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Wolfpack: Will this dog hunt?

Microsoft Corp. last year announced an initiative, along with several server vendors, to bring a standard series of APIs to Windows NT clustering, including a minimal level of clustering-type features such as failover and failback.

Called Wolfpack, the first version of this software will ship sometime next year. It will add value to NT Server Version 4, such as the ability for software developers to write high-availability applications. The APIs will also enable all Microsoft BackOffice applications to make use of clustered servers.

Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., NCR Corp. and Tandem Computer, Inc. were among the original backers of Wolfpack, but most vendors of NT-capable hardware are likely to support it.

Initially, Wolfpack will support two-server clusters, but will be available to third-party implementors for all four NT processor types: Intel, Alpha, MIPS, and PowerPC.

According to Mark Wood, a product manager at Microsoft, an ''open interconnect model'' will accompany the APIs. ''You'll be able to specify the kind of attachment between the two servers,'' he says.

However, analyst reaction to Wolfpack has so far been lukewarm, if not downright cold. ''Wolfpack APIs are pretty limp - Microsoft has to be careful that these APIs don't favor any particular vendor,'' says Brad Day, an analyst with Giga Information Group. ''Besides, Wolfpack is providing very basic failover, something that Digital had 10 years ago.''

''Wolfpack will be a commodity,'' says Jerry Sheridan, director of client/server computing for Dataquest. ''Vendors will have to come up with enhancements to support or services to distinguish themselves from what Microsoft is offering.''

- David Strom