Is Windows Right for High-Availability Enterprise Applications?

1. Is Windows Right for High-Availability Enterprise Applications? Dan Kusnetzky, Vice President System Software Research IDC

2. Agenda • What are “Enterprise Applications?” • IDC’s Spectrum of Scalability? • What is “High-Availability?” • What are the 7 meanings of the term “cluster?” • IDC’s spectrum of availability software • How the vendors stack up • Questions?

3. What are “Enterprise Applications?” • All organizations are “enterprises” • Regardless of revenues or the number of employees • Vendors use the term “enterprise” to imply things which may or many not be true

4. What are “Enterprise Applications?” • Questions to ask your suppliers • Does this application or tool have a direct impact on: • Each customer? • Each employee? • Each partner or supplier? • If the answers are “no” then it’s not an enterprise application • Will the organization go out of business without this application?

5. IDC’s Model of Scalability Complex/Small Complex/Large Complexity Simple/Small Simple/Large Transactions/Day

6. VS. Various Ways to ScaleMultifunction vs. Functional Servers Systems have defined functions Load-balanced Web servers Applications or application components Database Storage

7. What is “High Availability”? • Applications and Data remain available beyond the life of its host • There are many ways to achieve this • High Availability solutions could include • Application fail over • Middleware • Serverware • Storage software

8. The Goal: harnessing the power of many machines to create a single virtual environment Each approach is selected by different people for different needs Parallel processing Load balancing High availability/fail over Single system image Application fail over Storage availability and performance What’s a Cluster Among Friends?

9. Some “Clustering” History • VAXcluster and IBM’s Parallel Sysplex: high water marks • Unix Clustering: Behind but catching up • Linux: evolving from Web load balancing and HPTC to more commercial approaches • Storage Software Suppliers: Data availability and application fail over • Microsoft – Taking a Different Approach

10. Load Balancing or Parallel Processing Monitor • Two to thousands of independent loosely-linked systems Multiple systems have copies of applications and data • Applications run on all systems • Monitor distributes workload among the available systems • Distribute loads using round-robin, request or capacity model • Data synchronization and administration can be challenges

11. Two to 32 systems cooperating to create a single environment. Multiple systems have copies of applications and data. Applications run on all systems. Communicate with a high availability monitor through special APIs. Data accessed through a parallel database or special APIs. Monitor notifies systems of an outage so applications can respond. Load balancing may not be available. Run applications in parallel for improved performance. Run multiple copies of applications to improve scalability, Administration can be challenge. High Availability Monitor

12. Two to 32 systems tied tightly together. Multiple systems have copies of applications and data. Applications are run on all systems. Data can be accessed through a parallel database or directly as if on a single system. It may not be necessary to use special APIs. Monitor notifies systems of an outage so the operating environment can respond. Applications can be run in parallel for improved performance. Multiple copies of applications can be run to improve scalability. Everyone sees a single virtual environment. Clustering Monitor

13. Two to thousands of systems cooperating to create a single environment at the application level Multiple systems have copies of applications and data Applications are run on all systems Application contains logic to handle failure scenarios Other applications may not benefit Administration can be challenge High Availability Applications

14. High Availability for Storage • Storage servers via NAS or SAN • Storage replication • Fail-over manager virtualizes storage

15. Microsoft’s Traditional Strategy • Own the the following, and you own the customer’s systems • APIs • Development tools • File formats • Communications architectures • Create incompatibilities drive customers to use only Microsoft products • Only Microsoft created “standards” are fully supported; others are not

16. Microsoft’s Approach to Clustering and High Availability Solutions • Philosophy • Let our software do it – we know more about your needs than you do • Microsoft software everywhere, doing everything • Everything is legacy: should be encapsulated and eventually replaced with a Windows solution even if it working productively

17. Microsoft’s Approach to Clustering and High Availability Solutions • Layers • Presentation (IIS, Site Server, SNA Server) • Business logic (Application Center 2000, COM+) • Data access and storage (SQL Server 2000, Windows 2000 now, Windows .NET Server in the future, Microsoft cluster services)

18. How the Vendors Stack Up Parallel Processing Load Balancing High Availability Clustering Manager Monitor Monitor • Open Source Beowulf, LVS and others • TurboLinux EnFuzion • Platform Computing LSF • Sun Gridware • Microsoft Application Center2000 • Red Hat High Availability Server • TurboLinux Cluster Server • Legato ClusterServer • IBM HACMP • Microsoft MSCS • Mission Critical Linux Convolo • Veritas Cluster Server • Compaq TruCluster for VMS or TruCluster for Tru64 UNIX • HP MC/Service Guard • Sun Cluster 3.0 • Caldera/SCO Non-stop Cluster for UnixWare

19. Clustering and High Availability Software Market Drivers • B2B, B2Cand in-house applications can not appear to slow down or to fail • Staff with necessary skills are difficult to find and costly • Clustering and high availability software is: • Difficult to install, configure and use today • Will be much easier over time • Directed by operating environment adoption • Open Source alternatives limit potential for revenue growth

20. Is Windows Right for High-Availability Enterprise Applications? Today’s Answer: A definite maybe. • Some applications are served well by highly distributed architectures • Low intensity of interdependent data • Algorithm allowing decomposition • Some applications are better when hosted on a single, medium or large scale system • High intensity of interdependent data • Monolithic application architecture Tomorrow’s Answer: As the Eight Ball says “signs point to yes”

21. Questions dkusnetzky@idc.com

22. Related Research • IDC#24798 - Clustering and High-Availability Software Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005 • IDC#24844 - Linux Operating Environments Software Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005 • IDC#24827 - Windows Operating Environments Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005 • IDC#24799 - Web-Centric Computing Software Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005 • IDC#24846 - Server Storage Software Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005 • IDC#24851 - Unix Operating Environments Market Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005