Larry Ellison, Oracle's chairman and CEO, is not
afraid to say what he thinks - especially when his words may loosen the stranglehold that
he feels Microsoft has on the IT software market. Following his attack on Gates' company
at the desktop level with the Network Computer concept, Ellison is now turning his guns on
the future and developing heartland for Microsoft – the network operating system.
Last November, Ellison created a stir by surprising delegates to the Oracle Open World
forum in San Francisco with his plans to release a lightweight network operating system
dedicated to the Oracle database. This would supplant full-blown Unix systems and Windows
NT implementations by offering a light, fast and unobtrusive communications system between
the user and the database. The development name used at the time was Raw Iron but it has
now been officially dubbed the Oracle 8i Appliance.
Publicity
Describing the product positioning, Oracle's systems products division executive vice
president Gary Bloom said, "Modern-day operating systems like Windows NT include more
than 20 million lines of code. Raw Iron eliminates most of that OS overhead to run faster,
more reliable Internet applications that are easier to manage and deliver better
information. This will make a major difference for both small businesses that don't have
IT staff and large enterprises trying to reduce computing costs and complexity." The
announcement gained Oracle much publicity but it was not all favourable. Microsoft was
naturally a major detractor. "If I was an IT manager," commented Mark Tennant,
Windows NT server product marketing manager, "and I had a choice of Windows NT or
Oracle's database with the added networking system, I would ask myself what will happen if
I decide that I later want to add other features or applications that tie-in well with the
database."
Oracle's approach is to treat the database server as a turnkey system. Nick Gregory,
Oracle product marketing manager, said, "Phase 2 of the roll out will look at the
applications that people want out of the box - or, more accurately, straight onto the box.
You cannot buy the software without the hardware - it's a one-stop thing. So we're looking
at two areas: ISVs to write the applications and VARs to take a look at what is offered
and augment that with some other technologies. From our own house, we have the basis for a
number of key application areas. There is Internet messaging within the database and
there's Web serving for collaboration. So, we tend to bring out systems that are
specifically for collaboration."
Strategic planning
Effectively, the different approaches of the two companies have one thing in common. With
its SQLServer 7 database, Microsoft has gone to great lengths to spread the message that
the database is closely bound to the operating system. Oracle cannot make the same claim
sound as convincing when it talks about Oracle and NT, so it has decided to steal
Microsoft's thunder by pointing out the inefficiencies of a general-purpose operating
system when compared to a lean and mean dedicated one. Tennant is predictably sceptical of
Oracle's initiative which he describes as a good concept that has not been thought through
fully. As it is early days yet, the 8i Appliance is an easy vehicle for Microsoft to use
to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. "I'd like to see benchmarks," he said.
"How can the system be optimised or clustered? Is it scalable? What about monitoring
and tuning? The Oracle database has already got a systems management pack with 10
different components - which adds to the complexity - whereas NT has all of that built
into it. Another thing I would look at as well is which ISVs are out there developing the
applications for Raw Iron - are there any, I haven't seen any? What device drivers do they
have? Are they available and where will the support for them come from?"
One or the other?
The cut and thrust of debate between the companies will no doubt rattle on throughout the
next year as Oracle's system becomes a more tangible entity. It will also be a lucrative
source of revenue for consultants and analysts. Martin Brampton, senior analyst for Bloor
Research, admits that there is no certain answer. He said, "There are all sorts of
arguments in the relative merits of Oracle and SQL Server - it certainly isn't a foregone
conclusion that anyone could easily choose one over the other. Simply putting SQL Server
over NT may reduce the total number of suppliers - although it's not entirely clear that
you don't get the run-around within Microsoft. You've also got the performance issue that
since slapping the database on top of this general purpose operating system doesn't give
you the performance benefit that you get by tweaking the operating system and getting rid
of all the bits that you don't need to make it part of the database. Hewlett-Packard looks
like being the first to get to market with the whole Oracle package and has issued
preliminary figures saying it gets around three times the performance from Raw Iron than
it does running Oracle on a standard operating system setup with the same piece of
hardware - that's a worthwhile thing to have."
