Free climbing, skydiving, heliskiing, surfing monster waves: nothing beats the adrenaline rush that comes from staring down the next big death-defying risk, unless of course, you work in IT. Most IT directors and managers despise risk. With the profitability, productivity and viability of your company on the line, you can't afford to introduce any unknowns into your production environment. Before bringing on any new technology or solution, you do your homework, you plan, you test, you validate and you incorporate at a measured pace.

If you've invested any significant amount of time working with Linux since its inception 14 years ago, you've come to appreciate it for its high standards of reliability, performance, security, interoperability and lower total cost of ownership. For you, the penguin holds no risks.

But if you're new to Linux—even if you've read all the glowing reviews, heard the testimonials, or done your research—no matter how interested you might be in taking advantage of all it has to offer—you won't make the move until you've validated it for yourself. Even then, you'll move at your own pace, charting your course with precision to eliminate any hazards that might try to upset your operations and plans.

For more information about Novell Open Enterprise Server Support Pack 1, see novell.com/products/ openenterpriseserver

When Novell introduced Novell Open Enterprise Server earlier this year, they had you especially in mind, as well as other IT managers and business technology buyers. They considered those who need workgroup networking and application services for their mixed or open environments and are considering Linux as the platform to host those services. Whether you work in a NetWare, Windows, Unix or a mixed environment, Open Enterprise Server allows you to leverage proven enterprise-class network and identity-based services while giving you a migration path toward Linux you can take at your own pace.

But you say you don't do new releases. You let risk takers deal with first generation offerings. You wait until the product successfully passes a true field test and emerges as a second-generation release. For Novell Open Enterprise Server the wait is over. It's been a real-world success, garnering a 2005 Network Magazine Innovation Award in the Infrastructure Software category and top honors in the Server Operating System category of the 2005 VARBusiness Report Card awards. And, with its recent support pack 1 release, Open Enterprise Server has also left the first generation ranks far behind, building on the strengths of the original release with even greater capabilities in the areas of management scalability, global security, end user productivity, deployment agility and business continuity.

Quick Look at What's New
In addition to incorporating some improvements to the overall operational quality of Open Enterprise Server, support pack 1 provides a wide variety of new features and product updates including:

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 service pack 2
• NetWare 6.5 support pack 4
• Novell Storage Services (NSS) on Linux performance enhancements
• iFolder 3.1 integration
• Linux User Management improvements
• iPrint features and capabilities
• Novell Client for Linux
• Improved management and migration

Put the CD in and Watch it Go
Anyone who has ever installed SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will have no problem installing Open Enterprise Server support pack 1. (See Figure 1.) The main difference between the two comes when it's time to make package selections. Since Open Enterprise Server includes both NetWare and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, you'll have more package options than if you were just installing Linux.

If you've previously installed Open Enterprise Server on Linux, applying the support pack update is a simple matter of putting the CD in the drive. YaST will automatically recognize the CD as an update to the existing Open Enterprise Server, read what packages you already have installed so it knows what to update, tell you it's about to initiate the update process and notify you of any steps you might need to take, and then ask if you want to continue. The whole process is fairly automated, but it does give you the opportunity to make changes from your existing configuration.

Likewise, while installing Open Enterprise Server on NetWare is straightforward for most NetWare administrators, you can do a few things to help it go as smoothly as possible. The 2005 Special Edition of Novell Connection has an excellent article, "On a Roll" by Peter Clegg and Michael Wilkinson, that provides good insights into the NetWare installation for Open Enterprise Server.

If you've never installed SUSE Linux Enterprise Server or Open Enterprise Server before and would like further insights before you attempt an install, read the July/August Novell Connection article "Blow Your Mind" by Linda Kennard. It walks you through the process of installing Open Enterprise Server into an existing eDirectory tree. That article is the first in a series on installing and migrating services with Open Enterprise Server. The third installment of that series is included in this edition of Novell Connection.

Solid Support Packs
While service pack 2 for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 is first on the list of goodies for Open Enterprise Server support pack 1, it's really the same robust operating system you've come to expect. In accordance with the tight and rigid development model to which the SUSE Linux development team adheres, once a platform level is released, subsequent service packs generally only contain fixes and patches. New enhancements are reserved for the next platform release. The same is true for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 service pack 2; no new enhancements—just fixes to make it an even more solid product offering.

The same can be said about the NetWare 6.5 support pack 4. It mostly contains fixes to make it more solid, but has a few minor new features. The feature additions included in the support pack come as a direct result of customer requests. The first one is the ability to clear the server console and disable the command history by simply pressing the F10 key. The second addition comes from the modules console command. It now provides more information about the NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) that are loaded, including when they were loaded and how long they have been loaded. The main fix included in the NetWare support pack eliminates memory leaks a few customers reported with support packs 2 and 3 for NetWare 6.5.

In regards to NSS, Open Enterprise Server SP 1 brings the Linux offering up to par with Netware, as well as introducing a few advantages of its own.

