Microsoft ® Windows NT™ from a Unix ® Point of View A White Paper from the Business Systems Technology Series Microsoft Windows NT ™ from a Unix ® Point of View A White Paper from the Business Systems Technology Series Abstract This paper provides a technical overview of Windows NT for the information technology (IT) professional with a strong background in Unix. It approaches the subject from the Unix point of view and relates the concepts of Windows NT to corresponding ones found in Unix. It begins with a technical comparison of the two operating systems, moves on to cover how the two can coexist in a heterogeneous environment, and finishes with a brief section describing some of the tools available to aid developers in creating applications for both platforms. About the Microsoft Business Systems Technology Series The Microsoft® Business Systems Technology Series consists of a number of interrelated white papers dedicated to educating information technology (IT) professionals about Windows NT and the Microsoft BackOffice™ family of products. While current technologies used in Microsoft products are often covered, the real purpose of this series is to give the reader an idea of how major technologies are evolving, how Microsoft is using those technologies, and what this means to IT planners. Legal Notice The descriptions of other companies’ products in this paper are provided only as a convenience to the reader. Microsoft cannot guarantee their accuracy, and the products may change over time. Also, the descriptions are intended as brief highlights to aid understanding, rather than as thorough coverage. For authoritative descriptions of these products, please consult their respective manufacturers. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, this document should not be interpreted as a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT. ©1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, MS-DOS, PowerPoint, Visual Basic, Windows, and Win32 are registered trademarks, and BackOffice, SQL Server, Visual C++, and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. America Online is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc. AT&T is a registered trademark of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. AppleTalk is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Borland is a registered trademark of Borland International, Inc. CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe, Inc. CA-Unicenter is a registered trademark of Computer Associates International, Inc. Alpha AXP, DEC, DECnet, PDP-11, VAX, VMS and VT 100 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Hewlett-Packard, HP, and HP-UX are registered trademarks, and MPE is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. IBM and OS/2 are registered trademarks and CICS and RACF are trademarks of the International Business Machine Company. Kerberos and X Window System are trademarks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Micro Focus is a registered trademark of Micro Focus Limited. MIPS and R4000 are registered trademarks of MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. (USL). USL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Novell, Inc. DCE and OSF are registered trademarks of the Open Software Foundation. Prodigy is a trademark of Prodigy Services Company. Open Desktop and SCO are registered trademarks of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. SunSoft is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Incorporated. Unicode is a trademark of Unicode, Incorporated. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and or other countries licensed exclusively by X/Open, Ltd. XX2345-8 0895 Part No. 098-61913 Printed in the United States of America Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 A Tale of Two Operating Systems .................................................................................. 1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................................... 2 UNIX .............................................................................................................................. 2 Windows NT ................................................................................................................... 3 TECHNICAL COMPARISON : W INDOWS NT AND UNIX .......................................................... 4 Operating System Basics................................................................................................ 4 Networking/Communication......................................................................................... 13 File Systems.................................................................................................................. 17 Distributed Computing - Directory Services ................................................................ 20 Security......................................................................................................................... 24 System Administration.................................................................................................. 30 User Interface and Environment .................................................................................. 37 Hardware Platforms..................................................................................................... 42 UNIX -BASED ENVIRONMENT ON WINDOWS NT ................................................................ 45 Overview....................................................................................................................... 45 Network Access Utilities............................................................................................... 45 Tools............................................................................................................................. 46 Network File Systems ................................................................................................... 47 WINDOWS -BASED ENVIRONMENT ON UNIX ....................................................................... 49 Overview....................................................................................................................... 49 Emulation Basics.......................................................................................................... 49 Commercial Packages.................................................................................................. 49 CROSS -PLATFORM APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT ............................................................ 51 Overview....................................................................................................................... 51 Language Support ........................................................................................................ 51 Conversion Tools.......................................................................................................... 52 Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)................................................................ 54 WISE SDK .................................................................................................................... 55 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 57 APPENDIX A: A SSISTANCE ................................................................................................ 58 Customer Support......................................................................................................... 58 Windows NT Resource Kit............................................................................................ 60 Books............................................................................................................................ 60 Technical White Papers................................................................................................ 61 Training Materials ....................................................................................................... 61 APPENDIX B: C ONTACTS ................................................................................................... 62 Third-Party Vendor Reference ..................................................................................... 62 APPENDIX C: G LOSSARY ................................................................................................... 66 Executive Summary Companies today are actively re-engineering their information technology (IT) organizations to become closely integrated with mainline business processes. To keep pace with the rapidly changing business environment, organizations must move forward while, at the same time, leveraging their investment in existing systems. For many, integration between Unix® and the Microsoft® Windows®-family of operating systems, especially Windows NT™, has become a critical success factor. This paper is written for IT professionals with a strong background in Unix. It begins by describing the architecture