Viability and Promise Within NASA's Desktop Computing Environment
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NASA/TM--1998-112219 Network Computer Technology Phase I: Viability and Promise within NASA's Desktop Computing Environment Peter Paluzzi, Rosalind Miller, West Kurihara, and Megan Eskey January 1998 The NASA STI Program Office... in Profile Since its founding. NASA has been dedicated to CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected the advancement of aeronautics and space science. papers from scientific and technical confer- The NASA Scientific and Technical Information ences, symposia, seminars, or other meetings (STI) Program Office plays a key part in helping sponsored or cosponsored by NASA. NASA maintain this important role. SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, technical, The NASA STI Program Office is operated by or historical information from NASA programs, Langley Research Center, the Lead Center for projects, and missions, often concerned with NASA's scientific and technical information. The subjects having substantial public interest. NASA STI Program Office provides access to the NASA STI Database, the largest collection of TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. aeronautical and space science STI in the world. English-language translations of foreign scien- The Program Office is also NASA's institutional tific and technical material pertinent to NASA's mechanism for disseminating the results of its mission. research and development activities. These results are published by NASA in the NASA STI Report Specialized services that complement the STI Series, which includes the following report types: Program Office's diverse offerings include creating custom thesauri, building customized databases, organizing and publishing research results.., even TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. Reports of providing videos. completed research or a major significant phase of research that present the results of NASA For more information about the NASA STI Pro- programs and include extensive data or theoreti- gram Office, see the following: cal analysis. Includes compilations of significant scientific and technical data and information • Access the NASA STI Program Home Page at deemed to be of continuing reference value. http ://www.sti.nasa.gov NASA's counterpart of peer-reviewed formal professional papers but has less stringent • E-mail your question via the Internet to limitations on manuscript length and extent of [email protected] graphic presentations. • Fax your question to the NASA Access Help TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM. Scientific and Desk at (301) 621-0134 technical findings that are preliminary or of = specialized interest, e.g., quick release reports, • Telephone the NASA Access Help Desk at working papers, and bibliographies that contain (30I) 621-0390 minimal annotation. Does not contain extensive analysis. Write to: NASA Access Help Desk CONTRACTOR REPORT. Scientific and NASA Center for AeroSpace Information technical findings by NASA-sponsored contrac- 800 Elkridge Landing Road tors and grantees. Linthicum Heights, MD 21090-2934 NASA/TM--1998-112219 Network Computer Technology Phase I: Viability and Promise within NASA's Desktop Computing Environment Peter Paluzzi, Rosalind Miller, West Kurihara, and Megan Eske); Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California 93035-1000 January 1998 Acknowledgments This Phase I report is a compilation of all the contributions made by the network computer evaluation Blue and Red team members at Ames Research Center, as well as discussions, documentation, equipment, and technical assistance provided by industry partners from Sun Microsystems, Inc.; IBM Corporation; Network Computing Devices, Inc.; HDS Network Systems, Inc.; Wyse Technology, Inc.; Oracle Corporation; and Corel Corporation. Key Ames contributers: Blue Team Red Team Megan Eskey Mike Bridges West Kurihara Rosalind Miller _puter Support Services Peter Paluzzi Robert A. Carlson Systems and Network Administration IT Security Nancy Eller Ed Chan Steven Kiefel Paul Ma West Kurihara Bert Seltzer Key industu' contributers: Sun Micros_'stems IBM NCD Kathy Barnhan Allen Eisen Tom Canning Greg Hansen Sundar Raman Mona Barghouti Cheryl Marfia Bernie Trigeiro Available from: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information National Technical Information Service 800 Elkridge Landing Road 5285 Port Royal Road Linthicum Heights, MD 21090-2934 Springfield, VA 22161 Pricc Code: A 17 Price Code: Al0 Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 Executive Summary .....................................................................................................................................................................................................l CIO Vision--Doing More for Less ...................................................................................................................................................................1 Network Computer Technology and the CIO Vision ............................................................................................................................... 1 Technology Assessment and Issues ......................................................................................................................................................................5 Maturity, Development, and Growth of NCT ..............................................................................................................................................5 Costs and Savings ....................................................................................................................................................................................................6 Initial Capital Costs ...........................................................................................................................................................................................6 Total Cost of Ownership ...................................................................................................................................................................................7 Productivity Gains and Management Improvement .................................................................................................................................8 Centralized Management ................................................................................................................................................................................8 Unifying Software Platform ............................................................................................................................................................................9 Centrally Managed Storage .........................................................................................................................................................................10 Network and Server Impact ..............................................................................................................................................................................I0 Training and Migration .......................................................................................................................................................................................11 Matching NCT Alternatives to Applications ............................................................................................................................................ 11 The Need for Better Metrics ............................................................................................................................................................................11 The Roles Played by Java and Legacy Applications ........................................................................................................................... 12 Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 NCT Evaluation Project .....................................................................................................................................................................................13 Background .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Rationale .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Project Management ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Evaluation Project Approach ...........................................................................................................................................................................13 Solicited Industry Partners and NASA Customer Involvement .................................................................................................. 14 Established NCT Laboratory .......................................................................................................................................................................14