Revving up Novell Storage Services on Linux
While Novell Storage Services (NSS) has been available on SUSE Linux since the initial release of Open Enterprise Server, the NetWare side of the fence has enjoyed a few advantages with NSS. In regards to NSS, Open Enterprise Server support pack 1 brings the Linux offering up to par with NetWare, as well as introducing a few advantages of its own.

You can now encrypt your NSS volumes on Linux. So if someone somehow managed to steal the hard drives out of your server, when they tried to mount the volumes they wouldn't be able to see any of your data. Support pack 1 for Open Enterprise Server also adds software RAID 5 functionality, helping you maximize the reliability and fault tolerance of your disk storage.

The increased performance of NSS on Linux is where users will really be able to tell a difference with the support pack 1 offering. In reference to this improvement, Jason Williams, product manager for Novell Open Enterprise Server says, "We've done all the tests and proof points. We can say with certainty that NSS on Linux performs on level with NetWare. There is no doubt; it is definitely quick." He goes on to say that in some cases, NSS performance on Linux exceeds that of NetWare because of inherent efficiencies in the Linux platform.

Not only does NSS on Linux match and at times exceed the high performance of NSS on NetWare, but in many cases it surpasses the performance of other file systems on Linux. For instance, if you have a significant number of files and folders and you are accessing NSS using SAMBA, you'll enjoy faster accesses than you would if you were accessing an EXT or Reiser file system with SAMBA. And as your file system grows, so will the performance gains.

These performance gains occur because NSS does a balanced cache across the entire file system, enabling it to be a lot more efficient in predicting the reads and writes that will occur on the file system. As a result, the more files and folders you have, the better NSS is at caching the right files and folders into memory, making them available much more quickly.

Making Files Follow You on Linux
If your users' files can follow them wherever they go, you must be taking advantage of the personal file management capabilities of Novell iFolder. Open Enterprise Server support pack 1 provides patches and enhancements to iFolder 2.1 on NetWare and Linux, as well providing the complete iFolder 3.1 solution for the Linux platform.

In addition to updates and performance enhancements on iFolder 2.1 for both NetWare and Linux, the support pack updates also provide full support for Novell Cluster Services when using iFolder in the Linux environment.

The support pack fully incorporates iFolder 3.1 into the Open Enterprise Server offering. Previously, iFolder 3.1 was available for download, but now the support pack integrates it into the product installation and configuration from within the YaST management interface. iFolder 3.1 adds support for Novell Cluster Services, facilitates file sharing, enables users to customize backups for specific files by filtering on type, and is localized into the 13 languages supported by Open Enterprise Server.

If this is a first time install for Open Enterprise Server, you can choose to install the iFolder 3.1 package as part of the initial installation process. If you're updating an existing version of Open Enterprise Server, the best-practices guideline is to update your existing packages and configuration with the support pack 1 update before you install iFolder 3.1. After you successfully complete the update, you can install iFolder 3.1 by taking the following steps:

1. Log in to the server as the root user.
2. Load YaST.
3. Choose Install and Remove Software from the menu option.
4. Select the iFolder 3.1 software package. (See Figure 2.)
5. A screen will display that shows all the dependencies for iFolder 3.1 that YaST has resolved for you.
6. After you click OK, another screen displays showing the system settings that have been automatically selected for you.
7. After you accept these settings, the install process will begin.
8. At the end of the installation process a configuration screen will display to allow you to configure iFolder settings, including its IP address, where files should be stored, and so on. (See Figure 3.)

The Linux user management interface is much more intuitive and easy to use for Linux veterans and newcomers alike.

Simplifying the "Tweaky Bits"
In the words of Jason Williams, Linux User Management in the first release of Open Enterprise Server had a lot of "tweaky bits." That's not necessarily a bad thing. What he meant was the interface gave administrators an extensive ability to tweak and configure user profiles and settings. Unfortunately, the vast array of management options could be a bit intimidating for administrators who were not as conversant in Linux.

For support pack 1, the development team rewrote all of the plug-ins to simplify the Linux User Management interface, making it much more intuitive and easy to use for Linux veterans and newcomers alike. So if all you want to do is allow a user to log in or telnet to a certain server, simply check a box, click OK and you're done. You don't have to wade through an array of sophisticated options and controls. Of course, if you like and need all those "tweaky bits," they're still there. Simply click the Advanced tab and tweak to your heart's content.

The Glamour of Printing
There's nothing glamorous about the ability to print, but it's a critical element to any business operation. With that in mind, a major focus of Open Enterprise Server support pack 1 deals with enhancements to Novell iPrint. On the Linux side, some of the enhancements were once again to simply bring iPrint on Linux to the level of iPrint on NetWare. These include support for Windows printer driver profiles, Novell Linux Desktop on 64-bit x86 machines, encrypted print streams (Linux, Mac OS and NetWare), and the delivery of preconfigured printer drivers to the user's desktop.

The big improvement to iPrint enhances both the Linux and Netware platforms by providing direct printing support.

