Meeting Commercial Environment Demands Section 2. Rich Operating Environment Distributed Computing System and Network Management High Availability and Security [Illustration Title: Meeting Commercial Environment Demands] [Illustration Caption: In the Open Systems arena, HP's combination of servers, networking, clients, and peripherals is unparalleled. But, computing solutions encompass more than hardware and networking. An equally important component to a successful computing enterprise is an operating environment enriched with the functionality required for the demands of business computing.] HP 9000 Business Servers provide a powerful computing environment to best address your business critical issues. The foundation begins with our robust operating environment, HP-UX. As HP's UNIX foundation is further enhanced with superior high availability, network and system management, security, performance, distributed computing, and transaction processing, the HP 9000 Business Servers can meet even the most demanding commercial requirements. A Robust Operating Environment With IT executives today looking at issues such as downsizing, Open Systems, client/server architectures, cost reductions and increased performance as ways to improve organizational efficiency, UNIX has become the operating system of choice for most companies. The HP 9000 operating system, HP-UX, provides a flourishing environment within a base of standards for superior interoperability and portability. HP's commitment to standards That Open Systems permits interoperability and portability is not just by chance. It can be explained in a single word. Standards. HP is committed to all the primary industry standards (see figure 2.1). It is through the diligent efforts of these standards committees, with HP as a major player, that UNIX has become the prerequisite for Open Systems. HP-UX has gained a strong presence in the commercial marketplace. [Illustration Title: HP Demonstrated Commitment to Industry Standards] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.1 HP fortified the HP-UX computing environment, within a base of standards, with enhanced commercial capabilities essential to performance and productivity.] HP-UX is a superset implementation of AT&T's UNIX System V, incorporating the best capabilities of Berkeley 4.3, plus value- added features from HP and the Open Software Foundation(TM) (OSF). The unique combination of standards and technology within HP-UX improves interoperability, performance and system management, while facilitating adaptation of software to meet the needs of international markets. An X/Open branded solution The HP 9000 family is X/Open* base profile compliant for XPG4, the open system portability standard backed by OSF, UNIX International (UI), and major computer vendors, including HP, IBM, DEC, NCR, and Sun. HP's support of XPG4, the emerging "all encompassing standard" further exemplifies our commitment to standards. * X-Open is a trademark of X/Open Company Limited in the UK and other countries XPG extends multivendor portability across a broad computing environment to many other systems. So if you need to share data among systems, or move applications, you don't have to rewrite programs, reorganize data, or completely retrain employees. Versatile operating environment The power and versatility of HP-UX and its broad range of utilities and communication features also make it excellent for program development. Coupled with tools from HP's leading CASE partners, HP-UX offers a productive development environment for programmers. HP-UX is easier to use than other UNIX operating systems, incorporating unique capabilities that enable you to automate procedures and save time. For example, users with workstations or X-terminals can also take advantage of HP's award-winning Visual User Environment (VUE), a point-and-click desktop manager, built on key industry standards such as OSF/Motif and the X Window system. A terminal session manager enhances productivity for users connected to HP 9000 Business Servers via ASCII terminals or PCs. Users can participate in as many as ten concurrent sessions--which might include access to applications on the host, a mail session, a word-processing session, a database session, and more. To save you further time and trouble, integrated Series 800 Business Servers arrive with the operating system preloaded, enabling the server to start up automatically during system installation. HP-UX localization allows worldwide implementation HP systems work wherever you do. Our HP-UX products support a wide range of languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, and major Asian languages, such as Japanese, traditional and simplified Chinese, and Korean. HP's Native Language Support (NLS) provides the tools you need for developing international software. NLS supports multiple languages, enabling application developers to localize software for multiple national markets quickly and easily. OSF adopted NLS as their cornerstone for internationalization technology. Servers with Unmatched Performance PA-RISC and HP-UX are highly tuned to provide outstanding performance as a database server, as a file server, and as a compute server. This unmatched performance across these server environments is validated through industry-standard benchmarks designed to allow you to make appropriate comparisons between systems. As a database server, the HP 9000 excels at both commercial OLTP and batch processing. HP's performance leadership is evidenced by both the TPC-A and TPC-C benchmarks for OLTP and TPC-B for batch. Based on real commercial applications, the TPC benchmarks are complete system-level benchmarks that exercise all system components. TPC benchmarks and OLTP estimates demonstrate the HP 9000 Series 800 Business Servers' far broader range of commercial performance than IBM, Sun, or NCR systems (see figure 