Hi Paul...Interesting Article about NW vs NT
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NetWare vs. NT
By Christine Burns
Network World, 12/23/96
Novell, Inc. will have to don heavy armor this year to defend
its network services turf from a Microsoft Corp. assault.
The lines between NetWare and Windows NT have been
clear in the past. NetWare screams at file and print, and its
directory service provides great manageability for networks of
all sizes. NT, while criticized as hard to administer, is
considered the best for serving up networked applications.
These lines are blurring, however, as the market moves away
from the network operating system (NOS) and toward
network services that tie server operating systems together.
Novell has tried to move beyond the NOS realm with
IntranetWare. The bundle, introduced in October, pivots on
Novell Directory Services (NDS) and includes a Web server,
an IP gateway and multiprotocol routing. However, the
product has yet to made a huge impact.
''Novell isn't going to open any new accounts with this
product. It will find success only as an upgrade,'' says Steve
Kleynhans, an analyst at META Group, Inc. in Stamford,
Conn.
But overhauling its 3.5 million installed servers would make a
great year for Novell, says William Donahoo, Novell's senior
director of product marketing. ''That's a huge opportunity, and
we are going after that,'' he says.
Novell also is taking its most valuable asset on the road by
giving away NDS source code to any vendor that wants to
integrate it into their products. A long-standing problem for
Novell has been getting developers to write applications that
leverage NDS. Novell has made strides in this area by
embracing Java and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.
However, it must combat the promise of Microsoft's NT 5.0
directory service. While the beta is not expected until summer,
Microsoft has already released alpha code to 3,500
developers.
''It's a question of whether developers want to write to an up
and coming directory or one that is trying to break out of a
proprietary mold,'' says Rob Enderle, an analyst at Giga
Information Group in Santa Clara, Calif.
''The real benefit of our directory is that it was designed to
work with all of the different server applications out there,''
says Mike Nash, director of server marketing at Microsoft.
Regardless of the wind behind NT's sails, the reality for 1997
is likely to be a mixed operating system environment.
''The solution to this battle is real coexistence,'' says Dave
Carpuccio, vice president of networking technology at Gartner
Group, Inc. in Stamford, Conn. ''Let customers use the system
that suits their needs, regardless of what is already on their
network.''
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The last paragraph seems to be the most realistic.
Regards
Salah |
