HP Readies Internet Operating System.

Hewlett-Packard Co is set to reveal a second "Info Utility" technology spawned by its HP Labs next month as an internet operating or inter-operating system, the company claims. It is expected to incorporate the Simple Service Discovery Protocol  which HP recently demonstrated for use as the standard device- discovery method for Microsoft Corp's Universal Plug and Play mechanism its Sun Jini-killer. The new software will, HP says, 'virtualize' all resources on a network. Instead of an application talking to a specific piece of hardware, HP envisions an intermediary layer of software which sits between the application and device registering every resource on the network. The hardware tells the service it is available plus the resources - memory, power and I/O - it offers. Applications register the resources they require. The software allocates resources accordingly. Simple Service Discovery Protocol is to be used with HP's own JetDirect print server work as a base point. It enables simple device installation over a network, with the protocol enabling devices to be automatically discovered with minimal user effort. HP said it would be using the standardized protocol within future JetDirect and Web JetAdmin products but would also be working with Novell Inc's NDPS distributed print services, and with Sun Microsystems Inc on Jini. Web QoS service monitoring software was the first technology out of the lab. HP is setting great store by its ability to write the second chapter of the internet through info utility technologies.