2.3). In fact, results show that HP high-end systems are three times more powerful than the largest RS/6000, AS/400, or SPARCserver systems. [Illustration Title: Optimized Commercial Processing Performance] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.2 HP 9000 Series 800 Business Servers integrate performance enhancements at every level of the environment to give you superior database server, file server, and compute server performance.] [Illustration Title: Industry-Leading Transaction Performance] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.3 The above chart shows HP as the only major vendor that offers a single coherent platform spanning from desktop to datacenter.] HP systems are also excellent choices as file servers. LADDIS, a new benchmark that measures Network File System (NFS) server performance demonstrates HP's leadership. LADDIS emulates a software development environment with a heavy NFS workload. Like TPC-A, the HP 9000 has the industry's best LADDIS performance for any system available today. As compute servers, HP systems also shine. Benchmarks such as SPECint92 and SPECfp92 show HP's strong performance in integer and floating point environments, respectively. Thus, whether you need a database server, a file server, a compute server, or all three, the HP 9000 Series 800 Business Servers can provide you with the highest performance available. Leading Distributed Computing Solutions Many businesses are finding that traditional centralized computing systems are not able to keep pace with their business requirements. Furthermore, newest technological advances of mainframe power at the desktop, and easier to use desktop software allows users to be more productive and responsive in distributed computing environments. Thus, IT managers are leveraging this power by turning to distributed systems to better map their business needs to their IT infrastructure, while gaining significant competitive advantages. The Series 800 provides a solid foundation for distributed, client/server applications in an open environment (see figure 2.4). HP's Distributed Computing Environment (DCE/9000) is the industry's most comprehensive implementation of the Open Software Foundation's (OSF) DCE suite. [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.4 These cornerstone technologies provide a foundation for HP's distributed client/server architecture for HP-UX.] HP DCE/9000 provides a high-quality, fully-functional, standards based framework to develop, administer, manage, and use distributed applications. In addition to a robust and high performance offering, HP DCE/9000 also offers industry leading development, debugging, and management tools as well as comprehensive support, training, and education. With DCE/9000, users can have enterprise-wide, fully distributed applications with security, resource management, and file sharing handled transparently and automatically. Robust Transaction Management In addition to providing a solid platform for DCE based applications, HP is enhancing its distributed computing solution with complementary OLTP products. Distributed OLTP computing environments can be greatly enhanced with the use of transaction processing monitors that increase data integrity and system performance. It should come as no surprise that the industry's leading TP monitors are all available on the HP 9000 platform. Encina/9000 HP provides the Encina(R) transaction manager for data integrity in heterogeneous distributed OLTP environments. Encina/9000 is a breakthrough technology in several ways. While distributed processing is not a new concept, data integrity across different databases and hardware is new. And, HP's Encina offers this flexibility within a distributed multivendor environment. What's more, Encina/9000 offers this flexibility on a foundation of standards-based DCE services. CICS/9000(R) CICS is the dominant transaction monitor in traditional IBM mainframe environments and has been licensed to HP by IBM. IBM chose HP as the first non-IBM platform for CICS because of HP's leading market position in Open Systems. CICS/9000 will allow the many businesses with existing CICS applications and expertise to easily migrate and enjoy the open flexibility of the HP 9000 Series 800 platform. CICS/9000 leverages current investments in applications and people. Additional transaction processing solutions USL's Tuxedo System/T(R) and NCR's TopEnd(R) transaction processing monitors are also available for the HP 9000 through Independent Technologies, Inc. Integris and VISystems also offer CICS emulators for the HP 9000 Business Server. Powerful System and Network Management As computing power continues to migrate from centralized to distributed environments towards client/server environments, the need to simplify network and system integration becomes increasingly essential. To address this new paradigm, HP provides a comprehensive set of integrated systems and network management tools called HP OpenView. The unique and powerful features of OpenView have earned this product recognition as one of the top 20 products of the past 20 years.