Novell Announces New NetWare-UNIX Connectivity Solution

New NetWare 4 Edition Improves UNIX-NetWare Integration, Offers Centralized Management of NetWare and UNIX User Accounts Through NetWare Distributed Services

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- April 11, 1995 -- In a move to more tightly integrate NetWare and UNIX environments, Novell Inc. today announced NetWare NFS Services 2.1 --NetWare 4 Edition. The product offers users transparent file, print and resource sharing between NetWare 4 and UNIX, while giving network managers a single point of administration for user accounts across the two environments.

NetWare NFS Services runs as a set of NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) on NetWare 4.1 servers and requires no additional hardware or software on UNIX systems to provide full bi-directional resource sharing for users in both NetWare and UNIX environments. Version 2.1 is designed specifically for NetWare 4 and adds several significant features, including centralized NetWare and UNIX account administration; full integration with Novell's NetWare Directory Services (NDS); and full Domain Name System (DNS) and Network Information Service (NIS) support.

According to Computer Intelligence's database of U.S. sites, 29 percent of the country's NetWare sites also have UNIX. "It's increasingly common to find NetWare and UNIX existing side-by-side in larger networking installations, and that trend is likely to accelerate as we see more users deploying NetWare 4," Stan Schatt, LAN Services director at Computer Intelligence. "Any product that can help users move easily between the two environments is therefore becoming more important."

"NetWare and UNIX coexistence is critical for Novell users in medium and large accounts," said Steve Tucker, vice president and general manager of Novell's Advanced Access Applications Division. "NetWare NFS Services removes many of the barriers to integrating the two environments and encourages users to continue using both NetWare and UNIX without forcing them to standardize on one or the other."

Ed Hargrave, network manager at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia served as a beta tester for NetWare NFS Services. His network contains 46 NetWare servers and about 4500 PC, Macintosh and UNIX clients. The university is currently running NetWare 3 and plans to migrate all servers to NetWare 4. According to Hargrave, NetWare NFS Services will enable users to share NetWare 4 files, applications and services over the network, regardless of their desktop system. "NetWare has long been the glue that holds everything together at the university," said Hargrave.

Features and Benefits

• Single point of administration for NetWare and UNIX user accounts --Novell's UNICON utility lets network managers simultaneously set up and administer NetWare and UNIX user accounts from a single interface using NetWare Directory Services and the Network Information Service. This minimizes administrative overhead and eliminates the need to manage separate NetWare and UNIX accounts.

• Bi-directional resource access --The NetWare NFS NLM lets UNIX clients access files on NetWare 4 servers just as they would on any other NFS server. Similarly, NetWare clients have transparent access to NFS servers. Using NetWare NFS Services, remote NFS file systems appear as NetWare volumes to NetWare clients. This gives users a single view of the network and access to all files, regardless of where they reside.

• High-powered, low-cost NFS server --NetWare NFS Services turns an Intel-based NetWare 4 server into a powerful NFS server for UNIX workgroups, at a fraction of the cost of typical UNIX-based NFS servers.

• Remote NetWare 4 server management --Novell's NetWare NFS Services allows users to administer NetWare 4 servers remotely from X Window, VT100 or VT220 terminals, letting users choose the most appropriate interface.

"Now, with NetWare NFS Services, we have the means to marry the UNIX and NetWare environments, creating a unified information system that lets all users get to files and printers, no matter what kind of desktop they're using."

NetWare NFS Services and Pervasive Computing

Lower Pricing, Additional Functionality for NetWare 3 Users In a related development, Novell is bundling two previously independent UNIX-to-NetWare 3 connectivity products, NetWare NFS 1.2C and NetWare NFS Gateway 1.2. The Bundle for NetWare 3 reduces the combined suggested list price of NetWare NFS and NetWare NFS Gateway connectivity for NetWare 3 environments from as much as US$18,000 to US$3,995 per server license.

Pricing and Availability