Sun and the North Pole Net

By Brendon Chase, ZDNet Australia, 30 December, 2002 10:56

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This is what Sun said: Santa can be congratulated for his plans to jump aboard the technology sleigh, and the good news is that he can lead the charge through the information sky-way without unnecessary risk or expense. There is a leading-edge operating system that is a proven performer in extreme conditions such as those at the North Pole manufacturing and distribution centre. And with Web services functionality embedded in its core, it will minimise the number of tantrums thrown on Christmas morning caused by order processing errors and unnecessary delivery delays. Sun proposes that Santa and his Elves implement an integrated Sun solution that will tap the immense value of Web and wireless services, backed by an infrastructure that provides continuous uptime and availability. Worldwide Internet sales are predicted to more than double in the lead up to Christmas this year, indicating that parents and children around the world are embracing the Internet as a convenient, easy way to source presents. With this in mind, an enterprise the size of Santa and the Elves' needs to be underpinned by an operating system that is built to respond to large volumes of online traffic and by the language used by the majority of Web developers -- Java. The Solaris Operating Environment now drives most of the world's leading Fortune 100 companies - companies that demand superior reliability, scalabilty, availability and security such as that required for the Santa enterprise. Solaris is a proven performer in extreme environments (it is embedded in technologies used in everything from arctic endeavours to space exploration) so can withstand the rigours of Reindeer delivery cycles. Based on open standards, and with more than 13,000 applications and continuous independent software vendor enthusiasm, Santa can deploy custom applications such as the Rudolf Global Positioning System secure in the knowledge that they will interface with the rest of his technology environment. The robust Solaris 9 Operating Environment is the foundation for the Sun Open Network Environment (Sun ONE) architecture, to help Santa accelerate the deployment of Web services. Why are Web services so important to Santa's operations? Reduced operational costs and speedier delivery are just two considerations. Web services can bridge the gap between Santa's remote toy manufacturers production systems and the North Pole. They will generate automated, real-time alerts about orders, failed deliveries and the updates to the Have You Been Good This Year market survey. Children and parents with 3G-enabled mobile or hand-held devices will be able to dial in to Santa's Sack.com from the toy store with requests automatically processed and placed on the relevant Wish List database. The result: children no longer suffer the vagaries of the world's postal services, and parents sleep better the night before Christmas knowing that the North Pole now demonstrates world's best practice in last minute order processing and delivery. Solaris is the number one UNIX environment and the preferred OS for network infrastructure in the enterprise. Based on the Java platform, it is ideal for sharing among large numbers of people in a highly distributed environment such as that experienced in the Elvin Business Unit. Given that Elvin operations managers communicate with suppliers and toy manufacturers all over the globe - a technologically diverse group that send in orders from computer systems of all makes and models - interoperability is paramount. Sun has championed open standards since 1982 and Solaris is no exception. Elvin technology professionals can remove any part from their system - the Web server, app server, directory, hardware, whatever - and replace it with a product from a different vendor. The system will still work, which means Santa is free to choose the best products for his infrastructure, no matter who made them. But there is more to Sun's software story than that. More recently, Sun unveiled its first Linux server, a dual-processor system running Sun's own Linux operating system. By shipping multi-operating system solutions (Sun can include Linux in a box that is also running the Solaris Operating Environment) Sun's benefits now extend to the low-end, edge of the network. The Sun Linux operating system is fully compatible with Red Hat Linux 7.2. This offers Santa a viable, cost-effective way to plug any security holes in the system and accelerate computing tasks in peak periods. It's all about flexibility. By partnering with Sun, Santa and his Elves will experience massive reductions in processing costs and greatly improved performance, and at the same time, have the freedom to take advantage of new technologies over time.

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