Which Way Will You Go?

By Eric Carr, Jason Perlow & Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Sm@rt Reseller

August 17, 1998

NetWare 5.0 vs. NT 5.0: It's still premature to choose a winner, but Novell has the early edge over Microsoft.

When it comes to next-generation operating systems, the future is nearly at hand. Novell Inc.'s NetWare 5.0 is on the verge of release, and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT 5.0, after several delays, is finally entering another round of beta testing.

For resellers, evaluating these emerging operating systems is no small task. Chances are, either NT Server 5.0 or NetWare 5.0 will ultimately serve as the foundation for your customers' PC-centric networks in the new millennium. The decisions and recommendations you make now are ones that will impact your business--and your customers' bottom line--for years to come. Choosing between the two won't be easy.

On the one side, Microsoft is touting Windows NT 5.0 as the be-all and end-all of network operating systems. Maybe that's true--providing the folks in Redmond can actually deliver the product. On the other hand, NetWare 5.0 unites intraNetWare and NetWare into a single Novell powerhouse platform that is slated to ship within days.

Eager to separate marketing hype from technical reality, we took a close look at a NetWare 5.0 Beta 3 and a recently revised build of NT Server 5.0 Beta 1, which Microsoft has quietly delivered to only a handful of developers.

New-Look NetWare

The first question on many a reseller's mind is, should you upgrade your NetWare 3.x and 4.x customers to the new NetWare? The simple answer is, Yes. There's a lot to like about this release, including pure IP support; the ability to manage all objects on a network (from users to security privileges to directory structures) via Novell Directory Services; as well as improved software distribution and workstation management with Novell's Zero Effort Networking (ZEN).

Take a closer look and you'll find many more little reasons that add up to a big impetus to upgrade. For example, everyone knows NetWare's proprietary IPX protocol is "chatty." Just by dropping IPX and switching to IP, you'll increase LAN bandwidth--and this entry is far better than Big Red's prior attempts at IP support. At the same time, you don't have to force your unwilling customers to switch: The new NetWare's Migration Gateway and IP Compatibility Mode will keep old NetWare servers and clients humming.

In addition, if your NetWare customers use NT or Unix machines to host Web servers, that functionality can now be consolidated onto NetWare. And NetWare 5.0 includes the Oracle database management system (DBMS), a big plus for your customers who are already in the Oracle camp: Linking their DBMSes to the NetWare 5.0 network will certainly prove worthwhile.

NetWare 5.0's revised storage system, which mounts really large volumes in a really big hurry, is another plus for demanding customers. And of course NetWare's legendary file and print performance remains impressive. Unfortunately, at this point fast file and print services are taken for granted by nearly everybody. What still needs fixing? Based upon our observations of the Beta 3 release of product, we'd be overjoyed if performance was improved, resource utilization reduced, and if there were 50 or so server applications available when the product ships. But we're not holding our collective breath: Lotus Development Corp., for one, has decided to no longer port Domino to NetWare because Lotus claims there's insufficient demand for such a product.

The Wait For New Technology

NetWare 5.0's lack of application support is certainly cause for concern, but NT 5.0 has bigger problems in the form of continued product delays. Sources close to Microsoft say that NT 5.0's general release might not occur until late 1999. After using recent NT 5.0 pre-release code, we think it might be sooner, but you'll still see point releases of NetWare 5 before you'll see NT 5.0's official debut.

Based on our long, hard look at the latest revision to NT 5.0 Beta 1, a few things are certain. First, get ready to upgrade your customers' servers. NetWare requires a mere 64MB of memory, a Pentium-class processor and 1GB of disk space. For NT 5.0 server, there's a simple rule of thumb: Take whatever your customers use now--and double it.

Even a typical NT 5.0 file-and-print server will probably be running Active Directory, Domain Name Service (DNS) and Internet Information Server (IIS) 5. Just those services will use considerably more RAM and processor power than their NT 4.0 equivalents do now. And don't think you can run a server without these services: Many of them rely upon each other.

Now, toss in Microsoft's next-generation Exchange Server and SQL Server 7.0--which will be the required database for all future versions of Microsoft BackOffice--and you've got an application server configuration that would intimidate even the sturdiest of reseller network administrators.

Steep requirements aside, NT 5.0 includes major architectural enhancements, such as Plug and Play hardware configuration; support for the new I2O hardware standard; 64-bit memory addressing and large disk volume support; disk quota administration through NTFS 5.0; improved clustering; file mirroring; greatly enhanced network security through IPSec and Kerberos; as well as simplified management capabilities via Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). This is more than just a promised feature list: This stuff is really in there, and--while not ready to roll out by a long shot--the feature set is mostly functional.

