by default with Windows 95 and NT 3.1.
      - IntelMiner 10y ago
        NT 3.1 yes, Windows 3.1 however no
- raesene6 10y ago
  I think if you're pinpointing a move from File & Print to app servers and tying it to the move from Netware to Windows it would more be a combination of Netware's difficulties in stably running multiple apps (it was a rock-solid platform for file and print but less stable as an app. server) combined with Microsoft's "aggressive" moves during that period to supplant Novell and Lotus in the office server marketplace.
  - jasode 10y ago
    >Netware's difficulties in stably running multiple apps (it was a rock-solid platform for file and print but less stable as an app. server) Thank you for that reminder. The NLM platform was a fragile architecture.[1] In contrast, both IBM OS/2 and Windows NT of that time period had superior architecture (memory protection, separation of kernel-vs-user address space) for complex applications. And to add to the other commenter about ease of dev tools -- it definitely was easier to use Visual Basic 3.0 and deploy the app on NT rather than use Netware's NLM SDK that required the C programming language. Even though VB was marketed as a tool for desktop apps, it didn't stop Microsoft shops from deploying VB apps on the server side. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetWare_Loadable_Module#Programming_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetWare_Loadable_Module#Progra...
    - mjcl 10y ago
      Ugh, I remember having to use esc+alt+shift+shift debugger to try and get the server back long enough to down it. And praying that VREPAIR didn't run on restart.
lightedman 10y ago
"2016 and beyond: the "abstraction level" of IT thinking has moved beyond "file & print server" and also beyond "app server" to the "cloud as the operating system"." I think you forgot about WYSE, which did this back in the 90s and earlier 2000s.

by jasode 10y ago

mountaineer22 10y ago

Not to nitpick, but do you think points #1 and #2 had to do with the adoption of TCP/IP vs IPX/SPX?

jasode 10y ago
I don't think so because I remember in 1994 that many companies were running Microsoft NETBIOS. Microsoft was already winning the server war before TCPIP became the default choice in the late 1990s. At one time, I remember having to install extra software (Hummingbird?) to get a usable TCPIP stack on MS Windows. However, I don't remember exactly which version of Microsoft Windows I had to do that.
- chiph 10y ago
  Most people installed Trumpet Winsock on Windows 3.1 to get a TCP/IP stack (written by Peter Tattam, who never got much money out of it since few people paid the shareware fees). I'm thinking that one reason Microsoft won was because of superior developer tools. I admin'd a small Netware 4.x machine back then and I couldn't even tell you what was needed to write an NLM.
- okket 10y ago
  AFAIK Hummingbird is/was an Windows implementation for the X11 display protocol (called 'server'). The TCP/IP protocol was added in Win98 by default IIRC, until then you had to use Trumpet Winsock (Win3.x) or something like that.
  - mhurron 10y ago
    TCP was included by default with Windows 95 and NT 3.1.
    - IntelMiner 10y ago
      NT 3.1 yes, Windows 3.1 however no
raesene6 10y ago
I think if you're pinpointing a move from File & Print to app servers and tying it to the move from Netware to Windows it would more be a combination of Netware's difficulties in stably running multiple apps (it was a rock-solid platform for file and print but less stable as an app. server) combined with Microsoft's "aggressive" moves during that period to supplant Novell and Lotus in the office server marketplace.
- jasode 10y ago
  >Netware's difficulties in stably running multiple apps (it was a rock-solid platform for file and print but less stable as an app. server) Thank you for that reminder. The NLM platform was a fragile architecture.[1] In contrast, both IBM OS/2 and Windows NT of that time period had superior architecture (memory protection, separation of kernel-vs-user address space) for complex applications. And to add to the other commenter about ease of dev tools -- it definitely was easier to use Visual Basic 3.0 and deploy the app on NT rather than use Netware's NLM SDK that required the C programming language. Even though VB was marketed as a tool for desktop apps, it didn't stop Microsoft shops from deploying VB apps on the server side. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetWare_Loadable_Module#Programming_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetWare_Loadable_Module#Progra...
  - mjcl 10y ago
    Ugh, I remember having to use esc+alt+shift+shift debugger to try and get the server back long enough to down it. And praying that VREPAIR didn't run on restart.

lightedman 10y ago

"2016 and beyond: the "abstraction level" of IT thinking has moved beyond "file & print server" and also beyond "app server" to the "cloud as the operating system"." I think you forgot about WYSE, which did this back in the 90s and earlier 2000s.