9452567 Akingbehin Open Systems are computing systems which are based on nonproprietary multivendor components. As computing installations of all types (large and small) move away from single-vendor proprietary architectures to more and more open architectures, U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly faced with the responsibility of introducing open systems concepts into the undergraduate curriculum. Most colleges and universities today lag behind in introducing these concepts in a coordinated and conscious manner. Academic laboratories today are still largely configured using single-vendor homogeneous computing systems. The increasing popularity of computing networks which support multivendor configurations (e.g. Novell Netware) is a first step in the right direction and is also evidence of the inevitable eminence of open systems computing. This development of an open systems computing laboratory is based on the three most popular computing platforms today in the PC to Workstation range; namely IBM/PC, Macintosh, and Sun/UNIX. Supporting equipment include a postscript printer, a Novell network, a tape mass storage, and appropriate software and interfaces. The number of platforms is kept to three to reduce complexity, make the problem tractable, and still illustrate important open systems concepts. The laboratory serves as the vehicle for developing and offering a three credit-hour elective course titled Open Systems Computing. The course will fully utilize the laboratory and will provide hands-on training in the three important open systems concepts of multiple-platform interconnectivity, interoperability, and extensibility. In addition to the development of the new course, several undergraduate computing courses including Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Computer Networks, Systems Programming, Systems Integration, and Computer Interfacing are directly enhanced by the laboratory.
