Novell NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Guide

Rating:
Summary: Netware - The truth in understanding what really works
Review: As you can see, Netware is like a good bottle of wine, it just keeps on getting better. From a technology standpoint, Netware is a level above the rest. When it comes to security, and "it just works", Netware 6.5 gives you the features that other vendors dream of. The new features are true money saving technologies, dont rip and replace like the other vendor wants you to do, use what you have and let it all work together. People get rich on the lack understanding of others. Take it from someone that has been in the business over 20 years. Novell will and has risen above the rest and already is the best of breed "per Gartner", leaders in most technologies. This book will prepare you for the ease of administration which you have earned.

Rating:
Summary: Netware - The truth in understanding what really works
Review: As you can see, Netware is like a good bottle of wine, it just keeps on getting better. From a technology standpoint, Netware is a level above the rest. When it comes to security, and "it just works", Netware 6.5 gives you the features that other vendors dream of. The new features are true money saving technologies, dont rip and replace like the other vendor wants you to do, use what you have and let it all work together. People get rich on the lack understanding of others. Take it from someone that has been in the business over 20 years. Novell will and has risen above the rest and already is the best of breed "per Gartner", leaders in most technologies. This book will prepare you for the ease of administration which you have earned.

Rating:
Summary: Netware - The truth in understanding what really works
Review: As you can see, Netware is like a good bottle of wine, it just keeps on getting better. From a technology standpoint, Netware is a level above the rest. When it comes to security, and "it just works", Netware 6.5 gives you the features that other vendors dream of. The new features are true money saving technologies, dont rip and replace like the other vendor wants you to do, use what you have and let it all work together. People get rich on the lack understanding of others. Take it from someone that has been in the business over 20 years. Novell will and has risen above the rest and already is the best of breed "per Gartner", leaders in most technologies. This book will prepare you for the ease of administration which you have earned.

Rating:
Summary: Another perspective
Review: ok.. so now you know what Mr. Gates thinks of this. He's obviously quaking. That is who wrote the other review wasn't it? As someone who grew up on Macs and Win16 boxes (after 8080's), I didn't run into Netware until my professional life. I didn't get it at first either. But over the years I have come to understand and appreciate what Netware can and does do - & do incredibly well. There is a good reason that the vast majority of the Fortune 500 use it - as do other mission critical environments like gov't & military & financial that care about things like security, stability and TCO. That said, (ahem), 6.5 is the best thing Provo has ever put out IMHO, and this book is one of the best ways to get clued into what it's about. I have 6.5 in production and have used Netware since 4.11 SFT3 so I know a little bit about it. Try native file access for Unix, Mac & Win32 hosts, unmatched file system security, great management tools, support for open source projects like PHP, Perl, Apache, mySQL, *real* java and directory services that frankly shame AD.. did I mention snapshot volumes or the remote office appliance? Free server licenses? Drives that don't need defragmenting? Clusters up to 32 nodes? But like any great product there is a lot to it & it's useless if you don't know how to work it - or don't know it's there! So buy the book, ok? :) Change is good.
Meanwhile, pay no attention to the raving MCSE. They get like that after a while.

Rating:
Summary: Best administrator's guide to date
Review: With over 500 pages and several detailed appendixes the "NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook" covers pretty much everything an administrator will need to know. Each chapter starts with a section called "Instant Access" where you will find a short summary of the information in the chapter. If you are familiar with the basics of the information but just can't quite seem to remember the specific command or specific steps to do something you can quickly get up to speed in this section without browsing through the whole chapter.

I was somewhat surprised to find that the section on upgrading still contains information on upgrading from the old version 3 bindery system. These days it is pretty unusual to find a version before 4.x but it is nice that he includes the version 3 upgrade information. I was also glad to see a good discussion on planning the eDirectory. This is an area where most books on Novell administration have fallen short. An eDirectory tree that is poorly planned is difficult to manage well as users are added, new roles created, new departments or companies added, etc. Planning it correctly up front based on good principles makes all the difference later. The section on the eDirectory does a good job of putting the planner on the right track.

For Novell administrators with prior experience the coverage of all the new Internet based utilities is excellent. ConsoleOne is covered in detail as well as some of the common snap-ins that make management through the eDirectory easier. Also covered well are the Internet based printing system iPrint, Internet and browser based storage via iSCSI, iFolder, NetStorage, and NetDrive, and other parts of the OneNet initiative. These tools make one of the easiest to administer, most secure, and stable networks available even easier to administer. (An opinion based on working with Novell since version 2, Microsoft from 3.0, and various Linux and Unix versions for the last six years. I've also taught all three of the server operating systems at the College level and installed many networks based on each system and mixes of them.)

Finally, he covers the Apache web server for Novell including setup and configuration and the Tomcat Servlet Engine. He even includes a short section on MySQL, OpenSSH, Perl and PHP support in the Novell server environment. The book ends with several useful appendixes that include detailed client properties information, login scripts, console commands, and detailed information on the eDirectory (including errors and DSRepair information).

The "NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook" is highly recommended for anyone working in this environment and does an excellent job of not only providing the details you need to administer a Novell 6.5 network but also the theoretical background to understand exactly what is (or should be) happening.

Rating:
Summary: Best administrator's guide to date
Review: With over 500 pages and several detailed appendixes the "NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook" covers pretty much everything an administrator will need to know. Each chapter starts with a section called "Instant Access" where you will find a short summary of the information in the chapter. If you are familiar with the basics of the information but just can't quite seem to remember the specific command or specific steps to do something you can quickly get up to speed in this section without browsing through the whole chapter.

