Novell Will Add HTTP To NetWare
5.0
(05/04/99, 6:51 p.m. ET)
By Jeffrey Schwartz, InternetWeek
Novell next week will unveil plans to release an
update to its NetWare 5.0 operating system --
adding HTTP to the list of protocols the
network operating system supports.
The new release, code-named Cobra, will debut at the
Networld + Interop trade show in Las Vegas.
Novell has not set a shipping date, nor has the company
decided if Cobra will be offered as a free service pack
or will be released as an upgraded point version of
NetWare.
The company said Cobra will be released in advance of
shipping its multiprocessor-based version of NetWare,
code-named 6-Pack. The latter will be offered as a
separate NetWare upgrade release, according to Brian
Faustyn, Novell's NetWare product marketing
manager. The 6-Pack release will go to beta imminently
and be released around the time Microsoft's Windows
2000 ships, Faustyn said, which is still scheduled for
year's end.
The release of Cobra, however, is arguablythe most
significant enhancement to NetWare since Novell
released NetWare 5.0 last year. While multiprocessing
support is needed in NetWare, HTTP support is more
important than 6-Pack, or even Novell's Clustering
Services, said Jamie Lewis, president of The Burton
Group. Clustering Services are in beta now and due to
ship in the second half of this year.
"The architectural shift toward Internet protocols is of
more value in the long run. NetWare needs that just as
it needed to support pure IP," Lewis said. "Plugging
HTTP into the NetWare engine and giving it direct
access to the file system is a very important thing for
NetWare."
Just as IP replaced IPX as the networking protocol in
NetWare 5.0, Cobra lets users circumvent the
proprietary NetWare Core Protocol, Faustyn said.
"This makes it easier for us and ISVs to access
NetWare services via HTTP in a secure way," he said.
That, combined with Novell's recent announcement that
it is working with IBM to offer the WebSphere Web
application server with NetWare, is key to Novell's
efforts to convince IT managers that NetWare can be
used as a platform for Web-enabled applications.
However, whether IT managers embrace NetWare as a
platform for Web-enabled applications is anything but
certain. "NetWare is not the leading development
platform out there today," Lewis said. "The deal they
have with IBM has a lot of potential to bring a lot of
coherence to the strategy."
Having basic HTTP support in the file server will let IT
managers access NetWare services, via Web
browsers, eliminating the need for a separate Web
server.
But Cobra will still require users to have the NetWare
client, Faustyn said, though for certain purposes users
will be able to access NetWare services through a Web
browser. Initially, Cobra will enable Web browser
access to basic server-management features. For more
sophisticated management of enterprise NetWare and
ultimately Novell Directory Services systems, Faustyn
said IT organizations will need Novell's Java-based
ConsoleOne.
Also next week, Novell will announce the Small
Business Suite, a package for enterprises of up to 50
users. The suite is the first small business package to include NetWare 5.0. Bundled with it will be
GroupWise 5.5, BorderManager FastCache 3.0,
ZENworks Starter Pack 1.1, Netscape Enterprise
Server for NetWare, Network Associates' VirusScan
and NetShield, NetObjects Fusion, and other
applications and tools. Pricing and availability was not disclosed.
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