I just saw this press release and wanted to post it to the IPP as yet
another data point in the discussion about SVRLOC and LDAP and
directory lookup.
Scott
PS: Keith Carter pointed out that the URL for the SVRLOC I-D is
ftp://ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-svrloc-protocol-14.txt
Novell Removes the Barriers for Widespread
Adoption of Directory Services for Networks
Novell Offers Feature Rich LDAP Directory Server Free of Charge
OREM, Utah C November 12, 1996 C Novell Inc. today
announced an aggressive distribution strategy for Novell Directory
Services (NDS) to accelerate its adoption by the industry's leading
operating system vendors, creating a common directory service across
heterogenous environments. Starting immediately, operating system
developers can obtain a royalty-free source code and distribution license
for NDS. Novell also disclosed its plans to offer a royalty-free binary
distribution license for NDS on NT.
As a cross-platform directory service, NDS provides a single
point of access and management, increasing user productivity, reducing
network administration costs and easing application development. In
parallel with the new distribution strategy, Novell and its partners are
creating new businesses through the licensing of replication, file, print,
certificates and other directory-based products as add-ons to NDS.
ANDS is years ahead of other directories in terms of technology
and market share,@ said Tom Arthur, vice president and general
manager of Novell's Internet Infrastructure Division. ANovell
understands that the value of a network directory depends on the extent
of its adoption. While other vendors are hoping to make a business of
selling directories as servers or embedding them in proprietary operating
systems, Novell is taking a different approach and seeding the market
with NDS for directory-based applications and services.@
Novell is committed to integrating NDS into all major server
platforms. The company has taken the first step by allowing the NDS
source code to be licensed by industry-leading operating system
providers, royalty-free. The company will also distribute a single server
binary version of NDS on NT over the Internet and through agreements
with independent software vendors (ISVs) and independent hardware
vendors (IHVs). Partnerships with major ISVs and IHVs will be
announced over the next several months.
Customer Benefits
Novell's platform-independent directory strategy will significantly
increase user productivity by making it easier to find information on the
network, regardless of where the information resides (corporate
networks, intranets and the Internet). The directory will also help
administrators to decrease network administration costs by reducing the
time and complexity of managing disparate corporate networks.
AAs one of the world's largest network integrators we have
been providing NDS solutions in the NetWare environment for many
years,@ said Stan Ratcliffe, vice president of EDS' Client/Server Group.
AWe are very encouraged to see that NDS is becoming widely available
on Unix and NT, thus providing simpler access, administration and
development for heterogeneous networking systems.@
AThe availability of NDS on multiple operating systems gives us
an opportunity that we've never had before to merge disparate platforms
in our company under a single directory service,@ said Lee Roth, LAN
Systems group leader, Southwest Airlines.
NDS is an Open Directory
By basing NDS on X.500 naming, Novell anticipated the industry's
adoption of industry standards thus allowing NDS to be one of the first
directories to offer LDAP support. To further its commitment to open
standards, Novell plans to open NDS access APIs to Internet/intranet
standards and ruling committees. The API documentation for NDS,
including all of the directory service APIs for both client and service
facilities are openly available on Novell's Web site at
<http://devsup.novell.com>
Developer Benefits
Developers will finally be able to exploit new market opportunities
by creating networked applications that leverage the performance
benefits of distributed computing. NDS enables networked applications to
share objects, such as Java applets, across networks, including
intranets and the Internet. Novell's plans to openly distribute NDS, and its
commitment to LDAP and X.500, offer a compelling, open environment for
developing directory-enabled applications. Novell is also offering
developers the opportunity to bundle NDS with their applications. This will
provide the administration and security features they require, thus
reducing the time and expense to develop and implement user account
databases. With its directory services strategy, Novell provides a
common directory infrastructure for developers to incorporate
LDAP-compliant directory services into their networked applications and
solutions, paving the way for developers to designate NDS as the LDAP
directory of choice.
Novell is (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading network
software provider. Novell software provides the infrastructure for a
networked world, enabling customers to connect with other people and
the information they need, anytime and anyplace. Novell partners with
other technology and market leaders to help customers make networks a
part of their everyday lives.
###
Novell is a registered trademark. Novell Directory Services, NDS are
trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other registered trademarks are the
property of their respective holders.
Press Contact:
Pattie Adams, Novell, Inc. Lori Hafen,
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
(408) 577-6056 (408)
764-0787
Internet: padams at novell.com Internet:
lori at ccipr.com