The IBM view
IBM is sitting on the sidelines watching the ebb and flow of opinion. Although it can be
described as a Windows NT supporter, IBM also has interests in other operating systems,
especially the one in its AS/400 range. OS/400 is a general purpose application server
operating system which, according to Paul Fryer, IBM's communications manager for AS/400
Europe, is built that way for good reasons. "I'm not sure I'm convinced by the Oracle
argument. I view the world as a continuum of requirements from the one-man-and-his-dog
operation through to the airline booking systems and online banking transaction systems.
Each of these has a different set of requirements. The AS/400 has proved to be extremely
successful in satisfying a number of market segments where the demand is for advanced
computing without the aggravation and I'm convinced that this will continue. In fact, it
will increase because the complexity is increasing with electronic commerce and with the
number of people and businesses entering the market. At the same time, I don't see a huge
increase in the level of skill that people have in order to tie these things together. So
any attempt to have a discussion with a small businessman by arguing that a bit of this
application should be over here on one side of the desk and the other should be over there
in the corner becomes immaterial. Their primary requirement from a business point of view
is to run the application in the most efficient way that is reliable and secure. Other
considerations become interesting technical points for those who have the time to argue
about them."
In and out of fashion
The issues that Oracle has highlighted do have merits, even Tennant refuses to totally
debunk the issue even though he merely agrees that there is a hypothetical case. PC server
hardware used to be a standard computer running Novell NetWare or the like until the PC
vendors realised that the system had specific needs and the evolutionary path started
which has led to the specialised servers we use today. In a similar way, it could be said
that dedicated, single-purpose servers can only offer optimum performance if the software
element is finely tuned to that need alone. The real issue is not one of merits but
whether anyone cares any more. Fryer insisted, "The big question is whether this is
an area that business people are interested in - and a lot of them are not. It ranks
alongside the Linux argument but comes at the problem from a different direction. Raw Iron
is a system for people who may have a specific requirement and this may well satisfy their
demands but it's a relatively niche market.
"Some businesses may be swayed by the 'fashion' conversations that go on - in the
last couple of years the fashion statements have been Windows NT and, in recent months,
the fashion world has moved on a little bit and now includes Linux. For the small business
there are arguments for both of these products but do they satisfy their real need - their
logical need rather than their fashion need?" Like IBM with its ‘if it moves
we'll support it’ approach, Microsoft is learning the hard way that fashion is not
always born in the haute couture houses but sometimes comes from the street. The Internet
U-turn from sceptic to fanatic marked one milestone along Microsoft's learning curve and
it seems to be softer in its criticism of new technologies. Although the company line is
to champion the all-purpose operating system, Tennant was quick to point out that
Microsoft is already in possession of a system that could prove to be an asset if
specialised systems becomes popular: "If you want something dedicated to a part of
the organisation, there's NT Embedded where you can choose which components you wish to be
installed on your server and then just run your application."
As with all embedded systems, NT is aimed at providing reduced operating systems that
allow hardware devices to be connected directly onto the network without the need for
gateways or protocol translators. In its planning, the possibility of using it as a
dedicated server operating system, such as Raw Iron, was not a design goal but the
necessary modularisation of NT to offer developers a reduced and tailorable operating
system could work in Microsoft's favour.
Loose ends
Oracle does have issues that will have to be addressed before the 8i Appliance is
acceptable to the larger corporates. It will have to integrate in some simple way with
existing network operating systems, it will have to communicate with I/O devices attached
to the server - even if they are only RAID controlled disk subsystems. Security is another
area for consideration and this could prove to be a strong suit in popularising the
system. Protecting data is a difficult game in heterogeneous systems. Just as one loophole
is sewn up, another pops open. In homogeneous data marts there is a strong argument for
dedicated security and since only a limited number of functions are being executed by the
thin operating system there is a greater chance of producing a bug-free, secure
environment - but this also has to co-exist with any other security system that is used to
protect the applications that access the data.
It is no use for Microsoft to turn the arguments used against itself in the past to
bludgeon Oracle. It has to address the issues and investigate the market potential.
Emperor Ellison may be offending public decency by parading his naked operating system
around in public but, if he does it with sufficient flair, the fashion-slaves may help him
to popularise his minimalist style. Although many say that his Network Computer strategy
is dead in the water, it has not stopped Microsoft from flirting with Network PCs and
marrying the Citrix-inspired Hydra into the NT family. History has a nasty habit of
repeating itself - sometimes.
