). Here's some help on both scores.
War of the Web
As this article went to press, NT was in a transition. The initial beta release of NT 4.0 offers a glimpse of
what's to come
in the latest version (see "4.0 Isn't for Everyone"), which has a vague release date of "this summer."
Beta or not, we see that one of the hottest spots in the marketing war between Novell and Microsoft is over their dueling Web sites. Microsoft is adding a host of enhancements and new technologies to NT 4.0 to leverage the Web and its global TCP/IP-based WAN.
One enhancement plays into intranet and corporate-downsizing trends, which are accelerating the growth of mobile and work-a
t-home communications. As bandwidth becomes the gold standard of the nineties, Microsoft has extended NT 4.0's Remote Access Service (RAS) to leverage ISDN and secure network access by way of the Internet. NT 4.0's multilink PPP support for bandwidth aggregation allows bonding of both B channels of an ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) line to double the speed of a dedicated private connection. You can continue to add ISDN lines for further improvements or employ multiple analog lines in instances where ISDN is not available.
The new Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) integrates with RAS to enable virtual private networks. Developed by Ascend Communications, ECI-Telematics, Microsoft, 3Com/Primary Access, and U.S. Robotics, the PPTP protocol encapsulates and encrypts packets for transmission over the Internet. NT servers can now use a dedicated Internet connection through RAS at one end, while Win 95 and NT 4.0 workstation clients dial up their local Internet service provider's (ISP) point of presen
ce (POP).
Not only does this reduce or eliminate long-distance charges, but companies can now leverage an ISP's modem and ISDN Internet-adapter pool. If your ISP installs PPTP extensions, there is no need for you to install a PPTP driver on the client. U.S. Robotics is writing the NT Server 4.0 driver for Microsoft; it and other hardware manufacturers plan to embed the technology in remote-access communications devices used by ISPs.
Microsoft dropped the other shoe in the Web war by integrating its Internet Information Server (IIS) software into NT 4.0. IIS inherits NT's security, performance monitoring, and SNMP management capabilities, providing both Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and its own Internet Server API (ISAPI) to extend programmability (see "NT and the Net"). BackOffice owners of SQL Server and other ODBC-compliant (Open Database Connectivity) data sources can employ the bundled Internet Database Connector for template-driven catalog publishing.
On the client side, Microsoft's
Internet Explorer browser will add Visual Basic Scripting tools in the 3.0 release. With Visual Basic for Applications soon to span the Microsoft Office suite, the Remote Automation technology introduced in Visual Basic 4.0 will surface in NT 4.0 Server and Workstation. Once dubbed Network OLE, Distributed COM (DCOM) exploits OLE Control (OCX, now called ActiveX) component tools for building distributed applications.
Visual Basic also extends Microsoft Exchange Server's applications development environment. Exchange in turn adds X.500-based messaging-specific attributes to NT Server Directory Service, letting administrators automate the migration of existing users and configure new-user and mail accounts in one operation.
Now that TCP/IP is NT's new protocol of choice, Microsoft is adopting another child of the Internet. The Domain Naming System (DNS) that Unix machines on the Internet popularized will integrate with NT's existing Universal Naming Convention (UNC) and Windows Internet Naming Se
rvice (WINS).
WINS (in conjunction with DHCP) already provides dynamic host name resolution for Microsoft networks. In a mixed network, hosts can now employ a single name service based on DNS's Internet standard. Using DNS in this way is significant because it addresses NT's technological Achilles' heel.
If this interoperability helps glue together the vast majority of directories, Microsoft may have found a way to keep Novell Directory Service (NDS) a niche player. That would be important, because NDS--a global directory service that stores information in a hierarchical tree structure that any authorized user or administrator can view in a single glance--is superior to NT's flat-file directory-service technology.
With NT Server 4.0, Microsoft will upgrade the existing Client and Gateway Services for NetWare to support NDS navigation, authentication, printing, and log-in scripts. NT users will have to wait for Cairo (due no earlier than 1997) to match or surpass NDS. In the meantime, Micr
osoft seems to be trying to shift the focus away from directory services--and toward incorporating Web tools into NT--for companies that are trying to decide whether to switch from NetWare to NT.
Appealing APIs
Besides nailing down the Internet, Microsoft is also stealing a page from its own playbook with the Open Directory Services Interface (ODSI). Like its siblings ODBC and MAPI, ODSI is a set of APIs that gives developers access to multiple directory-service providers. Developers can write OLE Automation controllers with Visual Basic, Perl, Rexx, and other tools to perform common directory tasks, such as adding new users, managing printers, and locating resources across multiple directory services.
Although Novell has not yet signed on to write a service provider (i.e., a vendor-specific driver-like layer) for NDS, Microsoft will include one when ODSI arrives (sometime after NT 4.0 ships). ODBC rolled out in much the same fashion, with native optimized drivers foll
owing once the standard gained wide acceptance. Similarly, rival IBM/Lotus has adopted MAPI for use in its Notes groupware product.
Microsoft's ability to anticipate and absorb the rapid growth of client/server and intranet/Internet technologies means NT is a difficult target to hit. But Novell has made the best of a bad situation in recent months. It dropped its SuperNOS strategy and applications suite, endorsed the use of Visual Basic and other rapid development tools for its new Net2000 API, and made tentative moves toward porting NDS to NT. NetWare also continues to hold its ground with large-scale networks (see "NT Server Growing Pains").
But Novell may feel an uncomfortable kinship with OS/2 fans. NDS may be a superior directory management tool in the same way that OS/2's multitasking and object-oriented interface exceeds Win 95's in the minds of many people. Yet the public and applications vendors alike have voted their preferences by continuing to move toward the Microsoft bandwagon. The
ultimate Microsoft migration strategy is to make it good enough for now and then keep making it better.
