Directory Structure "Novell NetWare"

Directory Structure
Directories like Novell’s that use the X.500 standard are hierarchical in nature and use a structure called the Directory Information Tree (DIT). In a DIT, the top level of the structure is called the [Root], which leads to the fact that the DIT is commonly referred to as an inverted tree. Making up the structure below the [Root] are intermediate objects and leaf objects.

NOTE:

Leaf objects are also called terminating objects because they are at the “ends” of the tree.

To easily find objects in the Directory, it must be further organized through the use of intermediate objects. They can be likened to alphabetized subsections of a telephone book (A, B, C, and so on).
Leaf objects represent resources in your organization (such as people, devices, applications, services, and so on) and can be likened to each name in a telephone book (Smith, Chang,
Moreau, and so on).

     Each object in the tree has attributes, which are properties that define the object. Information stored in an attribute is called a value. An example of an attribute in a telephone book is phone
number, and the value is the number itself. Objects can have many different attributes.
     Each object (depending on its type) can be located only in certain places within the DIT.
Labels are used to identify object types and thus their possible locations in the tree. Each label is a one- or two-character abbreviation of the object type or of an object attribute. Each object is also graphically represented in the tree. A Leaf Object’s graphical representation varies depending on the type of Leaf Object (for example, user, printer, and application).
Object types, where in the tree an object is allowed to reside, and object attributes follow rules called the schema.
      Table 5.3 describes each of the possible object labels in an NDS tree, the associated object type, and the possible location of the object in the tree.

TABLE 5 . 3 Labels, Object Types, and Object Locations in the Tree

When accessing a particular object, you must understand the idea of context. An object’s context is its exact location within the tree, taking into account all of the containers that it is in. For example, if a user, Connie, was in the sales organizational unit, which in turn was in the Acme organization, the user object Connie would have the context of

OU=SALES.O=ACME

Because it has the OU= and O= labels, this name is known as a typefull context. This type of name is used when there must be no doubt about the type of container that exists at a particular level.

In addition, Connie’s typefull distinguished name (the name of an object plus its context) would be

.CN=CONNIE.OU=SALES.O=ACME.

NOTE:

Contexts and names can also be used without their container labels, like so: SALES.ACME (for a context) .CONNIE.SALES.ACME (for an object’s distinguished name)

This is known as a typeless context and is used most often because it’s easier to remember.

Read More

Authentication "Network + Chapter 5"

Authentication
Authentication is the process by which a user proves they are who they say they are to the network operating system. All NetWare versions since version 4.0 use Novell Directory Services
(NDS) for resource access and authentication. A directory service
is a feature of a network operating system that enables users to find network resources. There are three main types of directory services for NetWare:
   Bindery The bindery ( pronounced with a long i ) is a simple, flat database of users, groups, and security information that resides on a server. It is available in versions of NetWare prior to version 4.
Novell Directory Services (NDS)
   This provides access to a global, hierarchical database of
network entities (called objects ). It is available in version 4 and later. Based on the X.500 Internet directory standard (a standard way of naming network entities), this database (called the Directory with a capital D , not to be confused with a DOS directory) is distributed and replicated to all NetWare servers on the network. Each server contains a part of the directory database. Additionally, all servers know about one another and the directory information
that each contains. 
EDirectory This is just an extension of NDS. It allows NDS trees to be connected over the Internet, essentially creating a meta directory. The current version of NDS is known as eDirectory.
A major advantage of NDS over the bindery is that with NDS, the entire network is organized into a hierarchical structure, called an NDS tree. This tree is a logical representation of a network. It includes objects that represent the network’s users, servers, printers, and other resources (see Figure 5.2). On the other hand, the bindery contains user information for only the server on which it resides. NDS is described as a network-centric directory service, whereas the bindery is server-centric. 

FIGURE 5 . 2 A sample NDS Tree

To contrast these two directory services, let’s look at an example. If a user on a NetWare 3.x network wants to log in to multiple servers, the administrator must create users on every server.

If there are 20 servers on the network, the administrator must create that user 20 times, once on each server. With NDS, however, the administrator simply creates a single user object in the

Directory. The user can then log in to the network on any server. The administrator simply assigns rights to the resources that the user needs to access.

 To change the Directory database, a NetWare network administrator uses a program called NetWare Administrator. Although this graphical Windows utility has gone through several iterations in the past six years since its introduction, it is the only administrative utility you need to modify NDS objects and their properties. Many utilities are available for specific functions, but NetWare Administrator is the one utility that can do it all. Figure 5.3 shows a sample Net-Ware Administrator screen. From this one screen, an administrator can modify any object’s

properties, including security settings, object names, and network parameters. You can manage your entire network from this one program. 

