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Netware vs. Windows 2
- Thread starter leeym
- Start date
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1
- #2
marvhuffaker
MIS
Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting
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1
- #4
ITsmyfault
IS-IT--Management
good link - thx!
FWIW I agree with the folks from ISC (one of the links on the page Marvin posted)
- Netware is more involved to set up, but once it is set up you can go do something else.. it will just run. If you have a failure, it is MUCH easier to fix. They use technology adaped from mainframes to 'stage load' the os. You can do do this manually and fix most anything that could happen. There is none of this 'deterioration' that happens on windows boxes where the thing gets slower and slower and starts acting up. My windows admin buddies accept the fact that rebooting, reformatting and reinstalling is 'normal'. It's not. If nothing else it is a waste of time and money.
Netware's file system (NSS) is a true journalling file system and does not need maintenance (like defragging..) because it does not fragment. (imagine that!) it also recovers from problems much more elegantly. Win32 can have problems go past boot undetected after crashes. (google a bit. you'll find some good stuff)
eDirectory is a much better X500 implimentation than AD. For one, you can scale the thing to any size you can imagine. In 1 tree (not a forest.. please!) - so you can push a single policy to multiple organizations or OU's.. each user has 3 (or more) login scripts - at the container level, group level and at the user level. The granularity is amazing. Replica sync is several generations ahead of AD as well. You can break the database into partitions (by OU for example) and just sync those. AD syncs the whole entire thing to every server with a copy (adds complexity, wastes BW) above that you can *filter* the replicas in eDir so that you only sync the part of your replica that you want to sync - like user info.. instead of syncing everything. eDir is also customizable and extensible. You can create new objects, define new properties for your own special needs. You can add DirXML to it and sync eDir to any directory service (like AD, Peoplesoft, HR systems, etc) you need to, simplifying user management.
From the $ and cents POV, you get *unlimited* server licenses when you purchase netware. Build as many as you like. You don't have to "activate" your netware server either.. you bought it, change out the hardware all you want. You also get as many 2 node clusters as you can afford. Again, at no extra charge. You buy the hardware and just go for it. Netware can scale to 32 node clusters.. no "enterprise" BS upgrade to buy.. it does this out of the box. (You pay extra for cluster lic after node #2)You pay only for user connection licenses, which are per user (not per user/per server..) so it does not matter how many servers a user connects to. It's 1 licensed connection. Try that in windows world.. Once you have a netware server (or 5!) on site, you can add Zenworks for $35 a user (or so) which blows SMS out of the water. You get policy based (built on your eDir users/groups etc) imaging, application distribution (incl upgrade and rollback), inventory, security and more.
Also you may never see a 'critical security patch' for a Netware server. I think CERT has been keeping track, there have been 11? for Novell as a firm across all their product lines. (vs. 100's for Windows). So take the time you would have spend downloading and patching and put your feet up. Better yet, spend that time practively moving forward with your infrastructure instead of running to stand still (patching..)
disclaimer: I run an IT dept which hosts 4 companies with 5 OS's (Windows, Solaris, Netware, Linux and OS/2) I have more windows servers than Netware due to application requirements. But all of our critical services are either on Netware or Solaris. Downtime is in the low 7 figures/hr. (eg: I dont' get to have any) And we manage all this with just 2 IT folks (myself and my assistant) and very limited consulting. Read into that what you will.
Bottom line:
Will you need training if you've never run it before: heck yes. It is a different OS, with different needs and approaches to things.
Is it worth learning: Heck yes. If you're a SMB, check out the small business package of Netware 6.5 Comes with Zenworks, Groupwise(Email/groupware/document management), Netware 6.5 and more. It's a steal.
gd lk!
FWIW I agree with the folks from ISC (one of the links on the page Marvin posted)
- Netware is more involved to set up, but once it is set up you can go do something else.. it will just run. If you have a failure, it is MUCH easier to fix. They use technology adaped from mainframes to 'stage load' the os. You can do do this manually and fix most anything that could happen. There is none of this 'deterioration' that happens on windows boxes where the thing gets slower and slower and starts acting up. My windows admin buddies accept the fact that rebooting, reformatting and reinstalling is 'normal'. It's not. If nothing else it is a waste of time and money.
Netware's file system (NSS) is a true journalling file system and does not need maintenance (like defragging..) because it does not fragment. (imagine that!) it also recovers from problems much more elegantly. Win32 can have problems go past boot undetected after crashes. (google a bit. you'll find some good stuff)
eDirectory is a much better X500 implimentation than AD. For one, you can scale the thing to any size you can imagine. In 1 tree (not a forest.. please!) - so you can push a single policy to multiple organizations or OU's.. each user has 3 (or more) login scripts - at the container level, group level and at the user level. The granularity is amazing. Replica sync is several generations ahead of AD as well. You can break the database into partitions (by OU for example) and just sync those. AD syncs the whole entire thing to every server with a copy (adds complexity, wastes BW) above that you can *filter* the replicas in eDir so that you only sync the part of your replica that you want to sync - like user info.. instead of syncing everything. eDir is also customizable and extensible. You can create new objects, define new properties for your own special needs. You can add DirXML to it and sync eDir to any directory service (like AD, Peoplesoft, HR systems, etc) you need to, simplifying user management.
From the $ and cents POV, you get *unlimited* server licenses when you purchase netware. Build as many as you like. You don't have to "activate" your netware server either.. you bought it, change out the hardware all you want. You also get as many 2 node clusters as you can afford. Again, at no extra charge. You buy the hardware and just go for it. Netware can scale to 32 node clusters.. no "enterprise" BS upgrade to buy.. it does this out of the box. (You pay extra for cluster lic after node #2)You pay only for user connection licenses, which are per user (not per user/per server..) so it does not matter how many servers a user connects to. It's 1 licensed connection. Try that in windows world.. Once you have a netware server (or 5!) on site, you can add Zenworks for $35 a user (or so) which blows SMS out of the water. You get policy based (built on your eDir users/groups etc) imaging, application distribution (incl upgrade and rollback), inventory, security and more.
Also you may never see a 'critical security patch' for a Netware server. I think CERT has been keeping track, there have been 11? for Novell as a firm across all their product lines. (vs. 100's for Windows). So take the time you would have spend downloading and patching and put your feet up. Better yet, spend that time practively moving forward with your infrastructure instead of running to stand still (patching..)
disclaimer: I run an IT dept which hosts 4 companies with 5 OS's (Windows, Solaris, Netware, Linux and OS/2) I have more windows servers than Netware due to application requirements. But all of our critical services are either on Netware or Solaris. Downtime is in the low 7 figures/hr. (eg: I dont' get to have any) And we manage all this with just 2 IT folks (myself and my assistant) and very limited consulting. Read into that what you will.
Bottom line:
Will you need training if you've never run it before: heck yes. It is a different OS, with different needs and approaches to things.
Is it worth learning: Heck yes. If you're a SMB, check out the small business package of Netware 6.5 Comes with Zenworks, Groupwise(Email/groupware/document management), Netware 6.5 and more. It's a steal.
gd lk!
marvhuffaker
MIS
The guy that built that website is a Novell diehard like me, and it's real solid info. He did a great job at bringing together various resources and putting it one place.
Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting
Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting
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