Novell Unveils Strategic Roadmap for Novell Directory Services

NDS Will Be the Universal Directory for Business Intranets and the Internet

PROGNOSYS, COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado -- July 15, 1996 -- Novell, Inc. today announced its strategic roadmap for Novell Directory Services™ (NDS™), its industry-leading universal directory service for business intranets and the Internet. Novell will extend the definition and functionality of meta-directory services and create the universal directory for business intranets and the Internet. Over the next twelve months, Novell will deliver NDS on Microsoft Windows NT and leading UNIX platforms, enhance directory management capabilities, and expand NDS support for Internet technologies and standards. NDS will provide users with a platform-independent directory infrastructure for accessing and managing all network resources, for both large and small business intranets and the Internet. Novell's NDS enhancements will extend the company's leadership in connecting customers to more of the people, information and resources they need to maintain an enduring c! ompetitive edge.

"Novell defined directory services for the enterprise with NDS, and it has quickly grown to the status of de facto industry standard with more than 15 million users, the largest installed base of any directory," said Tom Arthur, vice president of Novell's newly created Internet Infrastructure Division. "With these new NDS enhancements and integration, Novell is clearly years ahead of our competition. By providing a universal directory, NDS will enable customers to develop full-service intranet solutions that leverage existing corporate network infrastructure and incorporate open Internet technology standards."

NDS will give an enduring competitive edge to business managers, end users, network administrators and application developers through more efficient network management and faster, easier access to network information and resources. By eliminating the need to administer and maintain redundant directories for different applications, NDS will reduce one of the largest costs associated with network ownership. NDS will provide a common, platform-independent repository for all directory information and resources, including people, printers, fax servers, files, applications, databases, objects, applets and Internet URLs.

End users will benefit from improved access to these network resources from any desktop or mobile computer on th e network. NDS will enable business managers to preserve and build upon their existing network infrastructure investments to integrate new technology and create corporate intranets unifying multiple platforms in a common environment. NDS support for open Internet standards will speed and simplify the creation of directory-enabled applications, helping third-party developers get them to market more quickly and cost-effectively. In addition, the availability of NDS across diverse platforms will greatly expand the market for those applications.

Roadmap to NDS as the Universal Directory

According to a March 1996 Forrester Research report, "The Full Service Intranet," a universal directory will be the "cornerstone" of corporate intranets by serving as a common repository of information that can be accessed by Web browsers.

Based on customer needs, a universal directory must provide certain minimum capabilities, including platform and protocol independence; Internet standards support; simplified management and administration; inter-company collaboration; simplified end-user experience; and a strong foundation for electronic commerce and security.

NDS today is the only directory with a fully distributed architecture to enable scaling from small to global intranets, and allows network administrators to customize and reconfigure the directory without restarting the network. Over the next twelve months, Novell will deliver a rich variety of enhancements to NDS that more than meet the requirements for a universal directory:

• Platform independence: Novell has already ported NDS to the Santa Cruz Operation's (SCO) UNIX operating environment. Novell will deliver NDS on Windows NT in two stages, beginning in 1996 with completion in 1997, and has alread y begun work with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and other vendors to provide NDS on industry-leading UNIX platforms.
  • Eliminates network administration redundancy by enabling NDS to provide a common directory of network resources across multiple environments.
  • Increases flexibility and preserves investments in existing infrastructure by enabling customers to leverage NDS in UNIX and Windows NT environments.
  • Expands developers' market opportunities by enabling developers to create NDS-enabled applications that will run on multiple platforms.
  • Reduces developers' time to market for NDS-enabled and Java-based applications by providing a common access, security and administration framework across multiple platforms.
• NDS for the Internet: Novell will deliver NDS for the Internet through native support for open Internet standards and protocols, including Domain Name Service (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
  • Provides businesses with global access to directory services through NetWare Connect Services (NCS) and the world's largest telecommunications companies' intranet and Internet offerings.
  • Enables NDS to synchronize with other standards-compliant directories, providing a single interface into all existing directory information and ensuring directory content is updated in real time across all applications and platforms.
  • Provides access to NDS information through any HTTP or LDAP Web browser over either TCP/IP, IPX or a combination of transport protocols.
  • Eliminates tedious manual DNS name and IP address administration by enabling both to be administered through NDS' graphical NetWare Administrator™ (NWAdmin™) utility.
  • Enables developers to easily create applications that leverage NDS by writing directly to Internet standard APIs.
• Management and administration enhancements: NDS will provide Windows NT domain administration by the end of 1996, and has incorporated NDS Manager™ and NWAdmin enhancements into Green River, the next release of NetWare 4.
  • Windows NT domain administration enables all Windows NT domain user and group accounts to be administered directly from NDS, greatly reducing redundant tasks.
  • NDS Manager and NWAdmin improve the efficiency and simplicity of managing enterprise networks.
• Inter-company collaboration: Novell will add enhancements that allow communication between different NDS directory structures while preserving the autonomy of each.
  • Non-global schema enables administrators to customize their environment without replicating their individualized changes across all systems.
  • Federated partitions enable administrators to synchronize and centrally manage public and private directory structures without exposing any part of the private structure.
• End-user enhancements: Novell will improve end users' access to applications, files and services as well as NDS performance and search capabilities.
  • The NetWare Application Launcher™, currently available, simplifies user access to applications and files by enabling administrators to assign applications by user, user group or organization and have appropriate applications dynamically appear on users desktops, regardless of their location.
  • Catalog services greatly speed querying, browsing and utility performance, and simplify development of NDS-enabled applications.
• Foundation for electronic commerce and security: Novell will provide both authenticated and anonymous access to NDS information via Web browsers through LDAP v.3 and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

"NDS support for open Internet standards such as LDAP and HTTP will greatly facilitate development of applications and Java applets that leverage the powerful replication and administration capabilities in NDS," said Michael Colemere, director of business development at Cheyenne Software. "By simply writing to the open Internet standards, we can build directory-enabled applications that support multiple platforms, tremendously increasing our business opportunity."

NDS Integration and Acceptance

In addition to integrated NDS support in Novell's leading networking software products, including NetWare®, GroupWise™, InnerWeb Publisher™, ManageWise™ and the NetWare Web Server™, nearly 200 third-party applications leverage NDS today, including products from Cheyenne Software, Motorola and Oracle Corporation. The world's largest telecommunications companies, including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Telstra and Unisource, rely on NDS as the global directory service for their Internet and intranet services, offered through NCS. Novell also enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including HP and SCO, to expand and enhance their own operating system products by integrating Novell's industry-standard file, print and directory services through Novell Cross Platform Services (NCPS).

Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading network software provider. Novell software provides the infrastructure for a networked world, enabling customers to connect with other people and the information they need, anytime and anyplace. Novell partners with other technology and market leaders to help customers make networks a part of their everyday lives.

Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks, and GroupWise, InnerWeb Publisher, ManageWise, NetWare Administrator, NWAdmin, NetWare Application Launcher, NetWare Connect Services, NetWare Web Server, Novell Directory Services, NDS and NDS Manager are trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other registered trademarks and trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Press Contacts:
Pattie Adams
Novell, Inc.
(408) 577-6056
Internet: padams@novell.com

Susan Rogers
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
(408) 764-0796
Internet: susanr@ccipr.com