The NC: with promises come problems - top ten list of Network Computer disasters - Technology Information

Software Magazine, Feb, 1997 by Joshua M. Greenbaum

Every new paradigm comes with new ways to succeed and new ways to fail. We've all heard ad infinitum about what the Network Computer means in terms of cost savings, productivity, freedom from Windows and so on. It's a thin client, a zero-cost workstation, a way to scuttle Microsoft, a way to make Java more than just a prettier version of C . Good work Sun, Oracle, and everyone else. On paper, the NC is slated to ride a steep, upward curve.

But in a world still governed largely by Newtonian physics, what goes up must also come down. What's been left out of the discussion about the NC and its architecture are the potential disasters that can occur when we take hold of the vision and run with it. Why assume that everything will work as smoothly as promised? Nothing else in the world does. For the sake of balance, the NC discussion begs for some negativism that doesn't originate solely in Redmond. So, in the spirit of unabashed pessimism, I list my top ten Network Computer disasters.

1) The network is down. Whoops, that's not supposed to happen, is it? Well, Murphy's Law begs to differ. We have network outages or delays all the time, though systems management and reliability overall are improving. But the difference is that when the network crashes today, all file sharing and E-mail stops. When it's an NC environment, all work stops. Period. You can take a break until the net comes back up.

2) The phone lines are down. So you're working at home or a remote office and the phones go out. Again, all work stops. It's that simple. Wait, you say, you've got your applet already downloaded, so you can work anyway. Except that not only can you not back-up your work, you can't save it in the first place -- there's no disk on an NC. RAM is a scary place to work for any length of time.

The phone connection issue brings up a further point about the NC. Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison likens the NC concept to the local utility company: a universal service open and accessible to all. But is that really the analogy he wants to make?

Cases in point: The Minneapolis water supply got infected with a bad bug several years ago and over 300,000 people became ill. The office next door to mine had a mysterious intermittent phone outage that took the phones down at random times for weeks. A recent rainstorm flooded the sewer system in Oakland, Calif., and sank a few cars before it was repaired. The lesson? Utilities are good at what they do, but not infallible.

3) The server is down. This is starting to sound familiar. You've got an NC, a phone line, a network, but no Web server. See points 1 and 2.

4) Corporate MIS hates you. What does this have to do with the NC? Plenty. Software purchasing, particularly for PCs, has been a contentious experience between local and corporate interests. Sometimes corporate standards are im-posed; sometimes personal choice is upheld. For the department or individual, it's not been a totally dictatorial experience. Where there's been a budget, there's been a way.

Not so in the NC world. Local requirements can only be met by central pur- chasing, implementation and management. If you want some new software, it has to be acceptable to a technological, "inside the firewall" set of criteria, as well as a management "if we give it to you we give it to everyone" mentality. This opens up a world of political issues. And if you're not well-liked by corporate MIS, you'll get what they think you need, not what you really need. It may not be a pretty sight.

5) The Internet crashes. Or gets a really bad virus. Or gets overloaded. Okay, it's a long shot, but it could happen. There's a lot of people out there who'd like to be the next Robert Morris --imagine the impact of his Internet virus in a world where the NC is ubiquitous.

6) You lose your smart card. The key to universal NC access will be a smart card that contains your network profile so that when you log on, your personal NC can be configured. You think life is pre-carious because every waiter and Internet hacker can get your credit card PIN? Wait until someone nabs your smart card. (Like the utility companies, smart cards are smart, but not infallible.) I don't know about you, but the value of the information in my company's databases greatly exceeds the sum of the employees' credit card limits. And if you think a stolen smart card won't lead to a network break-in, you're naive.

7) You just bought 1,000 high-end Pentium PCs for your network and now you want NCs. This could get ugly.

It was hard enough to give your order-entry clerks a PC that cost as much to buy and maintain as you're paying each of them in salary. Think you're going to get another purchase order for some NCs past the CFO? Not for a couple of years, anyway. That means if you adopt the NC architecture your people will be working on an overpriced Web browser machine that is the antithesis of the zero-cost client. It's the zero cost-savings client.

8) Your applications vendor requires you to do a major upgrade to use the NC. Most packaged applications vendors are gearing up for the NC, but there's a catch. In order to make the NC work with complex integrated applications, their architecture has to change. That means a major version change, a major upgrade and a major cost to do so. You thought moving from legacy to client/server was tricky; try implementing and maintaining a four-tier Web architecture. Piece of cake? Cake laced with hemlock is more like it.