By Dan Jones
IBM Corp sees some of the work that it is doing with its Net Station network computers as providing a possible pathway to the future of the much maligned computing genre. Dr David McAughtry, vice president of marketing for the network computing division, was at the CeBIT technology fair in Hannover, Germany to talk about IBMÆs launch of Flash ROM based Net Stations, as well as the emergence of a browser-based model for NCs and a role for Linux in the network computing sphere.
McAughtry said that IBM would be offering a single function Flash ROM Windows machine as part of its Net Station range. The Windows 98 operating system will be offered on a single, pre-burnt Flash ROM card which plugs into the machine. The machine can be used to remotely boot ten further machines. McAughtry claimed that there was a lot of interest in the corporate space for machines like these – solid state, single function units, with no moving parts, which could have different pre-burnt cards plugged in to change their function. IBM will be expanding the concept with future releases and the next machine will be a kiosk system with a touch screen and limited keyboard functionality. McAughtry also raised the possibility that such a system could entirely replace older machines such as the IBM 3270 dumb terminal. McAughtry also promised a browser-based plug-in card.
What McAughtry describes as the browser applet model is now key to IBMÆs approach to network computing. He said that the approach is not a 100% pure Java model, but uses the functionality offered by a HTML or eXtensible Markup Language (XML) rendering engine contained within a browser. McAughtry said that IBM generally uses Netscape Navigator as its browser model, because it runs on many more platforms than the Windows-based Internet Explorer software. And, McAughtry added, Navigator offers its secure socket layer, where Java has no security model, crucial when considering using NCs for business on the web.
McAughtry said that the NC is expected to represent 11% 0f the PC market by 2002 – with banking and retail customers now consistently ordering thousands of the machines at a time. He described the NC as a mature technology, claiming that the market is doubling in size every year. He said that IBM had never indulged in the inflammatory if not offensive verbiage that had accompanied the launch of the NC in the mid-nineties.
However, IBM is eyeing Linux and says that the nascent OS has a very good kernel for network computing applications. For a start, McAughtry said that IBM was looking at the benefits of Linux compatibility for the Net Station. However, the company envisages an NC world where a user can have an open source kernel and an ICA client as the basis of a Net Station. IBM is also viewing Linux as possible generic platform for devices such as bar-code scanners and point of sale terminals. The firm is also looking at the possibilities of using Linux in IBMÆs pervasive computing devices – wireless devices that use the web to link into home and corporate networks. McAughtry said that the firm had run the Linux Kernel stripped of any Unix kind of features and found that it offered a very usable platform for embedded devices.
