[3330] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
IBM: What is "Bluebird"?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Timothy Sipples)
Sat Aug 30 11:28:11 1997
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 28 Aug 1997 14:02:00 -0400
From: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy Sipples)
Reply-To: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy Sipples)
Reply-to: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy Sipples)
[Followups directed to comp.os.os2.misc]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
What is WorkSpace On-Demand (known during its development as "Bluebird")?
Why is it unique in bringing huge cost savings to PC owners?
The following article was excerpted from WarpFM (available on the Internet
at http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp).
The Architecture of the Technology Code-named Bluebird
It takes only two conceptual changes to transform the elements of today's
client server systems into the components for a network computing based
infrastructure. The first transformation comes from letting the server
provide the operating system, applications and configuration information
for all its clients rather than relying on local hard drives. The second
adjustment is to the notion of the client as an indivisible combination of
hardware and end user. The new view separates the machine from the person
using it into two distinct entities, each of which functions differently.
The major benefits of the technology code-named Bluebird originate from
these two transforming principles. The first concept enables the
centralized management of Bluebird clients. All client code is maintained
on the server just as it would be kept on the C drive in a desktop system.
Any necessary updates to operating system, application or device driver
programs are made once for all clients on the network. Any code and data
the client needs is downloaded from the server as it needed. Downloading
code just-in-time ensures that the client is always using the most recent
updates.
The second idea forms the basis for a roaming client user -- that is, a
user can log onto any machine and have access to the desktop layout and
applications as specified in his profile. When the client is viewed only as
the hardware, the client becomes a stationary element in the system, rather
than a virtual desktop that can be accessed from anywhere in the network.
The Bluebird architecture follows logically from the two transforming
principles. It is comprised of a server and a client component. The server
functions can be categorized into three areas:
* Client System Software Installation and Configuration
* Remote Boot Service
* Roaming Application Access.
All three categories are supported by a User Authentication and Logon
Management system. These four functional areas currently run on OS/2 Warp
Server but the architecture is designed for portability to other server
platforms.
The Client System Software Installation and Configuration functions consist
of the tools for managing the client. These include graphical programs that
install new applications, define new users, and fine tune client system
elements such as video resolution. System administrators can access these
utilities either from the server or from a workstation set up as an "Admin
Client". This server centered design enables "roaming administrators" who
can sit at any connected workstation to manage the other clients in the
network. The system design reflects the expectation that administration
will be done from either an OS/2 Warp client or Warp Server workstation.
The Remote Boot Service manages the hardware initialization process. The
server is constantly on alert for client boot requests. Client machines are
set up to request service from the network when they are powered on. The
server responds by sending the operating system and configuration
information to the requester. The server also determines and then downloads
the device drivers needed to properly initialize that particular system.
Once the boot is complete, the screen displays a logon panel.
Conceptually the boot is the same as on today's OS/2 systems. The main
difference is that instead of booting from a local hard disk, the machine
boots from a remote storage device connected to a server system. And of
course, the server's work is more complicated. First of all, it must
determine from its list of connected machines, which physical set up is
sending the request. And secondly, the messages and instructions must
navigate the network to get from the server to the targeted machine's
random access memory (RAM).
The Roaming Application Access works because the technology code-named
Bluebird has separated the machine aspect of the client from the user. The
application access services ensure the user gets the desktop specified by
his requirements from any PC connected to the Bluebird server's network.
When a person enters a userid and password, the information is
authenticated with a profile maintained at the server. The server checks a
domain control database to determine what applications are assigned to
populate the user's desktop.
The User Authentication and logon management system works in conjunction
with the three base functional areas. It is involved in a lot of the work
that the server performs. For example, when an administrator adds a new
userid to the network, this system allows him to allocate required network
resources. This system also handles the logon process.
The Bluebird technology based client can run a number of application types
-- Java, OS/2, DOS or Windows 3.x all from a simplified server-managed
desktop. A Bluebird client can also run Win 32 applications when it is
configured with the Citrix Windows 3.1 Client. It can also be used for 3270
or 5250 terminal emulation to hook up to a mainframe server.
The uniqueness of the client based on the technology code-named Bluebird is
its ability to be defined with a number of different desktops. The system
is architected so that an administrator can configure the client interface
to be the Netscape Browser or a customer defined application. The default
network user interface (NUI) consists of icons defined from the server that
cannot be altered by the end user.
Users launch applications by clicking on an icon. This initiates the
download of the executable code from the server to the client memory, where
it runs like on today's desktop systems. The difference is that instead of
using a local disk drive, the server is used to remotely move code from
storage into memory. Since the code executes locally applications should
have generally the same performance level that they have on current
operating systems.
For all intents and purposes, the system treats the server hard drive as it
would the C drive. So when a user creates a file, for example a personal
address book for Lotus Organizer, the system writes the data to the server
as if it was writing it to a local drive. But since the file is on the
server, the user can access it from any machine on the network after proper
authentication.
The client does include a base operating system but it restricts local disk
access. Another difference is that at the end of the boot sequence, the
user sees a logon screen rather his desktop. The logon interface allows the
user to identify himself to the server.
It's remarkable that an architecture resulting from a simple change of
perspective can yield such significant benefits without taking away from
what existed before. The targeted population for the technology code-named
Bluebird, which is about 70% of all enterprise users, will see no change in
functional capabilities from their current systems. Yet the conceptual
changes implemented in the this technology will profoundly affect the total
cost of ownership of a company's computing infrastructure.
_____________________________________________________________________
| NOTE: Please send submissions by EMAIL os2_ann_req@bix.com
| Correspondence to the COOA Moderator: lfirrantello@bix.com .
| Please see: http://www.bix.com/pub/os2ann/pindex.htm for posting guidelines