The ability to deliver preset driver defaults to the desktop is pretty cool. You had the ability in the past to preset the defaults for a printer driver—like whether or not the printer had a stapler, collator, sheet feeder and so on. But users still had to download that preconfigured driver before they could use a new printer. Now they don't have to do anything. They simply select the printer and print.

But the big improvement to iPrint enhances both Linux and NetWare platforms by providing direct printing support. This is a big deal for organizations with branch offices and remote sites. Quite often these small branch offices don't have onsite IT personnel. So an administrator at corporate will set up a print server at corporate to serve the printers at the branch office. This means that every print job at the branch office travels across the WAN link to the corporate print server and is then directed back across the WAN link to the appropriate branch office printer. This not only consumes a significant amount of WAN bandwidth, but it slows print performance.

The iPrint update in Open Enterprise Server support pack 1 eliminates the need for the print job to travel up and back across WAN links. It uses the industry standard Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) to let the client at the branch office know the IP address of the local printer and instruct it to send the print job directly to that printer. Even though the job is still going directly to the printer—freeing up bandwidth and improving print performance—the print server still stays in the loop. It receives the minimal information it needs about the print job, including the size of the job, when it was printed, and whatever else you might need for auditing purposes. And because there is still communication between the branch office printer and the print server, you can also track when the printer needs maintenance or is running low on supplies such as toner or staples.

Support Pack 1 simplifies the transition to Linux with its introduction of the new Novell client for Linux.

Making the Desktop Feel Like Home
While Novell Open Enterprise Server can ease your transition from NetWare or Windows server platforms to Linux, what if you want to move your Windows clients to Linux clients as well? Or maybe you want to transition your desktops to Linux before you even migrate your servers. Support pack 1 simplifies that transition with its introduction of the new Novell Client for Linux. While SAMBA does a good job at providing network connectivity between Linux clients and a mix of different hosts—including NetWare, Linux and Windows—it doesn't have the same look and feel that users have come to appreciate with the Novell client.

To log in to a NetWare or Linux server with SAMBA, you first have to know how to mount a network share, where the share is located and then directly mount the share. Scripts can be written to simplify the process, but for users accustomed to the Novell Client on Windows, it's not as intuitive and can be a bit intimidating. The Novell Client for Linux makes those users feel right at home on a Linux desktop. They simply log in and they're connected to their servers, drive letter mappings are assigned and access to all their volumes and data is presented to them just as if they were on Windows using the Novell client. The Novell Client for Linux makes it easy for you to preserve the client experience that your users already enjoy and want to keep. (See Figure 4.)

However, the Novell Client for Linux is not just for users accustomed to the Windows world. Adept Linux users can also benefit from it. Of particular interest to the veteran Linux user would be the ability to leverage the ease and simplicity that login scripts provide. The Novell Client for Linux not only efficiently and securely connects them to the servers they want and maps the drives they need, but it can also give them desktop shortcuts to frequently used files and applications. Likewise, when they log out, the connections are terminated, drive mappings go away, and the shortcuts are removed—all automatically.

Click, Drag, Drop, Click
Support pack 1 includes a number of enhancements to YaST, the graphical management interface for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Some are fairly minor, such as renaming the Server Consolidation and Migration Utility to the Server Consolidation and Migration Toolbox. Others have a greater impact, such as the new ability to do server-based processing. This means, for example, if you create a project such as a migration, the project will run on the server rather than on your administration client. Its server-to-server communication facilitates remote migration. You could actually manage the process from a slow dial-up link at your home, knowing that the actual migration process is taking place at gigabit speeds on the backend.

The enhancements to YaST make server consolidation and migration even easier than before. As Williams puts it, it's as simple as "Click, Drag, Drop, Click." The drag-and-drop interface lets you model your consolidation or migration before you execute it. Perhaps you have five NetWare servers and you want to consolidate them onto two Linux servers. Simply select your migration source servers or volumes—whether they're on NetWare servers or even on Windows servers with Active Directory—and then drag them to your target server. You can specify what volumes you want moved and to where, what printers you want to move and so on. Obviously, you'll need some preparation before you do a migration, but the bottom line is that the new enhancements to Open Enterprise Server make it easier than ever to migrate to Linux. (Read the three-part series in the July/August, September/October, and November/December issues of Novell Connection on migrating services with Open Enterprise Server.)

Conclusion
Easy, at your own pace, and risk-free; that's what Open Enterprise Server support pack 1 is all about. The performance, security, cost savings and reliability of Linux are waiting for you. Even though getting there won't give you the adrenaline rush of carving your way through monster waves on the North Shore, Open Enterprise Server will give you the peace of mind that comes from following a carefully charted course, moving at a measured pace and leveraging proven, highly available and secure solutions for networking, communication, collaboration and application services in an open, easy-to-deploy environment.

And for those few IT managers who actually want a little risk in their lives, Open Enterprise Server might just be what you need to get your weekends and evenings back. A little adrenaline can be a good thing, as long as it comes from hitting the slopes, scaling the north face or any other activity that doesn't involve your pager going off every five minutes. Besides, weekends and evenings don't necessarily need to be risk free, they just need to be beeper free. 

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