One-Stop Shopping

By Fred Castaneda IBM Personal Software Products Division Austin, Texas

'Now everything you need to get your local area network up and running, complete with application and performance monitoring service, is available in one package--IBM's  Advanced Server for Workgroups. This article describes this product, its components, and the process behind its ease of installation.'

Implementing a workgroup computing environment with a groupware application--even with Lotus Notes, which stands out as the present standard--has not always been the  easiest task to accomplish.

Whether the challenge was presented to a local area network (LAN) administrator in a corporate enterprise or to a value-added reseller, installing LAN software and workgroup applications was a time-consuming task.

Well, times have changed. Enter the IBM Advanced Server for Workgroups solution!

No, this is not a hardware PC server system--it's a software bundle. But it is not just a series of products or part numbers thrown together and shrink-wrapped in a single package.

The IBM Advanced Server for Workgroups package is one of the first integrated product solutions for the groupware environment. Announced in mid 1994, this product brings together all the software needed to get a workgroup operational. It is available today in the United States and Canada.

The package consists of four software components: Instead of just throwing together four separate products into a box, IBM took care to ensure that this product is as "plug-and-play" as possible.
 * Server operating system--The package contains IBM OS/2, complete with Microsoft Windows 3.1 support for the server environment.
 * Network operating system--IBM LAN Server 4.0 Advanced is included, providing file server, print server, and applications server capabilities to the server node. Six  distributed features for the server also come with the product. Thus, different  departments can share DOS applications, Windows applications, and OS/2  applications from the LAN server.
 * Groupware application environment--Lotus Notes is the application environment that comes with Advanced Server for Workgroups. In addition to a server license for  Lotus Notes in the OS/2 environment, the product also comes with six additional  client licenses. The Lotus Notes installation can support any mix of OS/2 clients and  Windows clients. The client code for both platforms comes on the same CD-ROM.
 * Load-balancing utility--IBM's System Performance Monitor/2 2.0 rounds out the Workgroups package. This product enables the server to monitor use of the  fixed-disk, processor, and memory. It presents details graphically online as  well as saves log files that can be analyzed later to find the performance bottlenecks.  Add to this Theseus 2, a detailed memory analyzer, and you have a tool that can  significantly help in performance tuning.

More Than Just Software
In addition to these four software components, the true added value comes in the installation support and the packaging of Advanced Server for Workgroups,  which includes: This "common installation guide," officially called Getting Started, provides a detailed, step-by-step approach to the installation of all the software components, from the server to all the clients. By following the instructions in this "cookbook," the LAN administrator can save the several days that it previously took to integrate and test the pieces of the network. Now, in just a few hours, the groupware environment is ready for productive use.
 * All software programs on CD-ROMs.
 * An introductory videotape, which gives a brief product overview, a short demonstration of the finished application environment, and a graphical view  of the installation process.
 * An offer for savings on consulting services for Lotus Notes application development and implementation in the U.S.
 * 90 days of free customer service and support from IBM (even for the Lotus Notes component) through an IBM 800 number in the U.S.
 * One single, small, but powerful installation booklet, considered by some industry analysts to be the most valuable part of the product.

This installation guide allows Advanced Server for Workgroups to be a pre-packaged, pre-configured, and pre-tested product with everything needed for a six-user workgroup environment. The configuration supports both token-ring and Ethernet networks. The installation guide includes a case study, complete with worksheets and a default set of naming conventions.

In a product review, James T. Norman, contributing editor for Andrew Seybold's Outlook on Professional Computing, says the Advanced Server for Workgroups provides ". . .a powerful workgroup computing solution in a single box at a good price." Andrew Seybold's Outlook on Professional Computing, Pinecrest Press, Inc., Brookdale, CA, Vol. 12, No. 12, July 1994, p. 21-22.

Customer Tested and Proven
The task of the "common installation"--integrating four components into a smooth step-by-step process--required that the installation have one and only one document: the Getting Started booklet. This is a 75-page document; the first 40 pages are instructions for the installation, and the remaining pages contain appendixes plus hints and tips for the groupware environment.

Usability Test
Three types of potential users thoroughly tested the installation process in the IBM Usability Test Lab in Austin: Based on comments and suggestions from the customers testing the process, the installation guide went through many revisions, resulting in a Getting Started booklet created by the potential users.
 * LAN administrators whose time is spent installing LANs, especially Novell NetWare and IBM LAN Server
 * Application programmers whose primary function does not include LAN installations
 * Novice users (that is, those with only DOS and Windows experience)

Certification
In addition to the usability test for the installation, the product also underwent a certification process in the IBM Integration and Test Laboratory in Austin. The seal on the back of the box states that the product has been "tested and approved for IBM  LAN Systems." This means that this product passed many hours of installation tests, compliance tests, compatibility tests, and execution tests to ensure its reliability in  real-world environments.

The tests are not limited to IBM products; other software manufacturers also use the Integration and Test Lab to certify their software products.

What's Next?
Today the IBM Advanced Server for Workgroups provides the common installation process described in this article.

Future requirements for the product include the process known as "integrated installation." Integrated installation means that instead of following a sequence of instructions and typing commands at the command line, the user is presented with a graphical user interface in an object-oriented environment, enabling icons and objects to be "dragged and dropped." The user only fills in the blanks or selects the items for naming conventions and other network information. With just a few clicks of a mouse on the installation screens, the whole installation is complete--from the server to the redirected download of code to the clients.

This is IBM LAN Systems' objective for future versions of this product and its derivatives in the world of server-based integrated products that provide customer solutions.