The company today launched a set of services targeted at reducing network downtime and added IBM as a participant in its program for server appliances. It also floated plans to deliver firewall security software for Microsoft's Windows NT operating system by the end of the year.
Novell is building application software on top of its NetWare operating system and Novell Directory Services (NDS) to showcase the abilities of its two flagship products. In the past, the company has suffered from a dearth of application development for its software, but Novell hopes that by supporting various Internet standards it can make up some lost ground.
After a lengthy test program, Novell will ship its NetWare Cluster Services next month. The set of software, which uses the company's NDS, allows a system to move its software processes to a back-up system if there is a problem in a process called "failover."
Priced at $4,999 per server system, the new service for NetWare 5.0 can support a "cluster," or group, of eight server machines.
The company also announced plans to add IBM to its list of systems companies that plan to sell a server-based appliance with Novell's Internet Caching System, a technology that allows frequently used Web pages to be stored closer to a Web surfer, thereby increasing the speed of downloads.
Furthering its plans to support Microsoft's Windows NT operating system--to be called Windows 2000 in a forthcoming upgrade--Novell said it would furnish firewall security software for the operating system later this year. The software, tied to NDS, allows network managers to implement security features and user policies at the junctions of their internal network and the public Internet.
The new firewall software is a result of Novell's acquisition of Ukiah Software in June of this year.
In addition, Novell plans to distribute a set of software from NetVision called Synchronicity that integrates user account information found in messaging and collaboration software such as Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, and Windows NT, as well as its own NetWare.
The company also announced results from the first year of sales of its NetWare 5.0 operating system upgrade. The company said it sold more than $300 million worth of NetWare 5.0 and that it has 80 million users of its operating system.
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