Costa, Damn good review. Thanks. Let's let everyone see it here <G>..
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September 30, 1996 10 AM ET
PC Week Labs First Look
IntranetWare: NT Server
gains a worthy opponent
By Mark Stanczak
The heat is on. With IntranetWare, Novell Inc.
finally has an Internet-savvy network
operating system that rivals Microsoft Corp.'s
Windows NT Server 4.0.
There is room for refinement, but PC Week
Labs strongly recommends that current NetWare sites upgrade
directly to IntranetWare--especially those ready to make the
Internet/intranet transition.
Most should bypass NetWare 4.11 (code-named Green River),
because IntranetWare is NetWare 4.11, plus a World Wide Web
server, Web authoring tool and browser.
Moreover, IntranetWare and NetWare 4.11, both of which ship
next week, are priced identically--$4,995 for 50 users. A 50-user
upgrade to IntranetWare costs $1,995 for NetWare 2.x and 3.x
users. Novell is offering NetWare 4.x users a special $995
upgrade price for 90 days (beginning Oct. 7).
In PC Week Labs' tests, we found the installation process to be
slightly more intuitive than NetWare 4.1. It now includes an
"auto-detection" scheme for network adapters, for example, that
accurately detected and installed the Intel EtherExpress
Pro/100B adapters in our Hewlett-Packard Co. Vectra XU 6/200
test server.
Installation of the Web components, however, is not as
well-integrated as it could be. For example, we were forced to run
the MPR (Multiprotocol Router) and IP/IPX gateway installation
procedures from a separate program. With NT Server, the entire
installation can be completed at setup time.
Once the operating system was installed, we found a wealth of
options that truly bring a new level of functionality to NetWare.
Novell has bundled best-of-breed third-party products and
technologies, most of which are Web-related.
The most noteworthy of these is Novell's NetWare Web Server
2.51. Previously sold separately for $1,595, it is now included in
IntranetWare. Using the new DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol) service, the NetWare server also can act as the central
manager of IP addresses.
Unlike previous versions of NetWare, IntranetWare includes
support for high-end quad-processing systems, which significantly
enhances scalability. In our tests, however, we ran into some
glitches. For example, IntranetWare was unable to detect the
second Pentium Pro processor in our dual-CPU server. Windows
NT Server, on the other hand, located the second processor
without any hesitation.
The most obvious component missing from IntranetWare is
remote node access. Novell has neglected to include its NetWare
Connect remote access product in IntranetWare.
On the client side, in addition to DOS, OS/2, Macintosh,
Windows 3.x and Windows 95 networking client installation files,
IntranetWare has been Web-fortified with both the 16-bit and
32-bit versions of Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator
2.01. Missing from this list of supported clients is Windows NT
Workstation.
Novell has bundled NetBasic, a Web authoring tool from High
Technology Software Corp. NetBasic offers the unique ability to
work with NetWare APIs to leverage Novell Directory Services.
Novell,of Orem, Utah, can be reached at (800) 638-9273 or at
novell.com.
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Regards,
Joe...
monmouth.com (where you get "entertained" while
you read <smile>. |
