Peaceful Coexistence with OS/2
Fortunately, with the advent of Warp Server, living with OS/2 on your network can be fairly painless. As far as most NT applications are concerned, it's just another NT file server. In fact, in its new version, Warp Server can share domain-controller tasks with NT Server.
There are a few glitches, of course. For example, the management tools for one don't work with the other. This is less of a problem than it might be with some operating systems because neither one requires the level of hands-on management that a UNIX system might require. However, it's still an inconvenience. Fortunately, most of the management tools for either product will run from a workstation, so you don't have to live in the server room. You must, however, have workstations running the appropriate operating system.
Backups can be an issue because the same backup tools might not work with both systems. Warp Server has a potential solution: A clever package called Personally Safe n' Sound is designed to back up any drive that OS/2 knows about, including drives belonging to NT Server platforms. In addition, IBM says that its backup solution will back up Warp Server to other network resources, including other network drives, by the time the product is released. This means that you can add Warp Server to your network, set up the backup software, and then continue to handle backups just as you did before.
Interface Issues
OK, so it's a nice product. Does that mean you're going to be able to just drop an OS/2 Warp Server platform onto your existing network and never notice the change? Well, no. There are differences.
The most obvious difference is that OS/2 has a user interface that is significantly different from NT's. Although there will be fewer differences when the new NT shell is released--perhaps within the next couple of months--the fact is that IBM's object-oriented Workplace Shell is a lot different from what you're used to with NT. Nearly everything works by dragging, dropping, clicking the right-hand mouse button, and making entries into setting objects that look like books--none of which is hard, but all of which requires learning. If you're planning to add Warp Server to your network, plan to take some extra time to train your server operator.
The next biggest difference is that OS/2 isn't NT when you get down to the network hardware level. In other words, the drivers for network interface cards are different, the process of installing peripherals is different, and products that work with NT Server may not work the same way with Warp Server.
Still, the two network operating systems work together surprisingly well. If you're faced with the prospect of working with Warp Server, you might have to do some learning, but it won't be that hard. Warp Server might even offer your business some capabilities that it wouldn't get any other way. After all, the two operating systems speak the same language, they share the same roots, and they're obviously related. Think of them as members of a family that hasn't had a reunion for a while.
Shutdown and Restart
This is my last column for Windows NT Magazine. As sometimes happens in publishing, events have come to take me away from this assignment, while offering me some new and exciting challenges. I'll still be around from time to time, so you can look for my byline here--just not in this column.
It's been exciting being a part of this magazine as it was born. It's a form of excitement that I never tire of. Good luck to Mark and Jane and all the other staffers at Windows NT Magazine. It's been great being a columnist here.
[Editor's Note: Our thanks to Wayne Rash for his insightful and interesting columns. We will miss them.]