Novell NetWare

For a number of years, NetWare was synonymous with networking. However, Windows NT is giving NetWare some stiff competition. NetWare, an exceptionally fast file-and-print server, allows desktop clients to share files, data, and printers. A typical distributed processing environment is shown in Figure 2-1 on the following page.

Netware s strength is in its file-and- print services.

From its inception, Novell s redirector implementation strategy reflected the need for speed. The NetWare redirector was designed to intercept and redirect system calls for disk access; as an afterthought, Novell decided that client/server computing was also important. However, Novell s client/server implementation was problematic. The implementation was based on a 16-bit MS-DOS operating system that did not run in a protected mode. If one user session locked up, the server needed to be rebooted. Windows NT and OS/2 ran each user s session in protected mode; if one user s session locked up, the server didn t need to be rebooted.

FIGURE 2-1

A typical distributed processing environment with centralized data storage, as used in Novell s NetWare