While Novell has announced that NDS Corporate Edition for Windows 2000 will be available before year-end, there is already a solution available if you want to integrate Win 2000 servers into your NDS-based network.
NetVision is now shipping Synchronicity 2.5, which extends the capabilities of the product to include Microsoft's Active Directory among the directories with which it can synchronize.
Faithful readers will know I've long been a fan of the Synchronicity product line, which consolidates account administration for NetWare 3, Windows NT, Exchange server, Lotus Notes and now Win 2000 into an existing Novell Directory Services directory. Synchronicity 2.5 is the only nonintrusive product that allows administration of users, groups and passwords from a single location using NetWare's NWAdmin utility. It does not require learning new interfaces or overhauling a network. It is the only real-time, scalable product available, because directory changes are communicated directly with native platforms without having to convert data into other formats or read whole directories before changes can be made.
Another new feature of Synchronicity 2.5 is Password Policy. With Password Policy, users are unable to choose weak passwords, and authorized changes are immediately synchronized to all other native platforms. The Password Policy Change Password feature can be launched at regular intervals, such as every 30 days, to force a password change. Password Policy includes requirements for special character inclusion in passwords and a disallowed-password dictionary.
Synchronicity for Active Directory makes it possible for NDS and Active Directory to easily coexist on the same network, since it uses the Active Directory Services Interface for synchronization processes, to browse Active Directory and perform native editing.
Download Synchronicity 2.5
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Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. His most recent book is "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks" published by SAMS. Dave's company, Virtual Quill, provides content services to network vendors: books, manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing, technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill provides "words to sell by..." Find out more at Virtual Quill or by e-mail at info@vquill.com
Directories archive
Past newsletters.
Network World, 03/13/00.
NetVision links Active Directory, NDS
Network World, 09/13/99.
Newsletter: Real-time security alerts for NDS
Network World Fusion Focus, 03/13/00.
