Novell bundle makes NetWare, Internet link

Novell Inc. in heated competition with Microsoft Corp. and Windows NT in the network market announced a product bundle last week that will give NetWare users a way to create and manage their own internal intranets and connect them to the Internet.

IntranetWare builds on the distributed services in NetWare 4.11 code-named Green River and due out shortly and also integrates enhanced intranet and Internet technologies. These include NetWare Web Server 2.5 and Netscape Navigator 2.x (and later 3.0) a gateway between TCP/IP and NetWare IPX/SPX networking protocols and a multiprotocol router for wide-area network and Internet connections.

"IntranetWare is a combination of products that allows NetWare users to turn their networks into intranets " said Richard Carlson director of Novell's major market operations. In addition IntranetWare provides a platform to which users can add ManageWise the company's PC-LAN and intranet management package and GroupWise its messaging and groupware product to create "full-service" intranets he said."Now employees can have their own home page and agencies can have their own home page and they can build their own set of network services based on their own intranet and still use the bigger Internet " Carlson said.

While Microsoft's Windows NT 4.0 due out shortly incorporates intranet and Internet capabilities including a Web server and browser it does not provide the ability to use native protocols and it does not offer directory services such as Novell Directory Services (NDS) or provide management to link servers together into one manageable network Carlson said.

Deploying an Intranet Web Server

IntranetWare's integrated IP/IPX gateway - supporting TCP/IP and NetWare network protocols - makes it easier to deploy an intranet World Wide Web server by allowing users to launch the Netscape browser from any desktop workstation and pass network traffic to the server for IPX-to-IP translation. There is no need to install and maintain a separate IP stack on each desktop to provide NetWare clients with access to IP-based services according to Novell.

IntranetWare acts as a level-one security firewall because only the server has an IP address so outside users have no direct access to other resources on the network.It also features the first Internet access solution that supports user and group-level security tied to NDS enabling administrators to manage limit or block connections to specific Internet services and sites the company said.

The message Novell is trying to give is "If you have an existing Novell network you can evolve it to an intranet " said Lee Doyle vice president of local-area networks and data communications at International Data Corp. IntranetWare is more of a repositioning and evolution of existing products he said.

All applications developed to work with NetWare 4 or NDS will automatically run on IntranetWare. Developers will also be able to use an upcoming version of the Java Virtual Machine that will enable agencies to run Java applications on IntranetWare.

IntranetWare and NetWare 4.11 will be available this fall and will be added to existing government contracts. Novell products are available on the Army's Small Multiuser Computer II through Telos Corp. and the Navy's PC LAN+ through Electronic Data Systems Corp.

The products also will be available on the General Services Administration schedule only through Softmart but Novell is expected to sign more schedule holders within the next 30 days. The company is negotiating an agreement with GSA that will allow it to sell its Corporate License Agreement for the first time off the schedule which will let agencies buy a license for Novell products for a certain number of users.