Server Operating System: Windows NT(Windows 2000) vs. Unix

Zaiqun Pan

August 2000

Overview

IntroductionComparison of Windows NT Server 4.0 and

Unix Basic features General comparison Examples Windows 2000 new features

Conclusions

Introduction

Operating systems: DOS, Windows 95/98/NT, Unix (AIX, Linux, FreeBSD, and BSDI UNIX, Solaris, Digital Unix, etc), OS/2, Mac OS,etc.

The most popular OS for server: Windows NT 4.0 and UNIX. UNIX has a slight advantage over Windows NT in market.

Basic Features (1)Features Windows NT Common UNIXFile system NTFS, or FAT UFS

Network filesystem

SMB, CIFS NFS

Recovery ofdeletions

Sometimes No

Multitasking Yes Yes

Multiprocessing Yes Yes

Basic Features (2)

Features Windows NT Common UNIXMultiuser Yes Yes

Multicommands Yes Yes

32-bit Yes At least

MemeroyAddressingcapability

4 GB 4 GB

Genral Comparisons (1)Windows NT Common UNIX

SCALABILITY The largest successful NT single-server implementations supportabout 450 users.

The largest Unix single serverinstallations support about 1,800 users.

COST The entry price for NT softwareand hardware usually beats non-freeUnix.

Total cost of ownership for non-freeUnix and NT is comparable.

AVAILABILITY NT's clustering ability is improvingbut still immature.

Unix can cluster multiple servers so that ifone fails another can automatically fill thebreach.

STABILITY NT tends to crash more often inenterprise settings.

Unix is widely acknowledgedto be more stable.

EASE OFLEARNING

A GUI helps make learning thebasics of NT easy.

Unix is usually more difficult to learn forbeginners.

SOFTWAREAVAILABILITY

NT applications are expected tooutnumber Unix applications in afew years.

Unix currently holds the edge in thenumber of available applications..

General Comparisons (2)Windows NT Common UNIX

HARDWAREINDEPENDENCE

NT can run on many vendors'servers.

Unix systems run on several proprietaryformats.

MANAGEABILITY Central NT management isdifficult.

Some say Unix manageability still needsimprovement.

SUPPORTSKILLS

There is a critical shortage of NTexpertise in enterprise settings.

IS personnel have had more experiencewith Unix, but skilled workers are not easyto find..

VENDORSUPPORT

Microsoft is working to improvesupport.

Unix enterprise support is established..

MOMENTUM NT has tremendous marketmomentum and superior brandimage. Many observers predict itwill eventually be the dominantserver platform.

Unix installations are still growing,particularly in high-end, mission-criticalsettings. But Unix is losing ground to NT inworkgroup settings.

Example of Performance

Job

proc

essi

ng T

ime

Workload

NT

Unix

Example of Price Comparison

Component BSDI Internet Server Windows NT ServerOperating System $995 $700Web Server, FTP server inc. inc.Telnet Server inc. sharewareSMTP/POP3 Server inc. $500NFS Client & Server inc. $600X Windows Server inc. $500Remote Management Tools inc. $200News Server inc. $500C and C++ compilers inc. $500 (MS Visual C++)Revision Control System inc. $500UNIX utilities inc. $500Total $995 up to $4000

Windows 2000 New Features

1. More stability 2. Improved Performance 3. Active directory 4. XML parser 5. Component Object model + (COM) 6. High throughput & bandwidth utilization 7. Public key infrastructure 8. Encryption File System 9. Support Digital devices (such as DVD)

Conclusions

Windows NT and UNIX have its own strength and weakness.

Generally speaking, for a small group, NT fits better. For high demanding work, Unix is the choice.