NetWare 5.1 Set for January Release

Novell's latest server OS, Netware 5.1 (formerly 'Cobra'), is set for a January release to distributors. Aimed at e-business, with Novell's new NDS eDirectory, Oracle8i, IBM's WebSphere Application Server and Studio 3.0 Entry Edition, Novell boasts "zero downtime, easier administration and management, and more resources for leveraging [their customer's] Internet
investment."

As with NetWare 5.0's pure support of IP, NetWare 5.1 will natively support HTTP, the protocol used to bridge communication between Web servers and Web browsers. In doing so, NetWare 5.1 will be able to support Microsoft's Office 2000 "Web Folders" for easy file sharing in Windows environments.

In hopes of competing with Microsoft's "Active Directory," Novell's
NDS eDirectory will feature centralized administration and user/group profiling, while making it "easy to securely and consistently make
critical information available to the users and e-business applications that need it." NDS eDirecory is currently available to WindowsNT Servers and Solaris, with Linux and Windows 2000 support scheduled to be available in the first half of 2000.

In it's attempt to further provide a Internet-centric OS, Novell will include "NetWare Management Portal," a browser-based administrative and monitoring application, that will allow administrators to manage and
monitor several key services in NetWare, including: NDS, server status, heath, and settings, as well as identification of server problems all over the Web.

NetWare 5.1 pricing will begin at $715 USD for a 5-user upgrade license. Novell may be reached at http://www.novell.com.