CWI is research institute for Mathematical and Computer Science (basic) research, sponsored by the Dutch Government. Currently more than 150 researchers are involved in areas like Numerical and Stochastic Mathematics, Multi Media, Data Mining, Quantum Computing, etc. (See also our web-site: https://www.cwi.nl).

In my job I'm responsible for the entire computing infrastructure of the institute, including some 200 Unix workstations and servers, Macintoshes, Windows-95 desktops and, since about 9 months, Windows-NT workstations and servers.

We have two areas of interest with regard to Windows-NT. The first is to build a platform for our researchers to either use or development particular applications for their interest, within their projects. Our philosophy is to try and "marry" both environments, to enable a tight operating environment, in which applications and services can be accessed from both sides. This includes cross-platform development, with usage of the same source-code tree in a dynamic environment. We currently have some 6 NT machines in place, one of which is being setup as a server. Data transfer is by use of NFS and ftp. An administration and maintenance model has yet to be developed.

Our second area of interest, in which we have done some field tests, is related to supporting staff in the Financial Department, Personal Department, secretaries, etc. Some of these currently use Windows-95 desktops, others use Unix machines. Both groups should be able to use specific applications. We currently manage two Windows-based applications via a NTrigue server and one Unix based application. The idea is to replace all Windows-95 environments by Windows-NT environments before the end of this year, place a firewall in between the `NT' and general/research `Unix' environment, limiting, controlling and monitoring certain accesses, while at the same time trying to enable dedicated services (but not exclusively html-based).

In attending this workshop, I hope to gain insight in the options available to reach our goals, to learn about possibilities and pitfalls and, last but not least, to come into contact with others who have similar objectives.

Frank Kuiper
Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science
Head of CST (Computersystems & Telematics)
Kruislaan 413
1098 SJ AMSTERDAM
The Netherlands
tel: +31-20-5924121
fax: +31-20-5924199
e-mail: Frank.Kuiper@cwi.nl
https://www.cwi.nl/cwi/people/Frank.Kuiper.html
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