Replicating: A key feature of NDS for NT Version 2

Within the next 45 days, Novell will release Novell Directory Services for NT Version 2, with Version 2.1 scheduled to appear before the end of the year.

NDS for NT Version 1, available since late last year, brought the power of an enterprise directory system to what is, at best, a labor-intensive process of administering NT Server domains.

Version 2.0 introduces the ability to store replicas of NDS partitions on NT servers. Partitioning and replicating in NDS provide a degree of fault tolerance not present in NT domains while helping to reduce network traffic and increase thruput. A well-designed NDS tree structure puts replicas within a short logical distance of users so that most directory activities can be handled locally. At the same time, administrators can modify any replica, assured that the changes (and only the changes) will be propagated to all other replicas.

While it would be possible with NDS for NT 2.0 to have NDS running in an NT network without a NetWare server being present, the utilities and tools for NDS - specifically DSRepair, the maintenance and repair utility - are not yet available on the NT platform. They will be ready and shipping by year end - at which point, the product becomes NDS for NT 2.1.

Anyone looking for a way to manage NT users, groups, servers, domains and (new in this version) file shares more quickly and easily and without the use of Trust relationships, NDS for NT is the answer you've been seeking.

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