Reviews

NetWare Core Protocol On Unix: Breaking The Wintel Stranglehold

by Robert J. Kohlhepp

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For this review, we stayed with the NetWare services, enabling NetWare connections and defining the v isible volumes. Accounts already were active, as we decided to let TAS authenticate against the local Unix machine. Licensing is based on concurrent connections regardless of the file service being used.

We were disappointed to find that Syntax doesn't make use of existing NetWare utilities, though we had no problem connecting to the server from Windows NT 3.51, 4.0 or Windows95. Using the DOS Virtual Loadable Module (VLM) client, we found that the login directory contains a number of executables that resemble their NetWare counterparts, such as CAPTURE.EXE, MAP.EXE and LOGIN.EXE. Those posed no problem logging into the TAS server or into true NetWare servers.

Syntax even supports case sensitivity through the NetWare login, though, you must type the "~" character before each uppercase letter so it knows which case to pass to the Unix authentication side.

Its support for a multitude of NOS emulatio ns (called Realms), including SMB (LAN manager), NetWare and AppleShare, makes TAS an ideal choice fo r integrating your desktop operating systems' resources. But we were a bit disappointed to find that long file names are not yet supported in the NetWare realm. However, they are supported under SMB. Syntax promises long file name support in its next revision, version 4.2.

NetCon Corp. NetCon 6.0
NetCon offers a solid solution, but suffers with respect to its management and integration with Novell NetWare. NetCon's scalability is good, since it supports routing and can talk to numerous network cards. However, the product needs to be integrated better with either the Unix or NetWare environment. Specifically, it has to make use of either network operating systems native administrative tools.

Like TAS, NetCon uses a simple pkgadd to add the software to the system. During installation, we were prompted by several questions regarding network interfaces, though the version we tested was unable to function using our Ethernet 802.3 frame type. NetCon quickly issued a patch when we told them of this, and we were up and running without a problem.

We found the NetCon add user and group utility to be cumbersome. The menu-driven utility is poorly laid out and we often had to guess at the proper syntax to add users. Of course, our troubles could have been avoided had NetCon made better use of SYSCON.EXE or had been integrated with the Unix password file. Though accounts are created only once, organizations add and delete users quite often.

Once up and running, NetCon operates well. We were able to login from any Windows or DOS platform and run executables. Since account entries are kept in NetCon's private bindery, case sensitivity is not an issue. In addition, we had no problems connecting from an NT 4.0 client. Like Syntax, NetCon does not support long file names.

Robert J. Kohlhepp can be reached at rkohlhepp@nwc.com.

UnixWare: A Different Kind of Solution

UnixWare certainly offers NetWare services on a Unix platform--much better, in fact, than any other product in this review. But because of the lack of an application base for UnixWare, most organizations don't have an extensive investment in it; UnixWare is a more appropriate solution for new installations, rather than as an addition to an existing environment.

UnixWare is a recent acquisition from Novell, and with it The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) has all the makings of a very good Unix-NetWare integration platform. In addition, UnixWare has some great backing in the NetWare developm ent side. We found it to be a full-featured server, with full support for Novell Directory Services (NDS).

Starting with the installation, we found that the UnixWare screens closely resemble a NetWare server install interface. After a quick reboot, we were able to add NDS capabilities. We decided to exercise the NDS conformance and added our UnixWare server to an existing NDS tree. It grafted seamlessly, and from there it was simple to grant users' rights to the NetWare volumes on the UnixWare server. Like the other products tested in our review, we installed UnixWare on Solaris. It offers many of the TCP/IP services that you might add to a true NetWare server. But make no mistake, UnixWare is first and foremost a Unix operating system that happens to offer great integration with NetWare. In addition, UnixWare provides many GUI-based utilities for both Unix and NetWare administration.

We were able to login to the server from a variety of platforms, including Windows95, Windows NT and Apple Macintosh. But be sure to add OS/2 name space for long file names under Win95 and Macintosh name space if you're going to serve Macintosh files. Unlike true NetWare, name space additions to UnixWare require a reboot.

One problem did crop up with UnixWare and the NT and Macintosh clients: While trying to benchmark performance with the NT client, we couldn't run DOS/Windows executables from a server mapped drive; Win95 worked fine and didn't pose any problems. SCO is working to locate the problem, but was unable to do so as we completed testing. On the Macintosh side, we were unable to mount volumes to our Macintosh desktop quite a flaw since simply browsing the NDS tree left us wanting more.