NT Bait
NT may be gaining ground on NetWare, but how easy is it to make the transition from NetWare 3.x or 4.x to NT? Not surprisingly, Microsoft is trying to be as helpful as it can be. It built migration tools into NT right from its earliest incarnation.
The first tool to appear with NT 3.1 was NWLink, an IPX/SPX-compatible transport stack that gave NetWare-compatible clients access to NT applications services. Not only did Microsoft recommend using NWLink as the default protocol (no surprise there), but NetWare users with DOS and Windows 3.x machines could save valuable conventional memory by loading just one protocol stack.
Microsoft added two more lures to NT 3.5: the Gateway Service for NetWare (GSNW) and the Migration Tool for NetWare. GSNW lets an NT server connect to a NetWare server as a NetWare client, allowing NT clients to access NetWare resource
s as though they were NT resources. Here the NT workstation can leverage a mixed NT/NetWare network without loading two sets of client services.
The downside, however, is that the pass-through connection adds overhead and funnels everything through a single NetWare user account; you'll need to use NT's bundled Client Services for NetWare to log on individually. Still, NT's built-in RAS gives you a powerful tool for dialing up a NetWare LAN while still retaining your favorite protocol (which is likely to be TCP/IP) on the desktop.
The Migration Tool for NetWare uses NWLink and GSNW to access NetWare servers. It automates the transfer of NetWare user and group accounts, files and directories, and security and permissions to NT Server. A few things got lost in the shuffle, including NetWare's User Disk Volume Restrictions and passwords. As a result, you can set all passwords to a default name, no name, or the user name, force users to change their passwords on log-in, and create a mapping file to c
ustomize account information.
The first release did not support the migration of log-in scripts, but you could still perform a trial migration to sort out duplicate user- and group-name conflicts. If you wanted to maintain both NetWare and NT servers for the time being, you would simply perform the migration and leave your NetWare servers intact. In this way, Microsoft's solution meant you could add an NT applications server automatically without having to hand-key all the account information.
With NT 3.51, Microsoft provided the File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) add-on utility. FPNW makes an NT server look just like a NetWare 3.12-compatible file and print server to existing NetWare client software. Also, the enhanced Migration Tool 1.1 supports the transfer of user and system log-in scripts.
Installing the FPNW service adds extensions to the Server, User, and File Managers to manage NetWare volumes, files, and user connections. On the NetWare client, end users can exploit Micro
soft versions of utilities (e.g., Attach, Login, Logout, Slist, Map, Capture, Endcap, and Setpass) just as they normally do. NetWare loadable modules (NLMs) don't work, but you can use NWLink to access a SQL Server database or other application service directly from your existing NetWare client.
If the goal is a phased migration, FPNW enables you to transition gradually without affecting the NetWare user base. During the migration, shared directories can be available to NetWare and NT clients alike; users can move transparently between the two environments, either one at a time or globally. Once you've used the Migration Tool, you can replace the original NetWare server with an NT server. You just rename either the NT server or the FPNW service with the name of the NetWare server and then disconnect the NetWare machine.
NetWare clients can take advantage of NT's Directory Service and the trusted domain technology to get a single network log-on across the enterprise, something not possible with t
he NetWare 3.x servers most vulnerable to migration. What FPNW does not allow is centralized management of user accounts, passwords, and security information, which in the NetWare 3.x world happens on a server-by-server basis.
At Your (Directory) Service
Microsoft's domino strategy continues with a second add-on utility, called the Directory Service Manager for NetWare (DSMN), which gives administrators the driver's seat in both directions on a mixed NT and NetWare 2.x/3.x network. DSMN extends the Migration Tool's functionality, copying NetWare user and group account information to NT Server Directory Services and then automatically propagating any subsequent changes back to the NetWare server contingent.
After selecting a strategy for password re-creation, you can select which group accounts you want to propagate back to the NetWare server. Next, you run trial synchronizations and check log files for errors--the software prompts you to use the BindFix utility to back
up the NetWare Bindery. Once synchronization occurs, administrators can add a new user and make account changes from a single location. Users can log on to any NT or NetWare server with the same name and password.
DSMN hit the wall at NetWare 4.x and NDS. Although the utility can synchronize NetWare 4.x servers through bindery-emulation mode, it does not support NDS itself. As mentioned earlier, the forthcoming NT Server 4.0 will offer upgraded Client and Gateway Services for NetWare. Also, NT Server 4.0's adoption of the Win 95 user interface will provide more intuitive and centralized tools for both FPNW and DSMN. Nevertheless, NT's flat-file directory service technology will need more than a face-lift to compete with NDS's functionality.
NT offers tools to monitor and manage network operations. From the User Manager screen, you can keep track of user information. Port Status provides the vital signs of external connections. Event Viewer offers detailed looks at System Log events. Remote Acces
s has its own area for monitoring the reach-out-and-touch crowd you support. An extensive Network Settings screen permits adding, removing, changing, and configuring network adapters and software.
Novell still has numbers on its side; the installed base of NetWare users remains large enough to fill NT's creators with envy. But in an industry where the only sure things are death, taxes, and constant change, loyalty doesn't count for much. Microsoft is working to give you reasons to switch to NT and to make sure a lack of migration tools doesn't derail any transition plans. NT 4.0 won't make NetWare passe, but it will keep NT's momentum rolling.
Product Information
Microsoft Corp.
Redmond, WA
Phone: (800) 426-9400 or (206) 882-8080
Fax: (206) 635-6100
Internet:
http://www.microsoft.com
Netware: Fight or Switch?
