Autonomic Computing - Tomorrow's technology, today

Why Autonomic Computing? What is Autonomic Computing? The State of Autonomic Computing Nitix, the World's First Autonomic Server Operating System

Why Autonomic Computing?

As quickly as computer technology has advanced, so has the cost and complexity of deploying, managing and maintaining that technology. However, today's economic environment is forcing businesses to demand a real return on technology investments.

To address this paradox, several leading IT vendors are starting to look for ways to manage increasingly complex IT infrastructures so that customers can get back to focusing on the benefits technology brings to their business, rather than the technology itself. While still a mere vision that is thought to be eight to 10 years away, one ideology calls for the development of autonomic computing: computer systems that configure and manage themselves, automatically diagnose and fix their own problems, and figure out how to protect themselves in the future, thereby greatly reducing the cost and complexity of IT infrastructure.

What is Autonomic Computing?

IBM Corporation defines Autonomic Computing as an approach to self-managed computing systems with a minimum of human interference. The term derives from the body's autonomic nervous system, which controls key functions without conscious awareness or involvement.

Autonomic Computing systems are systems which are self-managed (adjust itself according to workload demands), self-healing (detect, diagnose and repair problems), self-configuring (automatically incorporate and configure new components), self-optimizing (performance tuning), and self-protecting (anticipate and defend against security breaches) resulting in ultra-reliable, robust, yet dynamically flexible systems.

The State of Autonomic Computing

The research departments at several organizations, including IBM Autonomic Computing, Microsoft .NET, Sun N1 and HP Adaptive Infrastructure, have just recently started initiatives to focus on autonomic and next generation computing. Net Integration Technologies has been developing and delivering award-winning, next generation Autonomic Computing technology since 1997.

Nitix, the World's First Autonomic Server Operating System

Nitix is the first server operating system in the world that satisfies the criteria of an autonomic computing system:

Self-managing: Adjusting itself according to workload demands

On a Nitix-powered server, if an administrator changes the configuration of a particular service, Nitix automatically updates affected subsystems. For example, firewall and DNS parameters are automatically (and correctly) updated, when an administrator makes his web server public. NetIntelligence is the unique technology that enables Nitix's self-managing capabilities.

Self-healing: Detecting, diagnosing and repairing problems

Nitix is able to detect and correct problems that on other servers would result in downtime, and then human intervention to remedy. NetIntelligence is the unique technology that enables Nitix's self-healing capabilities.

Self-configuring: Automatically incorporating and configuring new components

When setting up a new Nitix-powered server, Nitix automatically detects and configures standard networking parameters. When adding new users to Nitix-powered server, Nitix automatically creates a personal directory, an email account and a personal webpage for each user. By automating many standard server configuration tasks, Nitix-powered servers allow our Approved Partners to focus on customizations that are specific to the unique business requirements of their end-user customers. NetIntelligence is the unique technology that enables Nitix's self-configuring capabilities.

Self-protecting: Anticipating and defending against security breaches

Based on the requirements of the end-user customer and their local-area network, Nitix-powered servers automatically erect and configure secure firewalls. Nitix-powered servers also have the ability to detect and evade malicious external attacks. If a foreign program should attempt to modify the Nitix operating system, Nitix will automatically write-over that attempted change.

Learn more about Net Integration Technologies' Nitix Autonomic Linux-based Operating System.

The IBM logo and the Business Partner emblem are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.