Novell preps Linux / NetWare upgrade

Just one month after shipping its merged Linux/NetWare operating system, called Open Enterprise Server, Novell is planning a major update to the product, scheduled to be released by the first half of 2007.

The next version, code-named Cypress, will merge a future version of NetWare as well as Version 10 of the company's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, which is expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2006.

Cypress is particularly important to Novell as it looks to move to a Linux-based product line as a means of remaining viable in the market. Novell's once-dominant NetWare operating system now represents just less than 6% of worldwide server installations, according to IDC.

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Just one month after shipping its merged Linux/NetWare operating system, called Open Enterprise Server, Novell is planning a major update to the product, scheduled to be released by the first half of 2007.

The next version, code-named Cypress, will merge a future version of NetWare as well as Version 10 of the company's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, which is expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2006.

Cypress is particularly important to Novell as it looks to move to a Linux-based product line as a means of remaining viable in the market. Novell's once-dominant NetWare operating system now represents just less than 6% of worldwide server installations, according to IDC.

Cypress will include new desktop integration, Linux clustering and storage software, as well as tools to help Windows and NetWare users migrate to the product.

"You can think of it as a vision that's going to drive a lot of things that we will be developing," says Hugo Parra, product management lead with Novell's Platform Services Group.

While OES 1.0 was designed to smooth the Linux transition for NetWare users by providing them with familiar tools and services on a Linux kernel, Cypress will be focused on attracting Windows users, Parra says.

To that end, it will include migration tools designed to help users move from Windows Web e-mail servers, and management software for managing Samba file-and-print software from Novell's iManager console.

Cypress also will include better Linux monitoring and management tools, improved integration between the Linux desktop and Cypress identity and management services, and Linux support for the Novell Storage Services file system, according to Novell's road map.

The plan calls for the release of three service pack updates to Open Enterprise Server: one in June; a second in February 2006; and a third later that year. The releases are expected to be made in conjunction with upgrades to SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9, the road map states.

This November, Novell plans to begin selling a version of Novell Cluster Services for Linux as a stand-alone product. At the same time, it plans to release a version of Business Continuance Clustering in OES.

The most important job ahead for Novell is to make sure that its NetWare services, many of which have been nominally ported in the first version of OES, run as smoothly on Linux as they do on NetWare, says Gary Hein, an analyst with Burton Group.

"Most of this is about porting over to Linux what they already have," Hein says. "It's one thing to get a feature from NetWare to Linux. It's another thing to get it there correctly and optimized."

McMillan is a correspondent with the IDG News Service.

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