Press Release

Novell Clustering Solution Ensures Dependable Access to Mission-Critical Network Data

Industry-Leading Hardware Vendors Support New High-Availability Product, Customers Applaud Protection Against Network Failure

PROVO, Utah — September 8, 1998 — Novell, Inc. increased its effort to provide the industry's most reliable networks today by announcing it will ship the Novell High Availability Server for NetWare® (NHAS) by September 30. Previously code-named Orion Phase I, the new product ensures access to network data from anywhere, anytime and minimizes network downtime. The software, developed in conjunction with Vinca Corp., is designed for customers looking to reduce the risk and costs of unplanned downtime due to hardware or software failures. Key industry partners, such as Compaq and IBM, and customers familiar with Novell's established leadership in the high-availability arena are endorsing Novell's achievement in providing yet another solution that enhances the reliability of intelligent business networks.

NHAS serves as the foundation for a complete clustering solution for customers in transaction-oriented industries such as banking, transportation and retail. Such businesses lose millions of dollars every hour their systems are down and cannot afford to operate without protection against unplanned downtime. The first version of NHAS supports two active servers in a cluster; future versions will enable support for additional servers.

"Delivery of Novell's High Availability Server for NetWare proves we are committed to providing users with flexible, manageable and powerful clustering solutions that will make networks more dependable. Solutions like Novell High Availability Server help protect businesses from the significant costs associated with server failures," said Michael Bryant, director of product marketing, advanced services for Novell. "We are working with our partners to deliver the first phase of this product to meet customers' high availability needs today. With subsequent clustering product deliveries, Novell will expand customers' clustering capabilities by offering increased protection for mission-critical data on the network and improved manageability of their clustering technology."

Customers See Immediate Value In Clustering Solution

NHAS is a significant step toward dramatically reducing the risk of network failure and costs associated with downtime in businesses of all sizes. The new product offers customers the following clustering benefits:

  • Automatic failover protection — In the event of hardware or software failure on one server, the remaining server seamlessly takes over, guaranteeing availability of network data and resources anytime, anywhere. This includes failover for applications in use at the time of the crash, which automatically restart on the alternate server without user intervention. Support for IP-based applications like a Web server is included, so that IP addresses are automatically migrated from one server to another for easy user connection.

  • Active servers — NHAS supports two active NetWare 4.11 servers, instead of a separate inactive server, for back-up protection. This configuration ensures efficient use of servers on the network and reduces overall technology costs.

  • Shared storage — Support for shared storage devices allows customers to reduce overall management costs by centralizing administration and data back-up. Shared storage also ensures efficient use of storage space by eliminating the need to maintain duplicate files on different servers.

  • Protection of hardware investment — The hardware investment for NHAS for NetWare offers customers a foundation on which to build advanced solutions for the future.
"NHAS will allow us to truly leverage the power of NDS and deliver critical network resources to our users by guaranteeing the network will be consistently available," said Orion beta tester Walter Hilderman, network analyst of Tribune Company in Chicago. "We are continuously looking for ways to protect our network and reduce the costs of managing it, and NHAS allows us to do both. We are in the process of consolidating 15 servers into two servers - essentially putting all of our eggs into one basket - which we would not have been able to do if we were not completely comfortable with the level of protection we'll receive from NHAS."

Industry-Leading Partners Support Solution

Novell has been working on its clustering technology roadmap with industry-leading partners including Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Siemens-Nixdorf and Vinca. Like Novell, these partners are committed to supporting clustering solutions that will protect their customers business-critical data and applications.

"Novell and Vinca have been working together as development partners for a long time and as such, share a common commitment to providing our mutual customers with the most reliable failover protection possible," said Wally Marsden, director of engineering for Vinca, Corp. "When you combine the most reliable networking technology with the most reliable failover protection, you're delivering confidence in addition to a powerful solution to your customer."

"Novell High Availability Server is an impressive technology that meshes tightly with Compaq's strategy to deliver robust, reliable, and flexible high availability solutions to the industry-standard marketplace," said Mike Clark, Vice President of Compaq's High Availability Business Segment. "Our commitment to Novell and its partners ensures customers of a clear path to future clustering enhancements."

Pricing and Availability

NHAS, with support for two servers, will be generally available on September 30 and can be purchased through Novell Authorized Resellers. The product will be sold for $3895 per pair of servers. Novell is currently developing a version of NHAS for NetWare that will be compatible with NetWare 5 and will provide details in the near future.

About Novell

Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet/intranet and small business markets, as well as the network computing industry's most comprehensive education and technical support programs. Information about Novell and its complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.

Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holder.

Press Contacts:
Shannon Harmon
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 228-5126
Internet: smharmon@novell.com

Nan Stillinger
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
Phone: (650) 858-3772
Internet: nstillinger@ccipr.com