In This Part

Well past its 20th birthday, NetWare has proven itself as one of the best network operating systems on the market today. However, Open Enterprise Server (OES) promises a rebirth into the world of open source software and web services. For a few of you, OES might be your first NetWare experience, but it is more likely that you have been working with NetWare in some capacity for some time now. Wherever you fit in this usage spectrum, OES continues the tradition of powerful network operating systems suitable for managing today’s complex network environments.

One of the unique characteristics of NetWare is the fact that it was designed specifically for the server tasks of network storage, file sharing, print sharing, and network services. Today, the network is the Internet, and files are shared via web servers, web services, and web browsers. Make no mistake—it’s still file sharing, and OES NetWare is eminently qualified to play in this exciting arena. NetWare operates as part of the network “plumbing,” and performs at its best when users don’t even realize it’s there. Basic design decisions were made to make NetWare the best at performing these tasks, and more than 20 years later, NetWare continues to be the world’s best network operating system.

Global business networks and the Internet require distributed Net storage, transparent access to Net data, and a consistent Net experience, regardless of location or access method. These are all requirements well within the original design vision for NetWare, and Novell effectively delivers these capabilities, and many more, in OES NetWare.

The four chapters comprising Part I of this book explore the basics of the OES environment.

Chapter 1, “Introduction to Open Enterprise Server,” introduces you to the powerful solutions available in OES.

Chapter 2, “Installing OES NetWare,” walks you through the OES NetWare installation process.

Chapter 3, “OES NetWare Clients,” introduces the various Novell clients available for use with OES NetWare.

Chapter 4, “OES Management Tools,” presents the management tools and interfaces available for use with OES NetWare.