As the computer world evolves towards the Bill Gates “World of Windows” and the functionality of 95/NT, we recognize a need to evaluate the implications within the access control market. During the past two years, the access industry has migrated from a predominately DOS world to the newer Windows 95 environment. This evolution towards Windows 95 has allowed the Access Administrators to perform their duties within the Windows interface. Unfortunately, this trend towards the “single desktop” environment has caused the manufacturers to forego the cleaner input/output port controls of more reliable systems to operate within the confines of machines more readily geared towards word processing and spread sheet solutions.

As we look at the UNIX versus NT aspects of the future, the most significant factor will be within the port controls and the scalability of the machine. UNIX platforms have historically been applied for those applications requiring large numbers of users and higher volumes of traffic. As the business world migrates towards the Windows world, users focus on the Graphical User Interface or GUI, and not on the operational aspects of the application.

Industry veterans have concluded that UNIX platforms will outperform the windows NTW platforms for the next five years. This conclusion assumes Windows NTW will outpace UNIX in identifying and implementing upgrades and enhancements. Should UNIX remain technologically mainstream, then the lead will continue well into the future.

Recent announcements by Microsoft have stated the next release of product will be the Windows 2000 operating system. Microsoft has released for publication information stating the Windows 95/98 and NT family of products will not have an upgrade path to the Windows 2000 family. Additionally, Microsoft has published information stating the applications running within the Windows 95/98 and NT operating system will not be compatible with the Windows 2000 product.

Within the Access System, one can equate field panels to system users. The volume of data traffic passed between the field panel and computer can be compared to the amount of traffic generated by 4 data entry clerks typing at 60 words.

Server applications rely on the same operational criteria as a desk top personal computer with one notable exception. Desk top personal computers typically connect to a limited number of remote devices.

Modems, printers LANs and local servers are some of the limited devices.

Although Windows 95 provides for networkability and even the ability to act as a server in a peer to peer environment, the implications of such a configuration is readily apparent in system performance and the systems degradation as a function of the number of users. Windows 95 is inherently slow both locally and on the server as more users access the system. This limitation is apparent with as few as 3-5 Users accessing a file on a server.

The Windows NTW environment was developed to combat some of the problems noted within the Windows 98 network environment. Unfortunately, the NTW platform utilizes many of the same input/output controls, i.e. Controller cards, to perform the IO control. As the number of users increases on an NTW network, the system degradation becomes notable. However, the number of users can now reach 10-12 with less discernable degradation.

As we look to the past and the UNIX platform, one immediately conjures vision of obsolescence. This is more due to the marketability of the Windows GUI interface for desk top applications than for the inherent benefits of a UNIX network. The limitations referred to within the Windows world brought a system up to 20 users. The UNIX environment expands the number of users to the hundreds with little impact on performance or degradation. As UNIX losses some of its stodgy attitude, they recognize a need to evolve towards the business choice for networks and not focus on the desk top arena. The UNIX box provides for a vast degree of input/output control. The ability to expand a single port into 32 ports with minor degradation is the leading attribute of a UNIX box.

Within the Access industry, the ability to communicate to more than 4 ports are significant for larger systems. Systems which will utilize more than 16 field panels require the larger input/output flexibility offered in a UNIX box.

Computers and operating systems utilized to control security applications require a high degree of reliability. Over the years, we have discovered the older DOS, QNIX and UNIX environments provide a high degree of reliability. In the DOS realm, the Westinghouse 5850 access system is considered a work horse within the industry. The systems installed in the early 90’s and before, had the advantage of real world testing. Over time, these systems have become unquestionably stable and user friendly. The reliability of an application is a tremendous marketing tool.

In 1989 the Windows 3.1 product was a new GUI interface for DOS users. In 1995 Windows launched its new GUI interface, Windows 95. Each of these products was developed for the desk top computer environment. The intent was to provide a GUI interface for non computer literate people. Predominately, these environments were developed to market Word for Windows and Excel. Microsoft performed an admirable job of marketing these products. It is difficult to find any office not using the Microsoft Windows family of products. This marketing strategy has expanded into the applications world in general. Selling Access Control now requires the knowledge of which operating system the application uses.

If the system is not a Windows application, the client questions why and is dissuaded from choosing the product regardless of the products functionality.

It is this perception of Windows that caused the Access manufacturers to develop products to run in the windows environment. Unfortunately, the majority of these Windows applications have been developed during the past 3 years. As such, these applications have not had the opportunity of time to prove their stability. Rather, this rush to market has caused tremendous burdens on both end users and the installing vendors.

Any client utilizing a Windows based Access System is cognizant of the term “system crash”. Yet, can the same be said for the more robust and reliable applications of pre- Windows world?

Certainly, over time these newer windows applications should develop into stable platforms. The uncertainty of this accomplishment is the ever changing world of windows. We have watched the advent of Windows 3.1 evolve into the GUI network for desk tops of Windows 3.11. This environment quickly evolved into Windows 95 and in short order to the current Windows 98. Unfortunately, the Windows 98 product is competing with the Windows NT 4.0 product. These two products, Windows 98 and NT will merge into yet another new product, Windows 2000.

There is concern that the Access Applications may encounter problems migrating to the Windows 2000 family of products. Each new launching of a Windows product resets the stability clock for the Access System. This causes the client and installing vendor to constantly relive system crashes, bug fixes and required timely upgrades in order to ensure the functionality of the Access System.

A recent survey completed by Computer World asked IS managers to rate NT and UNIX, the weighted responses are;

Average satisfaction score on a scale of 5 (very good) to 1 (very poor)

Question UNIX NT

Cost of ownership 3.49 3.82

Ease of Management 3.11 3.78

Performance 4.27 3.64

Reliability 4.33 3.47

Scalability 4.30 3.47

Support for Data WHS 4.27 3.26

Support for Transactions 4.13 3.28

Based on the above results, it becomes clear that the knowledgeable systems administrators prefer the UNIX environment while the managers of the administrators would tend to prefer NT due to the cost component. If the same questions were asked of systems users, most would not know what UNIX was but would relate to the Windows environment solely due to experience of desktop applications.