Learning to Live with OS/2

Not long after you read this, IBM should release the new server version of its venerable OS/2 operating system. As you've probably heard by now, the new product is going to be called Warp Server, and it's going to be aimed squarely at organizations that are currently using (or might otherwise use) Windows NT Server. For once, IBM seems to have set its sights carefully, which means that Windows NT users are going to see a lot that's familiar in Warp Server, and they'll probably find a lot that they like.

Of course, that's exactly what IBM has in mind. Big Blue wants NT customers to like Warp Server so much that they'll consider buying it for those tasks where NT won't work or where Warp Server might make more sense. It's not clear whether current users of NT Server will make a wholesale switch to Warp Server, but there's a good chance that you could find yourself with a network that's more heterogeneous than it once was and that you could be dealing with OS/2 as well as NT.

Taking Direct Aim
One way that IBM plans to make you love having Warp Server on your network is to make it just like NT in those areas that count. By all indications, the company has done its homework, too. Warp Server has many of the features that NT users are used to, plus it keeps the parts of OS/2 that add strength to that operating system.

A couple of the features that are coming with Warp Server used to be pretty much exclusive to Windows NT Server. For example, Warp's previously awful installation routines have been fixed, the auto-detection routines work, and installations with Warp Server are just about as easy as they are with NT Server.

Likewise, Warp Server includes a Novell NetWare gateway so that users of Warp Server can have file and print services from NetWare. Also, like NT Server, Warp Server supports Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), which is an advanced way of sharing TCP/IP addresses. More importantly, though, Warp Server is configured to "talk" to Microsoft networking assets. Thus, when Warp Server looks over the network for other assets, its browser can find NT Server machines, as well as LAN Manager, Windows for Workgroups (WFW), and Windows 95 machines.

Otherwise, Warp Server is a lot like its predecessor, IBM LAN Server. Like NT Server, Warp's native language is NetBIOS, so it will interact well with Microsoft networking, if not actually seamlessly. Although Warp Server can "see" NT assets on the network, NT can't necessarily see Warp Server because NT's browser doesn't pick it up. However, if you enter the domain and server names explicitly, NT can see and work with it just fine.

Why Use Warp Server?
So, why might a company use Warp Server when it has NT Server? That's a good question, and the answer usually boils down to vertical applications and IBM mainframes. The facts are that there are a lot of OS/2 vertical applications, and a lot of them are designed to work in a client/server environment. Many of them also expect to find their data on IBM databases residing on IBM mainframe computers.

Although there's no shortage of ways to access mainframes from NT Server, IBM has worked hard to create a way of getting from OS/2 machines, especially from Warp Server, to its mainframes. If you need an application server that can get to data on your ES/9000, you'll probably have better luck with OS/2 than with NT.

Likewise, because OS/2 has been around longer and especially because it has the blessing of IBM, a number of companies started developing industry-specific software for OS/2. This effort went further when Microsoft was involved in developing OS/2--companies decided that with the two big operating-system developers cooperating on one solution, OS/2 had to be the safest approach. That changed, but by the time it did, a lot of development decisions were already under way. A lot of OS/2-based vertical applications have since appeared.

Although it's likely that these applications may eventually appear in versions for NT, right now they're aimed at OS/2. If you want to use them, adding an OS/2 application server to your network is your best option.