Solstice AutoClient Solstice AutoClient


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Solstice AutoClient 1.0

Go to: Diskless Operation / Dataless Operation / Further Performance Increases / The Future Today: Solstice AutoClient / Availability

High-Performance UNIX with lower administrative costs and less expensive hardware

SunSoft introduces a revolutionary new product in the system administration arena. SunSoft's Solstice AutoClient software uniquely addresses the need for a centralized administrative model, in a distributed computing environment.

Demanding Intel and SPARC "power users" have focused on UNIX operating systems for their workstations because of the powerful, flexible environment. Network based computing, symmetric multiprocessing, and the rich UNIX user environment are compelling for the software development, electronic design automation, document preparation, electronic pre-press, and financial services markets. IS professionals and data center managers, however, need to control costs and risks, and they prefer a centralized administrative model that is possible with video display terminals (VDTs) but elusive with PCs. SunSoft is a leader in the development of workstation operating environments using a centralized administration model. Even when the workstations have disks for performance, the critical system and user data are stored centrally. Utilizing the Solstice Enterprise Management product line, workstations can be managed from anywhere in the network, providing critical administration functions centrally, including automatic backup of data. More importantly, administration tools included with the Solaris software environment provide the infrastructure that allows many system management tasks to be fully automated. The ultimate goal of these technologies is to have system managers administer the network rather than specific systems, making the individual workstation a field-replaceable unit that holds no critical data. This centralized administration model slashes the cost of system management by reducing troubleshooting and maintenance time and by increasing the number of systems managed per administrator.

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Diskless Operation

Solaris software includes all the facilities and protocols for diskless operation. All phases of system startup and operation are completed using network services to eliminate the need for a local hard-disk.* Solaris workstations can run in diskless mode using NFS file services provided by any standard UNIX or other type server (none of the popular "Network Operating Systems" offer this feature). Running in diskless mode means less expensive, quieter, and more reliable workstation hardware.

More significant is the impact of diskless operation on system administration and maintenance. The workstation holds no data: all data is securely held and managed on the server. Software is not installed on the workstation, eliminating desktop software distribution and installation tasks. Workstations can be treated as interchangeable units, facilitating asset management and depot-level maintenance economies. Instead of troubleshooting hardware in the user's office, the system administrator replaces the entire system with a known good one. The user gets a working system much faster because hardware troubleshooting occurs in a dedicated maintenance area, instead of the user's office. The administrator saves time because maintenance is done with the proper tools and facilities.

Whenever a system holds customized system configuration or user data, the system is not interchangeable. When hardware fails or a system is misconfigured, the administrator usually fixes the problem in the users' office. Software stored on local disks needs to be manually updated and revised. User data stored on the workstation has to be backed up. These factors are major causes for the high cost of using PCs, estimated by industry analysts at more than $5,000 per year per PC.

Dataless Operation

On most networks, however, the traffic and delay of pure diskless operation can cause unacceptable network performance. Many customers would prefer a dataless mode of operation, using a small local disk to hold the OS, virtual-memory swap, and frequently accessed binaries. No user data is on the system, but the most heavily accessed files are held locally, yielding notable improvements in performance. Dataless operation is fully supported by the Solstice AutoClient product.

Further Performance Increases

The Solstice AutoClient product is based on the Solaris Caching File System (CacheFS), an innovative file system caching capability that further improves server scalability and NFS throughput. CacheFS uses a local disk to cache NFS, CD-ROM, and floppy-disk reads. Because remote data has been cached locally, CacheFS reads data faster, increasing workstation responsiveness. Using write-through cache technology, CacheFS dramatically reduces network traffic, offloads NFS file servers, and reduces disk "thrashing."

CacheFS is often used to supplement the Solaris dataless mode. When using CacheFS, fewer files need to be copied to the hard disk at setup time. CacheFS automatically adapts to current loads, so it is much more efficient than manually copying files to the hard disk. In addition, CacheFS increases the number of clients per server, allowing increased system administration efficiency and server scalability. No other operating system includes an equivalent capability for networked and removable data sets.

The Future Today: Solstice AutoClient

Solstice AutoClient represents the next generation of file system caching technology. Solstice AutoClient provides the best of both worlds - it allows the performance benefits of dataless operation with the administrative efficiencies of diskless mode. Solstice AutoClient exploits the above technologies with Solaris and NFS software, achieving the following benefits:

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Solstice AutoClient Manager Graphical User Interface

Availability

Solstice AutoClient will be generally available in Q1, 1995. The product requires Solaris 2.4 or later, and will run on both SPARC and x86 versions of the operating system.

All specifications and features of the product mentioned herein are subject to change without notice.

Outside the U.S., please call +1-415-960-3200 for the location of the SunSoft office closest to you.