To all,
Novell tests certificate server
By Stephanie Sanborn
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 6:24 PM PT, Oct 1, 1999
Novell Certificate Server 2.0 is now in open beta testing, providing a certificate-based security server for use with Internet-commerce applications.
Built to work with the company's Novell Directory Services (NDS) enterprise directory, the certificate server offers a full set of public key infrastructure (PKI) security services for NDS and is managed with Novell's ConsoleOne, a Java-based management framework.
Using Novell Certificate Server, which supports several security-certificate types, including digital signature and authentication, users can mint, issue, and manage certificates in one place.
“The certificates are associated with NDS objects, so a manager has a true single point of management,” said Julie Tamura, product manager for Novell's Certificate Server.
“An end-user can use certificates for authentication through NDS, and we have a technology called NMAS [Novell Modular Authentication Service] that facilitates that.”
NMAS is an authentication framework for NDS that supports multiple methods of authentication, according to Tamura.
Abner Germanow, a senior analyst at International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass., believes the Novell Certificate Server is a step toward more electronic-commerce involvement.
“Novell very clearly wants to be supporting e-commerce applications,” Germanow said, noting that PKI services and e-commerce are good areas for possible NDS expansion. “Basically, you can't run PKI without a directory.”
Novell is banking on Certificate Server's integration with NDS to differentiate it from offerings from companies such as Netscape.
“Netscape has some higher-end tools that we don't have yet, although we'll have them in the future,” Tamura said, also noting that she considers the Novell offering “on par with Netscape,” overall.
Tamura said Novell Certificate Server 2.0 is due to ship by the end of 1999. The beta version is available now at Novell's Web site.
Novell Inc., in Provo, Utah, is at novell.com.
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