Each iteration of NetWare Administrator included new features and a new filename. Table 5.2 lists the myriad versions and their associated filenames.

FIGURE 5 . 3 A NetWare Administrator screen

TABLE 5 . 2 NetWare Administrator Filenames

Read More

Interoperability "Novell NetWare "

Interoperability
NetWare is one of the most flexible NOSes and can communicate with just about any computing environment, including the following:

• Windows 95/98/Me
• Windows NT/2000/XP
• Mac OS
• VMS
• OS/400
• UNIX
• OS/2

When each of these operating systems tries to communicate with a NetWare server, the server appears as though it were a member of that type of network. For example, on a Mac OS network,
a NetWare server can appear to be just another Macintosh server, but in reality it’s a Pentium-class box running NetWare. I have found that a NetWare server makes a better server for Macs than Apple’s own servers running the AppleShare network operating system.

Read More

Client Support "Novell NetWare "

Client Support  

Novell supports a wide range of diverse clients. To facilitate this, Novell developed client software that allows many client operating systems to take advantage of all NetWare features. Specifically,
Novell’s clients (sometimes called NDS clients) enable access to the NDS database. Even though some clients are included with various operating systems and the vendors themselves design them,
you should implement Novell’s client on the client operating systems you are running to get the most functionality out of NetWare—including being able to administer NetWare. The NetWare client written by Novell for a particular operating system provides full NDS functionality and is therefore the best choice for connecting that operating system to a NetWare network.
Table 5.1 lists the Novell clients that are available for NetWare and the special feature(s) of each.

NOTE:

There are NDS clients for UNIX, but the UNIX vendor usually develops them. One rare exception is UNIXWare, a product Novell developed several years ago. This rather cool version of UNIX has been completely integrated with NetWare.

TABLE 5 . 1 Available Novell Clients 

Read More

Features "Novell NetWare"

Features
NetWare is popular in large networks (more than 20 servers) because of features such as centralized
administration of all users and their properties. The most important features of Net- Ware 4. x and later are the following:

• The directory service
• The simple user interface
• Fairly minimal hardware requirements
• Scalable hardware support
• Third-party support
• Interoperability with many types of computer systems

NetWare has always been an excellent directory, file, and print server, but with its acquisition of many Java technologies (including the Java graphical user interface [GUI] on the server introduced with NetWare 5), it is starting to encroach on the application server market. These features make NetWare an excellent choice in the directory, file, and print environments.

Read More

Novell NetWare

Novell NetWare

NetWare is one of the more powerful network operating systems on the market today. It is almost infinitely scalable and has support for multiple client platforms. Although many companies larger than a few hundred stations are running NetWare, this NOS enjoys success in many different types of networks.
    As this book goes to press, the current version of NetWare is version 6.5 and includes workstation management support, Internet connectivity, web proxy, native Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) support, and continued support for its award-winning directory service, NDS.

NOTE:

For more information on NetWare, check out Novell’s website atwww.novell.com .

In the following sections, we will look at the features of NetWare and how it functions as well as how it interoperates with other operating systems. Specifically, you will learn about the following topics:

• Features
• Client support
• Interoperability
• Authentication
• Directory structure
• File and print services
• Application support
• Security

Read More

Security "Microsoft Windows"

Security

Although Windows Server has many advantages, its security is not as robust as it should be. In fact, most of the patches released by Microsoft for Windows Server are security patches. It is
extremely vulnerable to Internet attacks because of its sheer design. The same features that make Windows Server easy to use also make it more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
In addition, to meet marketing deadlines, Windows is often put into distribution before it’s ready and then fixed and patched after the fact. This rush allows potential security flaws to remain unfixed until after they have been discovered. These flaws have been the source of many security problems over the years.
That isn’t to say that Windows Server as a platform can’t be made secure; it just requires more work. You must make sure that the server is patched to the most current patch levels, and
you need to take common-sense precautions like having a firewall (but you’d need these protections for the other platforms as well, just as a precaution). Once patched properly, Windows
can be as secure as any of the other NOS platforms.

Read More

Application Support "Microsoft Windows"

Application Support

Application support is one area where Windows really shines. It is arguably the platform with the most developer support. Almost any application that will run on the desktop Windows (e.g.,
Windows 9 x, NT, 2000, XP, etc.) will run on Windows 2003 Server. Plus, Windows 2003 Server network applications are extremely easy to configure and run because there is a very shallow learning curve. People already understand the Windows interface.
      By far, Windows has the greatest number of software packages available for it. You can run these packages on Windows Servers in addition to running them on a desktop operating system.