NT 5.0 also provides a robust directory service through Active Directory, Dynamic DNS and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)--features that previous versions of the network OS sorely lacked. Of course, NetWare 5.0, with its NDS and LDAP support, already includes such functionality. And not surprisingly, in this NT beta there have been reports of some scaling problems.

It's our belief that NT 5.0 is a long way from its opening dance. Given the past record of NT .0 releases, you can almost count on having to wait for at least one service pack before you can say with a straight face that it works properly. And, of course, there will be all the usual upgrade costs and problems. NetWare will have these, too, but based on what we've seen in the past, it should have less of them.

Grand Networking Theory

Can these operating systems displace Unix for high-end servers? Short answer: No. Neither of the newest versions of NetWare and NT look like they're ready for the job. Unix on RISC systems remain the most scalable and stable of network servers. And there's still not a single production Merced or Xeon SMP server to demonstrate this to the contrary. Alphas, anyone?

Make no mistake: NetWare 5 works better in multiprocessor environments than ever. And as for NT 5.0--well, again, it's still an early beta. Unix, on the other hand, still holds the dominant hand in heavy-duty clustering systems.

As for applications, the DBMS--the heart of enterprise-level network applications--is still a Unix stronghold. Neither Oracle on Novell nor Microsoft's SQL 7, despite good word of mouth, has proven itself to the level of Oracle on Unix, Informix or Sybase on Unix, or DB2 on any big iron servers.

It's certainly possible though, that midrange Unix server offerings may find themselves in a value-added race for survival. The new NetWare is that good--and if NT 5.0 lives up to its potential, it too will finally give midrange Unix some serious competition.

At the lower levels of networking, though, while Linux and SCO UnixWare are making inroads, NetWare and NT are still the NOSes to beat.

Who Wins?

In the battle of the 5.0s, for now, the winner is obviously NetWare. To be clear: You're not going to be able to tear away NT 4.0 customers from their favorite operating system. But, technically speaking, you can take NetWare 5.0 into undecided customers and expect to come out with a sale. If NT 5.0 was out, it might be different. But NetWare 5.0 is almost here--and NT 5.0 isn't.

NetWare 5.0
Novell Inc.
MSRP: From $1,195 for five users
http://www.novell.com/netware5/index.html

Windows NT Server 5.0
Microsoft Corp.
MSRP: Undisclosed
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver

Sm@rt Choice - NetWare 5.0
If your customers need a new NOS, NetWare 5.0 should be given the strongest consideration. Customers sold on NT? Keep maintaining them with the latest NT 4.0 service patches. Are your customers are looking to go back to the future? Unix, under the Linux and perhaps the UnixWare flags, may be making a significant come back in office LANs.

So, Which One?

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Sm@rt Reseller

August 17, 1998

How do we handicap the 5.0s? That depends on what your customers already have:

Customers Without A Network Operating System

If your customers don't plan to deploy a lot of server applications, go with NetWare 5.0. It's fast, scalable and reliable. If they'll be dependent on the server to run their apps, NT or Unix are better choices. Although Novell is betting on Java as the universal panacea for creating NetWare application servers, those applications don't exist yet. And if our initial experience is any indication, we recommend that you run--don't walk--away from Java on NetWare, at least for now.

Customers With NetWare 4.x and 3.x

It looks like NT 5.0 will be a good upgrade--but our server still crashed during testing. That's not especially damning: This is a beta, and we expect these things. But given NT 5.0's inevitable delays, convincing NetWare 4.x users--who already have a proven directory service in NDS--to migrate to a different NOS will be like trying to climb up a greased pole.

If your customers are coming in from NetWare 3.x, you've got to prepare them for a network directory service. Network managers with NT experience won't need to relearn much. And with Microsoft's NetWare-to-NT migration tools, legacy NetWare 3.1x shops may prove more fertile ground for NT resellers.

Customers With NT

Based on past experience, NT badly lags NetWare in reliability, and we don't see any sign of that changing.

Still, you probably won't want to retrain your NT people on NetWare. Many NT customers rely on critical NT-specific applications--applications that aren't available on NetWare. Unless your customers can no longer deal with the fact that NT Domains just don't cut it for managing really large groups of users--as well as its lack of scalability--NetWare 5.0 doesn't give customers a compelling reason to give up their NT.

Copyright 1999