SNEAK PREVIEWS

Novell IntranetWare: The Empire Strikes Back

At the base of IntranetWare is the latest version of NetWare, also known as Green River, along with an improved, autodetecting installation procedure, updated client drivers and a suite of Internet/intranet-related services. Although many of these components have been available as separate add-on products, Novell has finally realized that by bundling these services with some much-needed new ones it can offer an even more powerful, complete enterprise solution.

May the Server Be With You At the center of any intranet empire is the Web server. IntranetWare bundles the Novell Web Server with a strong cast of supporting services. Version 2.51 offers quick access times, remote administration capabilities and a simple but useful console screen that shows current utilization and server peaks.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI) buffs will appreci ate the included Perl interpreter that supports most of the Perl scripting language. The only documented Perl restrictions are in the use of chmod, opendir and readir. The Web Server also supports BASIC scripts and dynamic page design using NetWare Loadable Module (NLM)-based remote CGI (RCGI) and local CGI (LCGI). The combined services offer Web designers a lot of room for growth.

For LAN users wishing to use Web services without succumbing to TCP/IP, IntranetWare comes with Novell's own IPX-to-IP gateway. The gateway is fully integrated with Novell Directory Services (NDS) and resides on the server as a loaded NLM. You'll take comfort in the fact that it is an implied firewall, because LAN-based services still will be IPX-based and not accessible or routable across the Internet. The bundled gateway lacks management features, but does get the job done.

Should you decide to dive into the dark forces of the IP world, IntranetWare's Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server will help you brave the trek. Using the DHCP server with the Client32, you can control users' IP addresses, default routes and name server entries, allevi ating the often nightmarish headaches brought on by configuring IP clients. Once installed, the two performed flawlessly together.

Another addition to the IP front is NetWare/IP 2.2, which lets you move NetWare clients away from IPX and entirely onto IP. Implementing NetWare/IP is even easier now that the 32-bit clients have built-in support.

NetWare/IP 2.2 also includes a DNS server--a service that has become essential in many corporations. With the Novell DNS server, DNS table management becomes a simple issue of traversing menus and adding names.

We were pleased to find that IntranetWare includes the MultiProtocol Router (MPR)--a product that should have been included with the base NetWare long ago. The combination of the MPR and the IPX-to-IP gateway opens the door to inexpensive Net connectivity for smaller NetWare-ba sed LANs.

IntranetWare boasts a variety of server-based products, but it also includes so me client-side additions. Extremely efficient 32-bit client drivers, as well as the older Virtual Loadable Module (VLM)-based drivers, are part of the package. The DOS/Windows drivers have been completely overhauled. We installed the new Client32 on one of our workstations that supported dual protocol stacks (IP and IPX), which previously used 123 KB of conventional memory. With DHCP support, the new Client32 used only 3 KB of the conventional RAM. Even better, all of our applications ran flawlessly.

IntranetWare and Navigator: Like Ewoks and Jawas IntranetWare ships with corresponding Netscape Navigator 2.02 client licenses, alleviating the need for purchasing additional Web browsers. Although the copy of IntranetWare we tested only had the 16-bit and 32-bit versions of Navigator for Windows, we are told all versions will be available for IntranetWare clients. You also can use Netscape Navigator to view the included documentation. The addition of this powerful Internet tool reinforces Novell's theme of presenting a total network solution.

Although NDS integration with the offered services is definitely moving forward, there are still some things missing. For instance, suppose one wants to track the Web sites that a user visited, but the user has a DHCP-assigned IP address? What about DNS and DHCP coordination? Or even better, what about DHCP, DNS and NDS coordination? Possible, maybe. The pieces are there, but have not yet been implemented. IntranetWare's strength relies not in newly designed technology but in its integration into the existing NetWare base. We'll see if Novell takes it a step further in the future.

Greg Shipley is a consultant employed by DTA Technical Services, a consulting firm located in Oakbrook, Ill., specializing in mainframe and network support. He can be reached at gshipley@kiva.net.