Lucent and Novell Work Jointly to Accelerate Development and Adoption of Directory-
Enabled Networking Standards
Companies Sign Software License Agreement To Integrate Novell Directory Services
With
Lucent's Cajun P550 Switch
ATLANTA, GA (NetWorld+Interop Show) -- Oct. 19, 1998 -- Lucent
Technologies and Novell®, Inc. today announced the two companies are working together
to
advance the development and adoption of directory-enabled networking standards and
policy-based
networking. These new standards will help integrate network equipment, such as switches and
routers,
with directory services and will allow customers to improve their network management and cost
controls.
At the same time, Lucent and Novell announced the signing of a software license agreement that
will
bundle and integrate Novell Directory Services® (NDS) with management software
for
Lucent's high-capacity Cajun P550 Switch, a Layer 2 switching, Layer 3 routing
Ethernet
platform. This capability will be delivered by Lucent in the first half of 1999 as an enhanced
policy
management application.
Both Lucent (booth number 5137) and Novell (booth number 4611) will demonstrate this initial
application at the NetWorld+Interop show taking place here this week at the Georgia World
Congress
Center.
As active members of the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF), Lucent and Novell will
collaborate
to develop solutions based on the Common Information Model (CIM) and Directory-Enabled
Networks (DEN) specifications in order to expedite the acceptance and implementation of these
open
standards throughout the industry.
"Directory-enabled networking brings applications and devices together in a way that simplifies
network
management, and allows customers to set priorities for their network applications based on
business
needs," said Karyn Mashima, vice president of enterprise networks at Lucent. "Novell Directory
Services, with its open platform support of Windows NT, UNIX and NetWare environments, is a
good
foundation for this. Using Novell and Lucent's combined technology and expertise, users can
reduce
costs and improve network performance through the implementation of standards-based, policy
network
management capabilities."
"Lucent is demonstrating its characteristic leadership in the networking industry by recognizing
the value
of the directory and acting to incorporate the leading directory service, NDS, into its enterprise
product
line," said Chris Stone, senior vice president, strategy and corporate development for Novell.
"Businesses
everywhere are deploying directory-enabled networks to improve network manageability and
performance while lowering network costs. Together, Novell and Lucent will deliver these
benefits
through the integration of the directory and the physical network infrastructure before any other
vendors."
Industry Standards Support
Lucent and Novell are both committed to supporting industry standards that give customers the
ability to
build and manage heterogeneous networks. As a result of today's announcement, the two
companies will
collaborate on new standards proposals, specifically regarding DEN interoperability. The DEN
specification includes a standard approach to defining schema for integrating network equipment,
such as
switches and routers, with a directory service. The two companies are further demonstrating their
commitment to industry standards by agreeing to use the industry standard lightweight directory
access
protocol (LDAP) for interfacing Novell Directory Services with Lucent's products.
Quality of Service
Leveraging the intelligence of NDS, administrators can set policies to guarantee consistent
performance
of the network for the applications, users or data that are most critical to the success of their
company's
business. For example, to ensure that network resources are used for the most productive activity
possible, priority bandwidth can be allocated to individual users, organizations, such as a
company's call
center, or to a mission-critical application, such as a financial transaction program. Network
administrators will be able to offer their internal customers guaranteed access to critical network
resources through allocations based on corporate policy; and end users will see improved,
high-quality
network performance with consistent, prioritized access to key applications.
Lucent's support for these policies will be provided initially by the company's Cajun P550
Gigabit
Routing Switch. A member of Lucent's Cajun Campus family of end-to-end local area network
switching
solutions, the fault-tolerant P550 is a 10/100/1000 megabits per second Ethernet backbone switch
that
supports the requirements of the next wave of networking: more bandwidth, elimination of
bottlenecks,
better manageability and dependable multimedia support.
This policy-based functionality is also scheduled to be available for the other members of
Lucent's Cajun
Campus product line, plus additional offerings in the company's data networking enterprise
portfolio,
over the next 12-18 months.
About Lucent
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide
range of
public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems,
business
telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development
arm for
the company. More information about Lucent Technologies is available on the company's Web
site at: www.lucent.com.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's largest network software company and the leader
in
directory-enabled network solutions. Novell solutions make networks more manageable and
secure and
reduce the total cost of ownership for organizations of every kind and size. Novell's worldwide
channel,
developer, education and technical support programs are the most extensive in the network
computing
industry.
For information on Novell's complete range of products and services, contact Novell's Customer
Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272), or visit Novell's Web site at www.novell.com. Press may access Novell announcements
and
company information on the World Wide Web at www.novell.com/pressroom.
Cajun and P550 are trademarks of Lucent Technologies. NetWare, NetWorld, Novell and Novell
Directory Services are registered trademarks and NDS is a trademark of Novell, Inc.
Press Contacts:
John H. Ricciardone
Lucent Technologies
508-303-8885 (x234)
jricciardone@lucent.com
Katrina Larson
Novell, Inc.
801-861-5593
kalarson@novell.com