Comparing Sun Solaris 9 and Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Technologies

Published: March 2003

Abstract

This paper describes the differences between the Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 family and Solaris 9 Operating System from Sun Microsystems. This paper focuses on five topics: hardware support, Internet services, reliability, manageability, and development and deployment.


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Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Packaging 6

Hardware Support 7

CPU, SMP, and Clustering Support 7

Device Support 9

Hardware Summary 11

Internet Services 13

Internet Standards Support 13

Scalability 14

Internet Service Management 16

Security 16

Internet Service Summary 18

Reliability 19

Core System Reliability 19

Fault-Tolerant Device Support 20

Fault-Tolerant Resource Sharing 20

Failure Recovery 21

Dynamic Reconfiguration 23

Windows Datacenter Program 23

Reliability Summary 25

Manageability 26

Management Interface 26

Keeping Current 27

Directories and User Authentication 28

Managing the Desktop 29

System Deployment 30

Manageability Summary 31

Development and Deployment 32

General Application Development Environment 32

Web Application Development Environment 32

Development and Deployment Summary 34

Conclusions 35

For More Information 37


Introduction

The server operating system is a core part of any company’s overall IT infrastructure. The operating system on your servers must do much more than just share files among users on a LAN. Servers must provide the infrastructure for IT, serve as the platform for business applications, and provide sharing and collaboration services locally (over an intranet) and globally (over the Internet). To work effectively, an operating system must provide a comprehensive and connected suite of services, including data storage, directory, security, and backup services to support a range of customer scenarios.

You must have an effective operating system that can support these services and can also provide information and applications to users. The operating system must be flexible and able to meet many different demands. The operating system must provide a reliable, available, and serviceable environment that is easy to manage and use.

Recent trends have led to modular, flexible applications that use a number of independent but compatible services. These services are provided by using a distributed computing model, which moves the focus away from the desktop to an array of servers that can support a large number of service requests on demand.

This change in how services are provided has led to a change in the way that servers are configured and deployed. A large, central server that provides multiple services while it supports the needs of many users is seldom the right choice because it lacks flexibility and the ability to be expanded in small increments. Instead, customers are using an array of servers to provide a range of server and application services. Each server is part of the integrated system, and the whole system must be easy to manage and control.

The change in how services are provided has not changed the requirements for availability. Data center applications are expected to always be available, and system downtime that is not scheduled is not tolerated. To achieve a high level of availability, systems must support clustering and device failover, such as the support that is offered by other storage systems. If you use multiple servers to provide a service, you must also efficiently distribute requests to servers that can process the requests.

In every environment, the operating system must be scalable, whether in a small or medium-sized business that runs an internal service or in a large enterprise data center that supports a global service.

For such an operating system to be viable, it must be easy to manage and low cost, both at the time of the initial purchase and during its ongoing support and management.

Traditionally, UNIX platforms, primarily led by Sun Microsystems Solaris operating system running on the SPARC platform, provided servers with this combination of features. UNIX, and more recently Linux, has often been the solution of choice at all levels in all types of organizations. However, because Windows server technology continues to evolve, Windows Server 2003 now provides features that are comparable to UNIX implementations. These features are often provided as standard components of Windows Server 2003, including features that require additional software in a UNIX environment. These features include directory services, load balancing, clustering, software update services, and advanced network and resource management tools. Windows Server 2003 extends these features to include an integrated service that provides Web and Internet applications.

Solaris is available for the SPARC platform and a limited set of x86-based servers. The price and performance of SPARC platforms have improved, but SPARC has not yet matched levels that are provided by x86-based servers. To gain clustering and Web application support on the SPARC platform, you must invest in additional hardware and software.

Windows Server 2003 takes advantage of the Intel platform and includes support for both the existing IA-32 and the IA-64 processor architecture. The cost of Intel hardware, even with symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and advanced storage solutions, is much lower than comparable SPARC-based servers. Recent advances also mean that memory and bandwidth limitations of Intel hardware are no longer serious issues.

In today’s business environment, the most important criteria to use when comparing the two operating systems include:

· Hardware Support. With the cost of hardware continually falling, an operating system must take the best advantage of the leading hardware from a wide range of suppliers and take advantage of compatible hardware enhancements that are offered by third-party companies.

· Internet Services. The way that companies deploy and manage their Internet presence affects how customers and clients perceive the company. Access times, availability, and the ability to easily deploy and build feature-rich sites are all critical components of a company’s Internet presence. The operating system should provide a comprehensive foundation for Internet-enabled services.

· Reliability. Companies are no longer expected to only remain open eight hours a day, five days a week. Services, especially on the Internet, must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To support this, the operating system must provide maximum reliability and availability through both software-level services and hardware support.

· Manageability. With servers distributed over multiple networks and locations, administrators need tools that permit them to centrally manage their servers and provide comprehensive management and support services to their users.

· Development and Deployment. Reducing the time to market for applications and services is vital. Having a coherent environment where applications can be easily developed and deployed with a minimum of effort is as important as the reliability of the target platform.