I was somewhat surprised to find that the section on upgrading still contains information on upgrading from the old version 3 bindery system. These days it is pretty unusual to find a version before 4.x but it is nice that he includes the version 3 upgrade information. I was also glad to see a good discussion on planning the eDirectory. This is an area where most books on Novell administration have fallen short. An eDirectory tree that is poorly planned is difficult to manage well as users are added, new roles created, new departments or companies added, etc. Planning it correctly up front based on good principles makes all the difference later. The section on the eDirectory does a good job of putting the planner on the right track.

For Novell administrators with prior experience the coverage of all the new Internet based utilities is excellent. ConsoleOne is covered in detail as well as some of the common snap-ins that make management through the eDirectory easier. Also covered well are the Internet based printing system iPrint, Internet and browser based storage via iSCSI, iFolder, NetStorage, and NetDrive, and other parts of the OneNet initiative. These tools make one of the easiest to administer, most secure, and stable networks available even easier to administer. (An opinion based on working with Novell since version 2, Microsoft from 3.0, and various Linux and Unix versions for the last six years. I've also taught all three of the server operating systems at the College level and installed many networks based on each system and mixes of them.)

Finally, he covers the Apache web server for Novell including setup and configuration and the Tomcat Servlet Engine. He even includes a short section on MySQL, OpenSSH, Perl and PHP support in the Novell server environment. The book ends with several useful appendixes that include detailed client properties information, login scripts, console commands, and detailed information on the eDirectory (including errors and DSRepair information).

The "NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook" is highly recommended for anyone working in this environment and does an excellent job of not only providing the details you need to administer a Novell 6.5 network but also the theoretical background to understand exactly what is (or should be) happening.

Rating:
Summary: Best administrator's guide to date
Review: With over 500 pages and several detailed appendixes the "NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook" covers pretty much everything an administrator will need to know. Each chapter starts with a section called "Instant Access" where you will find a short summary of the information in the chapter. If you are familiar with the basics of the information but just can't quite seem to remember the specific command or specific steps to do something you can quickly get up to speed in this section without browsing through the whole chapter.

I was somewhat surprised to find that the section on upgrading still contains information on upgrading from the old version 3 bindery system. These days it is pretty unusual to find a version before 4.x but it is nice that he includes the version 3 upgrade information. I was also glad to see a good discussion on planning the eDirectory. This is an area where most books on Novell administration have fallen short. An eDirectory tree that is poorly planned is difficult to manage well as users are added, new roles created, new departments or companies added, etc. Planning it correctly up front based on good principles makes all the difference later. The section on the eDirectory does a good job of putting the planner on the right track.

For Novell administrators with prior experience the coverage of all the new Internet based utilities is excellent. ConsoleOne is covered in detail as well as some of the common snap-ins that make management through the eDirectory easier. Also covered well are the Internet based printing system iPrint, Internet and browser based storage via iSCSI, iFolder, NetStorage, and NetDrive, and other parts of the OneNet initiative. These tools make one of the easiest to administer, most secure, and stable networks available even easier to administer. (An opinion based on working with Novell since version 2, Microsoft from 3.0, and various Linux and Unix versions for the last six years. I've also taught all three of the server operating systems at the College level and installed many networks based on each system and mixes of them.)

Finally, he covers the Apache web server for Novell including setup and configuration and the Tomcat Servlet Engine. He even includes a short section on MySQL, OpenSSH, Perl and PHP support in the Novell server environment. The book ends with several useful appendixes that include detailed client properties information, login scripts, console commands, and detailed information on the eDirectory (including errors and DSRepair information).

The "NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook" is highly recommended for anyone working in this environment and does an excellent job of not only providing the details you need to administer a Novell 6.5 network but also the theoretical background to understand exactly what is (or should be) happening.

Rating:
Summary: Someone should put Novell out of its misery
Review: Years ago, Novell tried to fend off Microsoft by purchasing UNIX from AT&T. The resulting mess, called "UnixWare" was such an utter failure that Novell ended up selling UNIX to SCO. The acquisition cost Novell millions, upon millions, of dollars, with little or no return on investment. It reminds me of their acquisition of WordPerfect. Only in the case of WordPerfect, you could explain the acquisition as one mormon company coming to the rescue of another.

Novell failed to learn from its mistake. It's now 2003 and Novell is trying to acquire Suse Linux. Perhaps they will call this version "LinuxWare." The only sure thing is that this product will, no doubt, bomb as horrifically as UnixWare. Hello? Is anybody home? Just like NetWare and UNIX, Netware and Linux are two completely different products. To think that they can be somehow melded together is to refute history. The only real question is who Novell will sell Suse to when they finally face the truth.

Ever since its encounter with Windows NT, Novell has limped along as a legacy product kept on life support by a group of aging system admins. Certainly, very few people are building new Netware installs; they're just upgrading old ones. The truth is that cheaper alternatives abound. Alternatives which are easier to use. The market has spoken, and Novell is slowly fading into obscurity; just like OS/2.

In light of all this, I cannot recommend that you purchase this book. This book is just Novell making a half-hearted attempt to convince people that they are still a viable server-side option. "Hey Look! You can still buy books on administering Novell, we're not dead yet." Novell will eventually do itself in, and this book will be about as useful as a broken lava lamp.

One can only look back and wonder how the people at Novell let things get so far out of whack. Perhaps the mormons in Utah should allow themselves to drink beverages with caffeine. Just a thought...