NetVision links Active Directory, NDS

OREM, UTAH - Although Microsoft's Active Directory will eventually enjoy widespread use when Windows 2000 ships, it by no means will be the only directory in the enterprise.

NetVision next month will unveil Synchronicity for Active Directory to help users synchronize data between Microsoft's directory and Novell Directory Services (NDS).

For those users piloting Microsoft's yet-to-be-released directory, NetVision is offering something Microsoft currently is not - bidirectional synchronization between Active Directory and NDS.

The software exploits Active Directory Service Interfaces to let NDS administrators browse Active Directory and add, delete and modify directory objects and attributes.

Microsoft offers a mechanism called DirSynch which allows users one-way synchronization between NDS and Active Directory. Users and developers say Microsoft needs to update DirSynch to provide bidirectional capabilities.

However, Microsoft plans to leave a majority of its synchronization work to Zoomit, a metadirectory vendor that Microsoft acquired in July.

"We are not a metadirectory," says Todd Lawson, president of NetVision. "For those users who just want to integrate their Active Directory and NDS environments, then Synchronicity is easier to use than a metadirectory."

Synchronicity for Active Directory uses a technology called Global Event Services to detect any change in real time in either NDS or Active Directory and replicate the changes between directories. It lets administrators tune replication down to the attribute level in order to selectively copy data.

Synchronicity uses a NetWare Administrator snap-in module that permits net administrators to add, delete or modify entries in either NDS or Active Directory.

At the end of the month, NetVision also will ship DirectoryAlert, a notification and auditing system that tracks changes made in a directory.

Synchronicity is expected to be available when Windows 2000 ships. A beta version will be available at the beginning of next month for use with Beta 3 of Windows 2000. The software is priced at $18 per user.

NetVision: www.netvision.com