HP Visualize B1000 Supplementary Manual page 6

Migrating Only
the Minimal
Client Piece
Conclusion
02/04/00
The migration of the client or interface portion allows this path to provide for utilizing
technical NT workstation and the Windows NT GUI as a "front end" to the technical
applications and environment on UNIX. For example, this could entail providing an
interface on an NT workstation to a technical database on a UNIX system. It could also be
as simple as configuring an X Window from the NT platform onto the UNIX environment.
This path requires the least amount of migration and only a moderate amount of
interoperability or integration. In an environment such as this, the technical user is
provided with the ability to run NT applications with minimal integration to UNIX
applications.
Use of an X Window emulator is one of the easiest methods of providing a simple
interface into the UNIX system. Some of the available emulators for Windows NT are
Reflection X, WinTED and Exceed. In addition, a Telnet emulator is included with
Windows NT. If a more integrated client/server environment is required, than tool kits
with UNIX APIs and development libraries may be required. These tool kits would be
similar in nature as those discussed in the migration path of porting the entire UNIX
environment to NT. These would include NuTCRACKER, OpenNT, MKS Toolkit and
even DFS.
Although the risks are minimal with this type of migration, the performance of the
applications will be constrained on the network performance. The network infrastructure
will need to be expanded and some client application code will need to be rewritten.
Training will still need to be provided to those developers, administrators and users
effected. This migration path is less costly since few UNIX technical desktop systems or
applications are being ported. Some new system procedures and processes will probably
need to be created for the technical NT environment.
When each migration path is compared based upon the costs and possible performance as
well as the level of NT integration, an informed choice can be made. This comparison is
summarized in Table 1.
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