Novell Announces NetWare Mobile
Provides Integrated Client Environment for Mobile Networking,
Remote Access to Network Data and Resources
OREM, Utah -- January 9, 1996 -- Novell, Inc. today announced
NetWare Mobile, the first client software that enables mobile users to
access their NetWare networks, anywhere in the world, whether they
are remotely connected to the network or working offline. With NetWare
Mobile, users can transfer selected network data to mobile computers
and then automatically update and synchronize files when they
reconnect to the network. NetWare Mobile provides mobile users with
their familiar view of network files and resources, even when
disconnected.
NetWare Mobile also offers a sophisticated dialer and graphical
configuration utilities that make it easy for mobile users to dial into
NetWare networks. In addition, NetWare Mobile provides advanced
administration utilities, including integration with NetWare Directory
Services (NDS), that make mobile network computing secure and
manageable for organizations of all sizes.
When used with NetWare Connect, Novell's scalable
communications server for secure remote access, customers have a
comprehensive remote access and mobile networking solution.
"For mobile users, connecting to the network while traveling has
sometimes been impractical," said Tom Steding, vice president and
general manager of Novell's Communications Infrastructure Division.
"NetWare Mobile changes all that by creating a virtual NetWare network
on your portable computer. Now our customers can work with their
familiar network environments, whether they are in a hotel room, in the
middle of the desert, or in an airliner at 30,000 feet."
NetWare Mobile has gained strong support from vendors of
mobile products. "Business people need to get access to their corporate
data from wherever they are. As they become more mobile, access to
their network is a must," said Bengt Carlstrom, General Manager, Mobile
Data Terminals at Ericsson Mobile Communications AB. "Ericsson's broad
line of wireless data products with NetWare Mobile provide an easy,
cost effective, flexible and powerful reason for customers to deploy
mobile networking solutions," he added.
The Mobile Opportunity
Today, more than 50 million computer users have access to
NetWare LANs, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). In a
January 1995 survey by Giga Information Group, they estimate that out
of a worldwide workforce of 870 million, some 165 million can be
classified as mobile professionals. Further, Giga findings show that an
increasing number of these mobile professionals need to continue to be
productive and have access to corporate data no matter where they are.
True Data Mobility For Mobile Networking
With NetWare Mobile, mobile professionals can "take the network
along" for consistent access to NetWare resources, whether they are
directly connected to the LAN, remotely connected via dial-up, or not
connected at all. Providing mobile users with a consistent work
environment can reduce training and support costs.
Mobile users can work with their network files even in situations
such as on an airplane, when they are not physically connected to the
network. When the user reconnects to the network, mobile files are
synchronized with the network to keep all files up-to-date. To reduce
remote connection costs, NetWare Mobile updates only the parts of the
files that have been changed. NetWare Mobile also enables users to
order print jobs while offline by saving them in a deferred print queue.
The print jobs are stored in the queue until the user reconnects to the
network and requests the printing to an available printer at that location.
Sophisticated Location Management Makes Connecting Easy
NetWare Mobile includes graphical configuration utilities, or
Location Profiles, to help users store and manage network connections
from different locations, such as dialing conventions, connection media,
and calling card support. Location Profiles save customers time and
effort, eliminating the need to memorize connection details or reconfigure
the dialer every time. Selective driver loading saves memory, because
only the drivers needed for a specific location will be loaded upon
startup. In addition, NetWare Mobile's advanced dialer makes it easy for
users to initiate dial-up connections anywhere without having to know
the dialing convention for each area.
A Secure, Manageable Environment for Mobile Data
NetWare Mobile provides security features to protect the mobile
network from unauthorized access. Users must provide authentication
information on startup and are allowed only the access privileges they
would normally have from their desktop connections. Optional data
encryption offers additional security.
NetWare Mobile includes administration and management tools
that make it easy for network administrators to support and administer
mobile users. A snap-in module to the NetWare 4.1 NWAdmin tool allows
administrators to support mobile users and distribute configuration and
file updates through NetWare Directory Services (NDS). Administrators
can create mobile file groups--logically organized groups of commonly
shared files--that users can replicate in a single operation. They can
also create preconfigured remote access points to populate users'
phone books, making it easier for them to dial in.
Pricing and Availability
NetWare Mobile, due to ship within a month, is available in the
following license configurations: single-user for $129; 5-user for $495;
25-user for $1,995 and 100-user for $6,995. The initial release of
NetWare Mobile supports NetWare 4.1 and 3.X networks as well as the
Windows 3.1 client operating system. Novell intends to support
NetWare customers as they migrate to other popular client operating
systems, including Windows 95.
NetWare Mobile is a key component of Novell's strategy to enable
the Smart Global Network by extending networks beyond traditional PC
LANs to connect mobile computers and a broad range of intelligent
devices.
Press Contact:
Gayle Uchida
(408) 577-6625
(408) 577-5540 FAX
Internet: guchida@novell.com
|