The Oracle8 Server supports access through Oracle’s Net8 protocol. It runs the PL/SQL code used by the PL/SQL cartridge and supports data access via SQL.

As of release 8.1, the server also provides a Java Virtual Machine, an EJB execution environment, and a CORBA ORB in the kernel (see Figure 3.14).

Figure 3.14.  Services available in the database kernel as of release 8.1.

These new services provide many important benefits:

•  Stored procedures, triggers, and other application logic can be coded using industry-standard Java in addition to Oracle’s PL/SQL. Java classes will be able to call PL/SQL procedures and vice versa.

•  The database will directly host EJB components, which will be ideal for Entity beans that maintain persistent state in the database.

•  CORBA clients will be able to communicate with the database via IIOP in order to invoke stored procedures or EJB components.

These new Oracle8 capabilities will provide the developer with exciting new architectural options for implementing 2-, 3- and N-tier network computing systems.

The Network Computer

Less than half of our computer operators need personal productivity software in order to carry out their primary work processes. Studies have shown that approximately 40 percent of all installed networked PCs are primarily used as display terminals. The costs of learning, configuring, and maintaining a PC are a nonproductive use of the operator’s time and have become a nonproductive cost of doing business for the Enterprise. Beyond the constant fooling with hardware, installs, and backups, the PC is a single point of failure that can stop a knowledge workers’ production completely.

And the hardware keeps becoming more complex. PC vendors are packing more and more features such as computer-telephony integration, voice control, and video conferencing to an increasingly overburdened architecture. PC ownership costs continue to rise, even as the initial cost of the hardware continues to plummet.

With the adoption of network computing technology, fewer people will need the power of a desktop machine and will instead opt for smaller, mobile, multifunction devices. The concept of the PC ball and chain will go away as vendors blur the lines between consumer electronics, communications devices, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). These devices will need to be based on a more reliable architecture—people don’t want to have to reboot their cell phones.

A good analogy of the potential for Network Computers is the telephone system. Telephones are relatively cheap and simple devices that plug into a vast and complicated network of switches, repeaters, satellites, and who knows what else. The telephone system is managed by professionals, and it is very reliable. I can go down to any local department store, pay about ten dollars for a simple telephone, take it home, and plug it in. It just works. I can call anywhere in the world and use my voice, send data, or send a fax.

A Typical NC

Deployment of Network Computers is one way to reap the benefits of implementing an architecture based on network computing.

A Network Computer typically contains no hard disk, and boots its operating system from a file server via NFS. Once booted, the NC prompts from login information and then displays the user’s desktop, as configured by the system administrator.

Typical applications available on the desktop include

•  A Java-enabled Web browser

•  An email client and news reader

•  A contact list, calendar, and task list

•  A simple word processor and/or an HTML editor

•  Telnet and 3270 emulation

•  A file manager for organizing a user’s personal files

The NC Reference Specification

The Network Computer Reference Profile was originally released by Oracle, Sun, IBM, Netscape, and Apple in July 1996 and transferred over to an independent standards body, The Open Group, in June 1997 as X/Open Document Number X975.

The specification is hardware-platform–independent, but includes a few minimum requirements, such as a pointing device, input device, sound, and so forth.

The latest version of the specification also includes the following software standards:

•  Web support, including HTTP, HTML 4.0, JavaScript, and the following file formats: GIF, JPEG, AU, WAV, and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)

•  Support for the Java Developer Kit 1.1

•  A CORBA ORB with Java bindings

•  Support for the Network File System (NFS)

•  Network support protocols, including the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for network management and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) for automatic network configuration

•  VT100 Telnet and TN 3270 for connection to IBM Hosts

•  Electronic mail protocols, such as the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol (POP) version 3, and the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) version 4

Open Issues

The term Network Computer has been coopted by some of the terminal vendors to include devices that act as dumb terminals for 3270, UNIX, or Windows hosts. Although these devices have been selling well as terminal replacements, users are not likely to give up their PCs until we have full-fledged Java-based NCs running compelling distributed application suites.

Unfortunately, the deployment of Java-based NCs has been quite slow as vendors struggle to learn the ins and outs of the new technologies and architectures. Currently, each of the available systems requires a different type of boot server—a situation that the major vendors have promised to resolve.

However, now that Sun is shipping its JavaStation and Lotus has released its eSuite productivity suite written in Java, we can expect other vendors to quickly follow suit.