1.0 Hands-on Evaluation Options

You have two options for evaluating Novell Filr in a Windows AD environment:

  • On the Novell Online Demonstration System (NODS)

  • On your own network

Novell Online Demonstration System (NODS)

Figure 1-1 Evaluating Filr on the Novell’s Online Demo System

Novell hosts the Filr hands-on VMs on the Novell Online Demonstration System (NODS).

If you are interested, go to the Novell.com How to Buy page and request that a Novell Sales Representative contact you.

If you are working on NODS, start with Section 6.1, If You Are Evaluating Filr on NODS.

Your Own Network—Choosing a Deployment Type

To evaluate Filr on your network, you must choose a deployment type.

  • Small Deployment: Might be your best option if

    • Your interest in Filr is casual.

    • You want to invest minimal time and effort.

  • Large Deployment: Definitely your best option if

    • You might want to deploy Filr inside your organization.

    • You want to investigate what that requires.

  • Detailed comparison of Small and Large Deployment Types

     

    Small Deployment

    Large Deployment

    Production Capabilities

    • Designed for evaluation environments. Not recommended for any but the smallest production environments.

    • Supports all production environments.

    Capacity and Scale

    • Capacity is fixed because it cannot be upgraded to a large deployment.

    Software Required

    • Requires downloading two files:

      • A zip file that contains the exercise files

      • Filr appliance software

    • Requires downloading four files:

      • A zip file that contains the exercise files

      • Filr appliance software

      • Search appliance software

      • MySQL appliance software (unless using an existing SQL database)

    Deployment Effort Required

    • Offers a streamlined, quick installation and configuration of Filr that is documented in this guide.

    • Test user creation and test file and folder setup are the same as a large deployment.

    • Requires a more involved installation and configuration of Filr that is summarized in Quick Start: Filr Hands-on for Windows.

    • Test user creation and test file and folder setup are the same as a small deployment.

    Integration with Existing Systems

    • Cannot leverage an existing MySQL database (all functionality is contained within the single appliance).

    • Can leverage an existing MySQL or Microsoft SQL database in place of the MySQL appliance provided with Filr.

  • This Guide Covers a Small Deployment: Because the purpose of this guide is to provide a simple hands-on experience, it only covers a small Filr deployment. If you want to set up a large deployment for the exercises, see the Quick Start: Filr Hands-on for Windows.

Continue with Section 2.0, Hands-on System Requirements.