Should I purchase NW 6 or NW 5.1? 1

[rfnelson]

I'm currently getting approval to upgrade our small NW4.10 network (single server, 25 users). NW5.1 meet the requirements of our MRP package (MicroMRP's MAX, which runs on either 5.1 or 6). I've researched NW5.1, and like the Small Business Suite (SBS) package - it would eliminate quite a few of the hassles I face as administrator by integrating Internet gateway, Mercury, e-mail virus protection, etc. into one package.

Now that NW6 is available, what are the advantages of 6 over 5.1, especially relating to our small environment? (We will probably add a dedicated MFG department server in the near future, but I doubt we'll ever have more than three servers total). We get everything we need with 5.1 (pure IP, DCHP, etc.), but I see NW6 being supported longer, and would rather not have to upgrade again in the near future.

Any thoughts, suggestions, would be appreciated.

TIA,
RFN
***

 

[fluid11]

In my opinion, as long as all of your software is supported on the NW6 platform, I see no reason to go to NW51. I'm not familiar with Mercury, but I remembered seeing a question in the Novell Support forums about someone asking if it will run on NW6. Here's the question and the response...

"Does anyone know if Mercury will run on NW6?"

"I tested on my lab server and it appears to run OK. The install routine fails to give C to [root] for the SMPTMAIL dir, but youy can give that manually. I tried sending and receiving mail and it appears to work OK.
I did not do any extensive testing though."


My favorite new addition to NW6 is iFolder, which lets you access your files from a web browser.

Chris

 

[rfnelson]

Thanks for the information. I'm hoping to avoid using Mercury (a "freeware" e-mail server software), not because I don't like it, but because my understanding is either of the NW SBS operating systems have an Internet gateway and STMP/POP3 server built in. I'm also hoping the integration of the virus scanners (McAfee) in the SBS product will allow "direct" scanning of incoming messages. (We have to deal with some pretty hairy "workarounds" with Mercury/InoculateIT.)

From what I can tell, the main difference between NW5.1 and NW6 is 6's "iFolder" and "iPrint" enhancements. Since the pricing is practically the same, I'll probably opt for NW SBS6, which will (hopefully) be around longer.

My only other concern is whether our ArcServeIT V7 for Netware Enterprise backup software is supported under NW6. I'll have to do some more research.

Thanks again for your assistance!

Best regards,
RFN
***

 

[fluid11]

I just did a NW6 migration yesterday. Here's another interesting new feature...

Native File Access for Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX workstations. This means that the NW server can mimic a Win, Mac, or *NIX server without installing any client software on the workstations.

 

[rfnelson]

Thanks for the input... I noticed the NW6 allowed native file access, and I do have one Mac on the net (actually, it's mine - I use it for technical manuals and other graphics intensive applications).

I think, barring any "gotcha's" lurking, we'll probably go with Novell's Small Business Suite 6 (25 user U/G). We will never go beyond 50 users (famous last words), and NW6 SBS has a second server license included, which should allow me to put our Manufacturing department (running MicroMRP's MAX software) on their own server running 100BaseT. (Our current server wiring is Cat3, 10BaseT only, but the Mfg dept. was wired with Cat5 back to the hubs.)

I've confirmed MAX will run fine on NW6 (at least, per their documentation) - now I'm investigating the many complaints regarding CA's ArcServeIT and NW6 - we have ArcServeIT V7 for Netware, and it looks like it's going to be an interesting project! (The forum here on Tek-Tips has been a valuable asset in this research.)

Thanks again, and feel free to let me know if you see any other pitfalls.

Best regards,
RFN
***
--
RFNelson

"What was that?"

 

[criticalUpdate]

NW6 has some great stuff. IF I were you I would go with 6 but here are some caveats.

Some other Pro's not mentioned above.
-NW 6 supports something called sharepoint that allows for NT style shares, although I haven't tried yet.

-Groupwise Included with SBS license. Dump the Mercury Mail-There is such limited support. It's great for free but like you said with the SBS it includes a second server license! Nice step forward to growing your network.

