Novell Connecting Points Connects Over 20,000 Attendees at Novell BrainShare and JavaOne, Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s 1998 Worldwide Developer Conference, while Showcasing Novell's NetWare™ 5

PROVO, UTAH — March 18, 1998 — Novell, Inc. announced today that it will create the first intranet to connect two industry-leading conferences simultaneously, enabling more than 20,000 attendees of Novell BrainShare® '98 in Salt Lake City and Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s JavaOne in San Francisco to stay connected to each other and their offices. As it did for over 220,000 COMDEX attendees last fall, Novell Connecting Points will allow all registered attendees of BrainShare and JavaOne to send and retrieve E-mail, schedule appointments, register for show sessions and access the Internet from central locations on the show floor or by dial-up access from any location through a Web browser during the shows from March 23–27. A new feature for Connecting Points at BrainShare will be the ability to access information from a laptop via a LAN card, as well as through a new breed of "smart" cellular phones running AT&T™ PocketNet™ service.

The massive network will showcase Novell's newest platform NetWare 5, currently in beta, working in concert with its GroupWise® and BorderManager® products, creating a scalable and secure mission critical networking solution. An estimated 100,000 messages per day will be processed, for a total of 500,000 messages by the end of both events.

"We are very excited to give JavaOne attendees access to the Novell BrainShare conference through Novell Connecting Points," said George Paolini, director of corporate marketing at JavaSoft, a business unit of Sun. "Both audiences — from BrainShare and JavaOne — will have access to and be able to take advantage of the latest Java news and session schedules from both shows."

Novell Connecting Points will offer a broad variety of new features for BrainShare and JavaOne users while enabling simultaneous access to the two shows, guaranteeing that valuable information is not missed. Novell Connecting Points will also allow users to virtually attend the BrainShare keynotes by Novell CEO Eric Schmidt and other industry leaders, which will offer breaking Novell product development news. Feature highlights of the system include:

• Wireless access — Users at BrainShare will be able to access their Novell Connecting Points GroupWise accounts from a laptop via a LAN card, available for checkout in the BrainShare registration area.
• "Smart" Phone Access — BrainShare attendees will have access to the system through AT&T's PocketNet service, a new kind of cellular phone equipped with a micro-browser that gives real-time access to GroupWise E-mail, calendars, address books and tasks. The service will be available at the AT&T booth in the technical lab area. The solution, currently in beta, is provided in conjunction with AT&T Wireless, Unwired Planet, and Syclo Corporation.
• Java™ Capabilities — Novell Connecting Points will showcase its Java capabilities by running applications on servlets that will help monitor and track conference participants.
• Gigabit Ethernet — Speed of the system will be increased with Gigabit Ethernet provided by Bay Networks.
• Dynamic IP address allocation through BorderManager and DHCP 3.0 — An IP address will automatically be assigned to each user, eliminating duplicate IP addresses and enhancing the system's performance for users.

Novell Connecting Points is a collaboration among Novell, Compaq and Bay Networks, a partnership ensuring security, reliability and performance. The network, which is managed and administered from a central network room in the lobby of the Salt Palace, features award-winning products from Novell, including GroupWise, an advanced collaboration system running on the latest version of NetWare (version 5), which leverages the power of Novell Directory Services™ (NDS™) for security and administration. Novell BorderManager family of products manages access to the Internet. This sophisticated combination of software is powered by Compaq workstations and servers, with Bay Networks supplying reliable hubs and switches to ensure connection 24 hours a day and Gigabit Ethernet to increase the speed of the system.

"With Novell Connecting Points, Compaq and Novell are demonstrating the power, reliability and scalability of our industry-standard solutions developed for enterprise-class environments," said Ronnie Ward, vice president, server products division, Compaq Computer Corporation. "These systems are allowing more than 20,000 attendees at two shows to witness firsthand how the partnership between Novell and Compaq provides a foundation for networked businesses of all shapes and sizes."

Availability

Novell Connecting Points is located at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City for BrainShare attendees and the Moscone Center in San Francisco for JavaOne participants. User accounts are available instantly and easily just by logging in. There are more than 250 workstations total at the two locations, in addition to dial-up access from any location via a Web browser. At BrainShare, 24-hour wireless access will be available via LAN cards, which can be checked out in the show registration area. BrainShare attendees will also have access to the system through "smart" cellular phones using the AT&T PocketNet service and will be eligible to win a free phone and a year of free data service. Novell Connecting Points users at both shows may enter to win a Compaq PC Communicator, which will be awarded as a daily prize at each show.

Coming Attractions

Because of the success at the fall show, COMDEX organizers have invited Novell to continue hosting "The COMDEX Intranet: Novell Connecting Points" at the spring show, being held April 20–23 in Chicago. More than 85,000 users are expected at COMDEX and it is estimated that the system will process a total of 2 million messages by the end of the event.

Novell Connecting Points will be featured at shows around the world in 1998. Some highlights include:

• April 1–3 — NetWorld+Interop, Singapore
• May 4–8 — NetWorld+Interop, Las Vegas
• May 10–14 — BrainShare Europe, Nice, France
• June 16–18 — PC Expo, New York City
• July 22–24 — BrainShare Australia, Sydney
• October 6–8 — BrainShare Africa, Johannesburg
• October 21–23 — NetWorld+Interop, Atlanta
• October 28–30 — NetWorld+Interop/COMDEX, London
• November 2–4 — BrainShare China, Beijing
• November 5–7 — NetWorld+Interop, Paris
• November 16–20 — Fall COMDEX, Las Vegas
• November 25–28 — NetWorld+Interop, Sydney

Novell Solutions

GroupWise 5.2 offers cross-platform, expanded E-mail solutions, including single-point access to full document management, automated workflow capabilities, personal calendaring, group scheduling, tasks, voice mail, facsimiles, documents and other message types from the desktop and via the Internet using GroupWise WebAccess. BorderManager is the industry's first integrated family of directory-based network services that manages, secures and accelerates user access to information at every network border. NetWare 5, the newest platform from Novell, delivers the best management and control for entire networks, from applications to the Internet, using open protocols and standards. NDS, the Novell directory services offering, makes locating and using information and resources on a network easier by providing a single point of access and management.

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. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.

Novell, BrainShare, BorderManager and GroupWise are registered trademarks. NDS, NetWare and Novell Directory Services are trademarks of Novell, Inc. Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other registered trademarks and trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

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

Julie Geer-Brown
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
Phone: (650) 858-3706
Internet: jgeerbrown@ccipr.com