* The award recognized HP OpenView's significance in setting a new direction for the industry and establishing a de facto standard. With industry endorsements from OSF, IBM, Groupe Bull, and over 100 others, it brings together the products, partnerships, and expertise needed to manage performance, backup, and operations control. * Data Communications, DataCom User Survey, September 1992 HP system and network management tools are designed to facilitate corporate enterprise IT planning and resource allocation. HP OpenView: The Quickest and Smoothest Path to DME OSF's Distributed Management Environment (DME) will answer a huge challenge by providing a unified approach to managing systems, networks, and applications in multivendor, heterogeneous networks. Components of the HP OpenView Distributed Management Platform are the key components of DME and allow you to purchase with confidence, solutions based on DME-selected technologies today. The HP OpenView Network Management Architecture (NMA), for example, provides a modular distributed network management solution for managing an entire network of distributed multi- vendor computers and devices (see figure 2.5). [Illustration Title: HP OpenView Framework: The Quickest and Smoothest Path to DME] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.5 Starting with HP's OpenView Framework will pave the way to a fully distributed network management solution. HP's comprehensive network and system management capabilities from HP OpenView handle everything from simple, local-area networks to complete enterprise networks.] HP OpenView NMA features include: o Management of TCP/IP, SNMP, Novell, and OSI networks o An open application development environment, ensuring interoperability for today's and tomorrow's products o An advanced, yet intuitive graphical user interface using OSF/Motif o Multivendor flexibility, with HP OpenView available on HP-UX, MS-DOS(R), IBM, Sun, and Groupe Bull systems. Powerful local network management The HP OpenView Network Node Manager, which works on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) standard, enables a system administrator to configure, troubleshoot, and monitor performance for a network of TCP/IP nodes--all from a central workstation. The administrator can retrieve information from all TCP/IP hosts or devices on the network and display a network map, events, trends, and statistics graphically. HP OpenView's platform supports many applications, including OpenSNA from Peregrine Systems, which provides direct management of SNA networks from HP OpenView. Other HP OpenView products extend the power, resources, and security of HP 9000 Business Servers to PC users on local area networks. With all of these capabilities available on an economical HP 9000 Series 800 Business Server, instead of a mainframe, you can reduce your overall network management expense. Centralized enterprise network management The HP OpenView suite of network management utilities lets you use a Series 800 Business Server to host multiple network management applications. As a central point of administration, the HP OpenView platform integrates and routes management information transparently across the network, over routers and bridges, and stores it for immediate or deferred analysis or reporting. Using dynamic network mapping to locate and display all devices on the network, system administrators can maximize network availability, isolate and correct problems, and dramatically reduce administration time. Graphical user interface provides consistency HP OpenView incorporates a graphical user interface based on OSF/Motif. By providing an open view of the entire network, including all types of vendor and network elements, this interface enables the network manager to see the interaction between multiple components of the network and control different subnetworks through multiple windows and multiple displays as desired (see figure 2.6). [Illustration Title: HP OpenView] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.6 HP OpenView Windows-based screens simplify system and network management.] [Quote] "HP excelled not just in price/performance but in quality of support, integration, and communications expertise." --Ken Richardson, Technology Infrastructure Unit Project Manager, United Kingdom Post Office, (United Kingdom Post Office migrated from multiple AS/400's to the Series 800). Managing Multivendor Distributed Systems HP OpenView gives you a foundation for complete system management. Using HP OpenView OperationsCenter, a data center operator can manage networked systems from a single console so remote sites can run completely unattended. The HP OpenView OperationsCenter handles the monitoring and control of distributed operations through centralization, integration, and automation of these management activities. Thus, efficient operation of large distributed computing environments is easily managed with the HP OpenView OperationsCenter (see figure 2.7). [Illustration Title: HP's Powerful OpenView OperationsCenter Easily Manages Distributed Operations] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.7 Management of distributed computing environments is simple and efficient with HP's OpenView OperationsCenter, with a centralized approach to monitoring, event management, and console control.] Software distribution made easy HP OpenView Software Distributor facilitates single point software deployment for client/server distributed environments. This centralized management provides distributed installation, updates, and removal of software across a network. The result is easier software distribution which minimizes the total cost of software. Obtaining Timely Performance Information To maximize productivity from your existing hardware, software, and staff, you need concise, timely performance management information to help you anticipate problems before they arise and plan for future applications with confidence. HP performance solutions reduce information overload. Instead of burdening you with reams of performance data, they provide concise reports with meaningful recommendations. And presentation-quality graphic overviews help you analyze situations quickly and easily. Monitoring and diagnostic solutions resolve performance problems HP's on-line performance monitoring and diagnostic products help you isolate and resolve system performance bottlenecks. HP GlancePlus/UX gives you the system activity information you need to quickly identify and restore satisfactory service levels when occasional problems occur. HP's diagnostic solution, HP LaserRX/UX, combines historic performance data collection with graphic analysis software to help