As more and more enterprises adopt the client-server paradigm for their networks, standards-based distributed processing becomes a key factor in the success of that effort. Windows NT provides direct support for several types of industry-standard distributed processing.
The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) facility of Windows NT is wire-compatible with the Open Software Foundation's Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) RPC. Using this RPC, developers can create applications that include not only Windows NT computers, but all systems that support DCE-compatible RPCs, such as systems from Hewlett Packard® and Digital Equipment Corporation.
In addition to RPCs, Windows NT supports Windows Sockets. Windows Sockets provides an API that is compatible with Berkeley-style sockets, a mechanism that is widely used by different UNIX versions for distributed computing.
For more information about RPC and Windows Sockets, see Chapter 1, "Windows NT Networking Architecture."
Perhaps most importantly, Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA), whose development is being led by Microsoft, specifies an open set of APIs for integrating Windows-based computers with back-end services on a broad range of vendors' systems. WOSA consists of an extensible set of APIs that enable Windows-based desktop applications to access available information without having to know anything about the type of network in use, the types of computers in the enterprise, or the types of back-end services available. As a result, should the network, computers, or services change, desktop applications built using WOSA won't require rewriting. The first two WOSA components address database and electronic messaging: Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and Messaging API (MAPI). Work is underway for additional standards, including directory, security, and software licensing services.