Packaging

In Solaris 9, Sun Microsystems has changed how it packages various management tools and middleware applications. For example, Solaris 9 now includes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory server, developer versions of a Java application server, and other tools. The combination of Solaris and these applications is the Sun Open Network Environment (Sun ONE). There is one version of Solaris 9 but with different licenses, including Workgroup, Midrange, and Datacenter, depending on the CPUs on the Sun server.

Solaris 9 supports the main Internet protocols for TCP/IP networking; LDAP directory; e-mail; domain name services; Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP); and file transfer protocol (FTP). Solaris 9 also supports remote management capabilities and standard remote access features. Solaris 9 also includes development versions of the Sun ONE Web Server, Enterprise Edition 6.0; Sun ONE Portal Server 3.0 and Sun ONE Message Queue for Java 3.0; and the Sun ONE Studio development environment for Java.

The Windows Server 2003 family includes the following products:

· Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition. Includes four-way SMP support, support for up to 4 gigabytes (GB) of memory, and incorporates the standard suite of management tools, resource sharing, and Web publishing systems.

· Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition. Supports eight-way SMP hardware and up to 32 GB of RAM with 32-bit processors and 64 GB of RAM with 64-bit processors. Also includes support for clustering of up to eight nodes and network load balancing and is optimized for use in environments that require high availability.

· Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition. Supports 32-way SMP hardware, up to 64 GB of physical memory, and 8-node clustering. Includes support for clustering and network load balancing features and tuned for data warehouses that support online transaction processing (OLTP).

· Windows Server 2003, Web Edition. Caters to the specific needs of Web servers. Based on Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, also supports two CPUs and 2 GB of RAM. Highly optimized for Web servers and includes the ASP.NET application technology and the Microsoft® .NET Framework for deploying Web applications.

Like Solaris 9, all Windows Server 2003 products support standard Internet protocols for TCP/IP networking, LDAP directory services, domain name services, DHCP, file sharing and transfer (including FTP), and remote management. Additionally, all Windows Server 2003 products incorporate the Active Directory® directory service for managing access and authentication to systems and services on the network, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) for enterprise management, and IntelliMirror® management technologies for managing user files and configuration settings.

Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition is supplied through authorized OEMs, who, in cooperation with Microsoft, rigorously test the integrated systems that they offer. Support is offered through the Microsoft High Availability Resolution Queue (HARQ). These support queues are staffed by OEM and Microsoft personnel to help resolve problems quickly with one telephone call. The Windows Datacenter Program now has third-party certified Datacenter Support Providers to expand customer support options for Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition.

Hardware Support

Cost is a key concern for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and IT managers. While hardware costs decrease almost daily, the scalability and availability requirements that customers demand of data centers are increasing. Many systems can now support large numbers of CPUs and have advanced storage options, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) arrays and storage area networks. To best use this hardware, the operating system must support the equipment at the system level. The operating system integrates with the hardware rather than relying on third-party applications and extensions to provide access to standard equipment. One example is the integration of the operating system and power management systems. The ability to switch over to an alternative power source should be a feature of the operating system because power is essential for availability.

Hardware and software costs are only one part of the total cost of ownership. Reducing the total cost requires hardware and software that is low in initial cost and even more importantly, in its ongoing support costs. In particular, today’s business environment requires the highest levels of availability and exceptional management capabilities. Hardware must be resilient, and the operating system must be aware of special high availability hardware features, both for monitoring purposes and for providing a reliable solution.

The operating system must monitor the hardware configuration, detect anomalies, and then permit actions that promote overall reliability. Support for reliability must be provided at the single system level, such as when an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) switches to battery power, and at the distributed system level. A business environment, for example, must be able to handle application server component failure, by using network load balancing or clustering solutions that provide redundant servers and components to take over from failed devices without significant loss of service. This configuration isolates users from the effects of a failure.

Providing this level of availability goes beyond the abilities of standard hardware technologies. A support network has to support the operating system and hardware to ensure the continued compatibility of operating system and hardware. The support network must also make sure that the operating system can take advantage of hardware features that support reliable operation. Any additional hardware and software that you use should be subject to the same testing and standards as the operating system.

CPU, SMP, and Clustering Support

Both Solaris 9 and the products in the Windows Server 2003 family support multiple-CPU configurations. Solaris is primarily used on Sun’s own UltraSPARC microprocessor-based servers. The UltraSPARC microprocessor architecture is a proprietary Sun design that is also licensed to third parties. It is only used in desktop and server solutions from Sun and a few other low-volume manufacturers. This means that Sun must amortize the huge design cost itself and can only test across a small number of systems. Intel, however, can spread out its design cost across millions of computers that are sold by hundreds of manufacturers. AMD is an additional source of Intel-compatible processors, and they provide a competitive environment that Sun does not experience.

The current generation of UltraSPARC is UltraSPARC III, and UltraSPARC III is a standard component on a majority of the Sun servers that are currently being shipped. UltraSPARC III speeds are currently in the 1 gigahertz (GHz) to 1.5 GHz range. Solaris 9 supports SMP solutions across the whole range of SPARC-based servers and workstations.