From DOS to UNIX: An Independent's Experience

Union Pacific Resources Co. (UPRC) is a large independent operator with about 100 petroleum engineers. UPRC has a reasonably sophisticated PC network with many hundreds of PC's connected by several local area network (LAN) servers. Essentially all engineers have a 386-based PC on their desks with access to a host of software packages, peripheral devices, and mainframe computers, Many engineers have acquired 486-based PC's. UPRC's solution has involved migrating from a DOS-based platform on individual users' desks to UNIX workstations. Dozens of UNIX workstations are networked; some are on the desk', while others are located in central locations. Reservoir simulation, geostatistical modeling, image processing, and log analysis are now done exclusively on the UNIX workstations. Numerous DOS-based programs, however, have not yet been migrated into the UNIX environment. This paper describes the topography of both PC DOS and UNIX workstations networks in UPRC and examines the flow of information in each network configuration to identify differences. The successes and failures of various techniques for providing access to both platforms are presented.