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SMALL BUSINESS SUITE (SBS) 5 delivers on the promise of directory services in ways that are accessible to small businesses. This Novell product is designed to work for a single site with as many as 50 users, not to be a part of an enterprise network. The suite's NetWare 5 has been stripped down to use a single-partition directory service.
Microsoft offers a similar product, the Small Business Server, which is also based on the vendor's flagship OS. If you're looking for office automation in a package, I'd suggest choosing Novell's SBS 5. At $1,750, it costs $748 less than Microsoft's for a 25-user package. Also, the newly added Zero Effort Networking (ZEN) starter pack helps minimize support costs.
Bundled with SBS is a remarkable array of software. This version is the first that includes NetWare 5. Also debuting in SBS is GroupWise 5.5 for e-mail and groupware, the Novell Internet Connection Expert (NICE), the Novell Easy Administration Tool (NEAT), Netscape Enterprise Web Server for NetWare, Novell BorderManager FastCache Services, and Ragula FatPipes, which allows a server to double the speed of its Internet connection.
SBS 5 retains several tools, including Oracle 8.04, Network Associates McAfee NetShield for NetWare,Virus Scan, NetObject Fusion 3.01, Tobit FaxWare 5.11, and NetWare Connect. Although the installation process is improved, it may still be too difficult for an inexperienced IT staff person.
The NetWare installation process set up my server with a nonrouting IP address, which is a good choice for anyone using Novell Internet Access Software (NIAS) to connect to the Internet. NIAS is set up with NICE, which made it very easy.
Because of the shortage of available IP addresses, most ISPs want you to set up a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to give nonrouting addresses to the machines on...