On Tue, 31 Oct 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Dan Horth > Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 1:41 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Kind of OT: (Redhat) Linux vs NetWare? > > > > Now - finally - here comes the question! :) - I have gone in to > evaluate their setup and discovered that most of the workstations are > running windows NT, with a couple running 2000, and the file & print > server / internet gateway & firewall is running Novell NetWare. I've > heard of NetWare before - but never had the (dis?)pleasure of meeting > such a beast in the wild. One of my first tasks as we start > negotiating business takeover deals and employment contracts is to > take over responsibility for the IT management. > > What I'm hoping you helpful folk will be able to help me with is: > > 1) Is NetWare a reasonable beast to administer, they have the license > already, > Netware is very reasonable to administer. It is rock solid. It (almost) appears that many of the Novell developers come from a Unix background. Much will seem familiar. [It is sad that in losing to MicroSoft, Novell has gotten a rather bad reputation -- not so much among administrators, but among executives. > > 2) I have to write a recommendation as to what we're going to do with > the LAN. I > really enjoy administering Linux. Are there better arguments as to why I > should migrate the services being provided to Linux? Can someone provide > me > with reference as to how NetWare performs vs Linux on the same hardware? > Oh > yeah - the server is a Compaq Proliant 1600 R so I'm pretty happy > that I will > be able to run Redhat on it with minimal fuss. Your migration plan will work. Netware works very nicely with other operating systems: supports NFS. Their big card is NDS (Netware Directory Services) All information about the network and its users are stored in a single database (which can be extended to include additional info if needed.) It is really neat: rights and permissions can be assigned to large groups of people by assigning them to a 'container' inwhich the people exist. NDS is available for Linux!! Try it, you might like it. The integration will be easy. > > 3) My gut feeling is that I should use the server as is, then gradually > migrate > the services over to a Linux box (one of our spare servers) one by > one, until > I can reformat the Proliant and set up a Redhat based server that I can > be > proud of! I was also thinking of improving redundancy by setting up a > separate firewall / dial-in Linux server, and a separate mail / web > server You can do this...depends on what you now own. BorderManager is a good product and will do what you describe, but $$$ may be the issue. > from the SAMBA file server. Is this what you would do? Can NetWare do > appletalk or will I need to keep our Linux server running for that? > Personally, I haven't done much with Appletalk. Netware will do Appletalk, but I don't have the specifics. For example, the BorderManager for the packet filtering will do some filtering on AppleTalk, but not all... > 4) Can you point me in the direction of *any* documents dealing with NetWare > vs Linux, or any other information that will help me with this quest? > The 'vs' bothers me a bit. How about 'and' If you have a working network, you are not going to migrate overnight. Suspect it will be 'and' for a while. Oh, yea, Caldera has a nice Netware client for Linux (which I installed on a RH box). Worth noting that Novell and Caldera seem to be buddys. suspect some relationship that is not totally obvious; perhaps former Novell executives at Caldera??????? > 5) Are there any other questions I should have asked? :) > Just the obvious ones: exactly which Novell products are they using: Netware 4, 5, ?.... BorderManager? GroupWise? ZenWorks? Mostly the stuff works, but you know the feeleing these days, If it doesn't say MicroSoft, it....... Oh, yes: doesn't make much difference, but I have been messing with Linux for 5 years, have a Microsoft MCSE, Novell MasterCNE Alan > Thanks loads for reading this far, and thanks in advance for any info > anyone has to offer... _______________________________________________ Redhat-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
