Windows 2000 or Novell Netware?
The two major playors in the LAN network operating system wars are Novell's Netware and Microsoft's Windows 2000. Both products are from companies with a long history of computer products. There are, however, differences in their operating systems (OS) that are worth noting.
Novell Netware
Background
Novell has been making Netware in its various versions since the early 80's. At present, there are several "flavors" being offered:
Netware version 3.12, Internetware version 4.11, Netware for Small Business version 4.11, Netware 5, and their latest offering Netware version 6.
Myths
1) Some people feel that Microsoft is taking over the world and that Novell will go out of business. While Microsoft would love to "take over" the world, Novell products are still very popular now and appear to be ready to remain a powerful force for many years to come.
2) "I have Windows on my workstation, so it will probably work better with Windows 2000 on the server." This is hardly the case, since the network OS could care less what type of platform the workstation uses. Netware and Windows 2000 both work very well with Windows on the workstation. However, using Windows 2000 Professional or XP on the workstation does allow some extra features due to Windows 2000's Group Policies.
Advantages
Novell uses Netware Directory Services (NDS) which is a much better system for managing a large network with multiple servers and numerous work-groups.
Novell can operate with somewhat less powerful server hardware than Windows 2000 requires.
Novell, in general, is more stable and reliable. It is not unusual for many servers have been up for years without needing to be re-booted.
Windows 2000
Background
Microsoft Windows 2000 originally was born from LAN Manager in the 1980's. It was driven out by Novell's offerings. Windows NT came out in the mid 90's and is presently offering Windows 2000.
Myths
1) "Windows 2000 works better with the Windows on your desktop." See Novell's Myths above.
2) "Windows 2000 offers Active Directory that counters Novell's Directory Services (NDS)." Since Active Directory is backward-compatible with its present domain-based structure, many experts believe it isn't as powerful as Novell's NDS.
Advantages
There are many applications out there that will run on an NT or Windows 2000 server. This allows it to be an "applications-server". Some of these applications are SQL server (a database engine), Exchange server (a mail-server), Internet Web server, and others. Novell's Netware version 5 and 6 can run Java-based applications, but not that many are being offered just yet.
Conclusions
Novell makes the better file-server / print-server, while Microsoft has the better application-server. While Novell's Java-based applications pool will grow, Windows 2000 still has the lead in the number of available applications. Certainly, networks can have a mixture of these two OS's, which would give your network the advantages of both products.
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