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Thousands of network engineers will testify there is no better network operating system (NOS) on the market than Novell NetWare. Thousands of network engineers will testify there is no better network operating system on the market than Microsoft Windows NT. From their perspectives there is as little room for compromise as can be observed in today's political parties.
Which view is correct? The answer is both. Network operating and equipment purchase decisions should be made the same way. First decide what application programs you want to run now and in the near future, then select a NOS and hardware accordingly.
In recent years Microsoft has made great leaps in percentage of NOS sales over prior years. Novell, however, still owns the lion's share of the NOS market. By far their widest deployed system is version 3.X NetWare. More recently introduced is version 4.X. Both systems have their strengths and provide solid services to users. Since NetWare has been on the market longer there is a larger base of trained engineers available to support the product. A survey published in the July 1, 1996 edition of Communications Week reports the current and three year projection of market share of popular network operating systems:
That same survey ranks E-mail as the number one driving force for network requirements today with Internet access ranking second.
Comparative analyses correctly conclude that both Novell and Microsoft systems will provide required network services. In my experience, the degree of similarity or difference between Novell and Microsoft is much as the degree of similarity or difference between cars from different manufacturers. While Lexus fenders won't fit on a Lincoln, many accessory parts like the cell phone and CD player can be interchanged. Certainly both cars will transport you from point a to b. The degree of style of transportation and evaluation of NOS features is largely a matter of personal taste.
NetWare 3.X has been around many years now and is a reliable small-office choice. This system requires a dedicated computer for a file server. The server is easy to support, offers excellent data security and bacjup anr runs on hardware from numerous vendors. Microsoft promotes the number of different platforms on which it runs, while criticizing Novell for being a...