you analyze current and past system bottlenecks, manage service levels, and control resource costs. Capacity planning with confidence With HP capacity management solutions such as HP RXForecast, you can analyze workloads, forecast system resource requirements, and predict future performance. Enterprise performance management HP PerfView provides centralized performance management of distributed systems using management-by-exception techniques. Both graphic and textual notification appear on the HP OpenView map. In addition, the graphical user interface can be used to characterize and isolate performance problems. If you require more detail, HP GlancePlus can be used within the same user interface. HP PerfView, together with HP's other performance management products, helps you to identify and correct existing and potential performance problems before users notice. Cost-Effective Operations Control HP's innovative and standards-based spooling software, HP OpenSpool, enables users to easily perform complex local and remote spooling procedures (see figure 2.8). OpenSpool is the only commercial spooler available based on MIT's Palladium Toolkit selected by the OSF for DME. Together with HP LAN Manager/X, or HP NetWare/9000, HP OpenSpool provides networked spooling for PCs. [Illustration Title: HP Performance Monitoring Solutions] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.8 Interactive performance monitoring software can provide quick and easy access to dynamic information regarding system performance and resource utilization.] Versatile Backup Facilities To protect data against loss, reduce the system manager's archiving responsibility, and give users more control over archiving and retrieval of files, HP offers a robust set of backup solutions. HP OmniBack is a full-featured and versatile central and network backup system that can automate backup operations across a distributed network. [Quote] "Hewlett-Packard has learned from its history of extremely high customer satisfaction what users need and want in a a commercial system." --Aberdeen Group System administrators can manage backup from any of the nodes on the network. HP OmniBack also provides sophisticated journaling and scheduling capabilities. HP OmniBack/Turbo is the industry leading high performance backup solution with a backup rate of up to 15 to 20 Gbytes per hour. Rewritable optical library systems support lets you perform unattended backup and recovery of up to 2000 Gbytes of data (see figure 2.9). [Illustration Title: High-Performance Backup with HP OmniBack/Turbo] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.9 Our versatile HP OmniBack/Turbo solution delivers the high performance backup and recovery capability you need.] *PC backup requires Quest's Plan-B software Powerful System Administration As systems grow in complexity and size, simplifying system administration becomes more essential. To manage HP 9000 Business Servers, HP's powerful Motif-based System Administration Manager (SAM) enables you to perform system administration tasks quickly and easily. SAM's powerful features include: o Context-sensitive help--simplifies operation for novice system administrators o Information validity check--protects against potentially harmful errors o Customization/extensibility--enables system administrators to perform tasks specific to their environment. Complementary HP Channel Partner Solutions The combination of both the HP OpenView portfolio and the HP Channel Partner solutions provides our customers the industry's broadest choice of solutions for network and system management. Computer Associates data center management Through HP's strategic partnership with Computer Associates (CA), the largest software vendor in the world, the HP 9000 Series 800 family has become the first UNIX platform to take advantage of CA's rich data center systems management solutions, CA-UNICENTER for UNIX. CA's UNICENTER for UNIX is a comprehensive, integrated solution that addresses fundamental management areas, including security, control and audit; automated storage management; automated production control; performance management and accounting; and data center administration. Tivoli Systems distributed system management The HP 9000 platform coupled with the Tivoli Management Environment (TME) can help customers dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of managing distributed computing networks of workstations and servers from HP and other vendors. TME's object- oriented technology, applications, and graphical-user interface simplifies and automates the time-consuming administration and management tasks for complex multivendor distributed environments. High Availability and Security HP 9000 Business Servers bring traditional UNIX capabilities up to commercial standards, with a complete line of high-availability solutions ranging from high-quality, reliable systems to fault- tolerant computing systems. HP's complete line of high availability and security solutions meet your mission-critical needs for data security and system availability: o Security solutions provide added system security, combining flexibility with accountability to safeguard your data. o Power-fail auto-restart, disk arrays, transparent disk mirroring, and automatic system recovery capabilities ensure high system and data availability for a wide range of environments. o Fault tolerance is available for uninterruptable on-line processing and maximum availability. At HP, we recognize that in today's distributed client/server environments, data may be distributed and accessed across a wide variety and geography of systems. This makes the systems availability and security of data more important than ever. Enhanced data availability Processing mission-critical applications efficiently requires systems with high availability and data integrity. Unplanned downtime can impact a company's