- A Brief History of the NetWare Operating System
- Identify NetWare 6.5 Features
- Describe How NetWare Works with Other Operating Systems
- Exam Prep Questions
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Identify NetWare 6.5 Features
Novell, with the release of NetWare 6.5, has introduced a host of new features and services. For the sake of organization, Novell has divided these features and services into four categories:
- Business Continuity Services
- Productivity-Enhancing Services
- Open Source Services
- Web Application Services
Business Continuity Services
To provide customers with high availability, support for the branch office, consolidation of servers, and backup, Novell has included several features with NetWare 6.5. The following are Business Continuity services:
- Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) support is included. With iSCSI, you can create an economically affordable Storage Area Network (SAN) using an existing Ethernet infrastructure. A fibre-channel SAN is also possible with iSCSI, although it is much more expensive.
- Novell Cluster Services (NCS) has been enhanced from its origin in
NetWare 6.0. NCS 1.7 is a server clustering system that provides failback,
failover, and load balancing for mission-critical environments. Some of the
major features of NCS 1.7 are as follows:
- NCS supports SANs that are based on SCSI, iSCSI, or fibre-channel technology.
- NetWare 6.5 supports, out of the box, a 2-server cluster.
- You can upgrade NCS 1.7 to support a maximum of 32 nodes in a cluster.
- You can manage NCS by using ConsoleOne or Remote Manager, a browser-based management utility.
Productivity-Enhancing Services
Novell labels services that help users securely access their data in a timely manner as productivity-enhancing services. These include the following:
- eDirectory is the latest generation of NDS. It can run on a multitude of platforms including Linux and Windows 2003 Server, and it is LDAP-enabled. One of the major benefits of eDirectory is that it is scalable and has an extensible schema. This book discusses the role of the schema in Chapter 5, "Introduction to eDirectory."
- iPrint is Novell’s anytime, anywhere printing solution based on Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS) and Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). Users can print from their home to their office printer by using a Web browser interface.
- iFolder lets users have access to their files from home, the office, or while on the road. Without copying files back and forth to a floppy disk, users can access the latest version of their data when and where they need it with an Internet connection and a browser that is Java enabled.
- Virtual Teams lets users create a team for real-time collaboration purposes.
- eGuide is a Web-based address book, enabling users to find the names, addresses, and phone numbers that are stored in eDirectory.
- File Versioning lets users restore earlier versions of their files without having to call you or one of your help desk technicians.
- Novell Storage Services (NSS) provides NetWare 6.5 users quick file access to large data stores, such as large databases that are common today.
- Native File Access Protocol in NetWare 6.5 supports numerous file protocols that are native to Macs, Unix, Linux, and Windows. Clients no longer need to have the Novell Client installed to access data that is stored on a NetWare 6.5 server.
Open Source Services
Novell is rapidly becoming a major player in the open source environment. One of the indications of this is the inclusion of five major Open Source Services/applications with NetWare 6.5. These let you take advantage of the flexibility of open source solutions while remaining with a historically stable networking operating system.
The phrase open source means that the source code for operating systems and associated applications is freely distributable. It is not proprietary. Those who make changes are asked to freely distribute those changes to all interested parties. If you develop an open source application, you can license it and distribute it yourself. However, you are asked to make all code available.
Following are the five major Open Source Services/applications that Novell ships with NetWare 6.5:
- Apache Web Server version 2.0.45 is the most popular Web server available today.
- Tomcat Servlet Engine version 4.0.18 is an open source engine for running Java applications.
- MySQL Database version 4.0.12 is a popular open source database solution.
- Perl 5.8 for NetWare is an open source language for creating dynamic Web sites.
- PHP 4.2.3 for NetWare is a cross-platform, server-side scripting language that is capable of quickly hosting Web applications.
Web Application Services
The Novell exteNd application server version 5.0 that comes with NetWare 6.5 gives administrators and developers a method of deploying standards-based applications that are cross-platform and high performance. It is a high-performance J2EE Web application server.