-I don't know about the McAfee integration but I have several clients that have been getting hit hard with Viruses lately and the only sanity that I have seen is with a dedicated mail scanning box-between you and the internet. You can use a workstation with windows on it or linux if you prefer and put something like Trend Micros Interscan on it that catches so many more viruses than the other scenarios. Inoculan is certainly worth dropping and so on...

NW6 is the first version that the SYS volume can be NSS and by default it installs that However you mentioned Arcserve. They do not support Open File Option. If this is something you need I am not sure what to tell you. Groupwise 6 however has somekind of TSA or something to back it up but for other database things without the OpenFile I don't know.

Other pros are Iprint, Imanage which are very cool!

Jeff. Jeff

 

[rfnelson]

Jeff,

Thanks for the information... I've been learning about the NSS functions of NW5.1 and know there is a definite conflict with NSS and ArcServeIT for NW v7. As long as I can over-ride the NSS default, and install under the "old" hard drive standard (NFS?), ArcServeIT is supposed to work okay with NW6, from all I've read. (I plan to run IP only, so that should eliminate a large portion of the IPX/IP issues reported on the ArcServeIT forums I've checked.)

The Groupwise package is a definite plus, and I already have a dedicated Win98 workstation we're using for Mercury/32 POP3/SMTP access to our ISP (we have a "domain mailbox&quot. Hopefully, it won't be too much of a trick to "recreate" the Mercury functions in this package. As for the virus protection - we're running the Inoculan package and it's done a fine job, but we still have to perform scans on e-mail at the workstation-level, and I'd definitely like to find a way to "pre-scan" all e-mails and attachments to prevent infection from somebody that doesn't follow our policies regarding unknown e-mail "senders." Hopefully Groupwise will provide a way (I'm "lurking" in the Groupwise Forum as well, trying to pick up information.)

Add remote, secure access for our sales staff (and mostly, me - nobody else here is cross-trained to manage the network YET), and NW6 looks like it would be a winner for us. As with anything, I'll have to do some learning, but that's what makes this job interesting!

Thanks again!

RFN
*** --
RFNelson

"What was that?"

 

[fluid11]

"As long as I can over-ride the NSS default, and install under the "old" hard drive standard (NFS?)"

- NFS is what Unix/Linux machines use to share files between each other. The alternative to NSS is called Traditional NetWare volumes. You can easily install the SYS volume on an NSS volume or a Traditional NW volume during the installation.

Chris

 

[rfnelson]

Chris:

Thanks for the clarification.

As long as I can stick with the traditional Netware volumes format, my ArcServeIT should work, at least according to their (Computer Associates) documentation.

Thanks again for the assistance! Hopefully, I'll get the PO in the near future and get NW6 SBS purchased, along with some new server hardware. (I'd much prefer to set up a lab server, do the install, and test the system first.)

Whatever happens, I'm sure appreciative of all the help you've provided.

Best regards,
RFN
***
--
RFNelson

"What was that?"

 

[MDonato]

As long as your load up on RAM for the SBS suite, go for version 6. I've been VERY happy with it in multiple installations. I do hate to let you know that the McAfee that comes bundled will NOT protect your GroupWise system. It will scan the fileserver, and desktops (you will get some protection through the desktop client), but it will not work with GWIA or scan the message DB's. A great add on product though, is Guinevere located at

http://www.openhandhome.com/guinevere/

I've played with the eval a few times and it is pretty simple to set up.

Good luck!

-Mike
Michael A. Dontato MCNE, MCSE, CCA
mdonato@site-technologies.com

http://www.site-technologies.com

 

[rfnelson]

Chris:

Thanks for the information. I think I'll probably go with NW6 Small Business Suite, as it should do everything (and more) I need.

Thanks for the clarification!

Best regards,
RFN
***
--
RFNelson

"What was that?"

 

[rfnelson]

Mike:

I've looked at Guinevere and I do see the advantage to using it to "scan" incoming e-mails before they're delivered. Currently, we're relying on InoculateIT for personal workstation scanning, and have a rather firm procedure users are "supposed" to use. So far, we've only got caught a couple of times, and Guinevere might save me a lot of hassles as virus incidents become more prevalent.

Thanks again for you input and advise!

BR,
RFN
***
--
RFNelson

"What was that?"