return on investment (ROI) with missed business opportunities, delayed or wasted labor, and disruption to schedules. HP 9000 systems answer the availability challenge with a choice of solutions to protect your investments in existing hardware and software (see figure 2.10). [Illustration Title: HP's Reliable Computing Solutions] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.10 HP lets you match your availability requirements with a variety of reliable computing solutions.] Start with HP's industry-leading, highly reliable Series 800 Business Servers, and increase system availability within the same server family as your needs grow. Or, for continuous operations, choose from HP 9000's robust fault-tolerant Series 1200 family. Highly reliable systems HP's leading-edge Precision Architecture RISC (PA-RISC) and advanced VLSI technology dramatically increase reliability. The mean time between failures (MTBF) for systems averages over three years. And uptime typically exceeds 99.7 percent. As a result, HP 9000 Business Servers keep your business running smoothly. HP-UX, the industry's most reliable UNIX-based computing environment, also contributes to highly reliable systems (see figure 2.11). Intensive and thorough testing before all major releases of our HP-UX operating system ensures that customers can develop and run applications with confidence. [Illustration Title: Industry-Leading Operating System Reliability] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.11 As independent studies show, HP leads the industry in reliability for UNIX implementations.] Powerful recovery capabilities prevent data loss To eliminate data loss from power interruptions, HP offers power- fail recovery products that preserve essential data through battery backup, and then automatically restart operation after power is restored. Increased data availability HP's Disk Arrays protect data and allow uninterrupted access to data in the event of a disk failure. A failed disk drive may be replaced online and the data automatically restored to the new drive without user interruption. Disk mirroring, available with HP's MirrorDisk/UX, prevents data loss by maintaining up to three copies of data on separate disks. That way, your data is still accessible after any single disk or controller failure. And you can perform on-line backups to maximize uptime. What's more, each of these capabilities is transparent to the software running on the system. Automatic system recovery increases uptime For those mission-critical applications requiring nearly continuous uptime, HP offers an automatic system recovery capability called HP Switchover/UX. You can run mission-critical applications on a primary system, while a standby system, which can also be used for less critical applications, monitors the primary system's health. If the primary system should fail, the standby system takes over automatically (see figure 2.12). A single standby system can monitor up to seven primary systems. Again, these capabilities are transparent to the software running on the system. [Illustration Title: HP Provides Effective Automatic Recovery Solutions] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.12 HP SwitchOver/UX significantly decreases unplanned server downtime due to processor related problems.] [Quote] "The Hewlett-Packard Business Servers provide us with a very reliable platform for our business and technical applications." --Klaus Stadler, Manager, Technical Development, BASF, November 1991 HP 9000 Series 1200 fault-tolerant systems For demanding on-line transaction processing applications, HP offers a scalable high-performance fault-tolerant solution designed for commercial environments. This solution allows uninter-ruptible processing and on-line CPU, disk, and input/output expansion_critical features for businesses that cannot afford anything less than 100 percent computing availability. Increased information security HP's enhanced operating system effectively addresses commercial security requirements. HP-UX incorporates features such as auditing, a protected password database, and extensive documentation to help users and systems administrators maintain a secure operating environment. It also provides Access Control Lists to give users the flexibility to authorize or restrict file access on a need-to-know basis (see figure 2.13). [Illustration Title: Enhanced Security for Commercial Environments] [Illustration Caption: Figure 2.13 HP-UX security solutions provide added UNIX security, combining flexibility with accountability to safeguard your data.] HP-UX is designed to meet the C2 level of security as defined by the Department of Defense (DoD). For customers with more restrictive and complex security requirements, HP provides an enhanced "multi-level" secure version of HP-UX called HP-UX BLS, which exceeds the DoD requirements for a B1 rating. What's more, security software tools are available that automate the process of identifying and correcting security violations and vulnerabilities in standalone or networked environments. Examples of leading HP Channel Partner Solutions that provide enhanced security solutions for HP-UX include: SecureMax/UX from DeMax Software, and Security Toolkit from Raxco. CA-UNICENTER from Computer Associates provides a comprehensive offering which includes a security audit and control module, as well as facilities for all general system administration tasks. In addition, HP is addressing distributed environment security challenges through its OSF Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) offering. [Quote] "The Department's requirement for multiple levels of security on the same system is a high priority, and HP's B-level security, UNIX-System-based solution met our security needs." --Tony Skinner, Australian Diplomatic Communications Network Project Manager, Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade