Operating_Systems_on_the_Internet

Operating Systems on the Internet Aundrea Mauldin University of Phoenix POS 355 Ashok Rao 5/11/09 With the huge migration of business to the internet, it leads one to wonder about the inner workings of the internet and how it can execute so many processes and applications at one time for just one individual or multitudes of people. For purposes of this discussion we will focus on internet operating systems and the key components that make up an effective, productive, as well as efficient OS for the internet. Hopefully, at the end the reader will be enlightened on the subject of the internet and the various operating systems out there that accompany it. When most people think of an operating system they think of Windows, Linux, or Mac OS on a desktop personal computer. However, in 1999 web and internet operating systems took off along with the internet itself. An internet OS is described as a hodgepodge of network services including but not limited to web services, peer-to-peer file-sharing, blogs and more for internet scale distributed computing. Some components that allow for an effective internet operating system is its framework or platform for defining and deploying services, universal mechanisms to overcome data friction, and standard ways for services to communicate through intermediaries that support authentication, authorization and group membership. When it comes to internet OS’s you will hear names such as Linux, Unix, SPARC, and Microsoft; these are the brands at forefront of the internet OS trend. At the heart of the internet lies the catalyst that runs the entire process and that is the application server. Its software has to be rich, robust and highly portable and reside above the OS. An example of such software would be Microsoft’s .NET initiative. Other cornerstone technologies associated with an application server would be Java and XLM. With these tools developers have the sky as the limit to write applications that help cut cost such as developing software that can deploy on clusters of servers, and also be able to swap out hardware and databases with minimal impact. Most recently there is support for XML to address external integration at the front end and the back end. More specifically XML allows for the transfer of automated data from multiple sources to a single enterprise application on the back end. On the front end, XML has become the source for emerging worldwide wireless languages on the internet. So in simple terms XML is the language of the application servers that are on the web and it is now pretty much the standard with all processes that have to do with the internet. As it stands for now Microsoft and Google are at war to corner the market on internet operating systems. Recently, Microsoft tapped Yahoo on the shoulder for a partnership against Google’s Android system. They also purchase Danger for an estimated $500 million for their software capabilities and also compatibility with Microsoft’s existing applications such as Windows Live Mail and Messenger. The ultimate goal in all of this for Microsoft is to be the world leader for internet search and internet advertising and all of this comes down to the capabilities of the internet operating system that they utilize. In conclusion, as with anything that has to do with technology we have not heard the last of this story on internet operating systems and the critical role that they play now and will play in the future with regard to putting the world literally in the palm of our hand. Reference: Dignan, L (2008,2,12). Microsoft and google stalk the internet operating system. Between the lines, Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://blog.zdnet.com/Btl/'p=7977 Young, D,H (2001,5,24). Application servers:new operating system of the internet. Computerworld, Retrieved 5/6/2009, from http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do/