Read More

File And Print Services "Microsoft Windows"

File And Print Services

Windows Server’s file and print services, while not as robust as some, are completely adequate for the small-to-medium size network and, if scaled properly, can service large numbers of clients equally well. The major advantage to Windows Server over other server platforms is that it uses the familiar Windows interface and terminology.
     Windows Server uses the concept of folders and shares for its file sharing. Individual documents are stored in folders on the server’s hard disk. To make them accessible to network users,
these folders are “shared.” A share is any folder on a computer that has been shared (by changing its properties from “not shared” to “shared”) with the rest of the network. Once a folder is shared, a client can access all the files within it (depending on the security settings, of course) and any folders within it as well.
     Additionally, Windows Server supports the sharing of printers in the same manner. A printer, once configured on the server, can be shared with the rest of the network like any folder. As a matter of fact, sharing printers is not only easy, but cool as well. When configured correctly, a printer shared under Windows NT, 2000, XP, or 2003 Server can be automatically installed by connecting to it. The client can automatically download the appropriate driver from the server the first time it connects.

Read More

Authentication "Microsoft Windows"

Authentication

Since Windows 2000 Server, all Windows products have been able to use Kerberos for authentication. Authentication also works in conjunction with Microsoft’s own directory service,
which is similar to NDS and known as Active Directory (AD). Kerberos is a technology that is used for authentication. Essentially, a unique identifier known as a ticket is given to every user
that successfully authenticates to AD. From then on, that ticket is sent along with all transmissions to indicate exactly who sent the information. One important note: for Kerberos to be used
as an authentication mechanism, all applications that are to use it must be modified to include authentication information. This process is known as kerberization.

Read More

Interoperability "Microsoft Windows"

Interoperability
With the vast diversity of client operating systems out there, any network operating system must be able to provide services to multiple clients. Windows never used to “play well with the other
children” in terms of interoperating with other platforms. Historically speaking, a NOS other than Windows Server would have limited interoperability with Windows Server. These days,
Windows Server has many tools for platform interoperability.
One of the coolest interoperability tools for Windows is Windows Services for Unix (SFU), which provides a framework for UNIX scripts as well as UNIX services like NFS to run on Windows.
You can download it from www.microsoft.com . With SFU, an administrator can port network services and scripts to a Windows Server machine and run them on the Interix subsystem (a sort of “mini-Unix” part of Windows that comes with SFU). In addition, Windows can interoperate with NetWare. When Windows NT Server was first introduced in 1993, NetWare was the primary network operating system available. As a matter of fact, it had more than 75 percent of the installed network operating system base. For this reason, Microsoft created software for Windows that allows it to coexist in a NetWare environment. Three main programs facilitate the integration of Windows and NetWare:

• Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW)
• Client Services for NetWare (CSNW)
• File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW)

Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW)

GSNW installs as a service on a Windows Server machine and translates requests for Windows resources into NetWare requests. At a lower level, GSNW is translating Server Message

Block (SMB) protocol requests into NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) requests. GSNW allows multiple Windows NT clients to connect through a Windows NT server to NetWare servers using only Windows NT client software and protocols. Figure 5.1 illustrates this arrangement.

NOTE:

GSNW has a relatively undocumented feature: Any number of Windows clients can connect to NetWare resources through GSNW and use only one license on the NetWare server being accessed. With this capability, it is theoretically possible

to build a network of mostly NetWare servers but license all of them for five users or fewer. Novell is understandably peeved. However, GSNW performance is very poor in this application. Microsoft doesn’t recommend GSNW for environments with high NetWare traffic.

FIGURE 5 . 1 Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) operation

Client Services for NetWare (CSNW)

CSNW is probably the simplest of all the software, but it requires the most overhead to implement. You must install CSNW on every Windows workstation computer that needs access to NetWare resources. Client services for NetWare allows a user sitting at a Windows workstation to access the services of NetWare servers. Additionally, all users who want to access NetWare resources need user accounts and rights on the NetWare servers they access.

File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW)

FPNW is really a method for providing files and printers hosted by Windows Server to Novell clients. When installed and configured on a Windows server, this service makes a Windows server look like a NetWare server to Novell clients. This service is good when you have a small number of NT servers and a large number of NetWare servers.

Read More

Client Support "Microsoft Windows"

Client Support

One of Windows’ shortcomings is its relative single-mindedness when it comes to clients. Windows as a server platform mainly supports Windows clients with the majority of its features. It
is possible to support Mac and UNIX clients, but only with special add-on software, and even then, some client features and security are limited. But, it is possible to support all versions of
Windows Operating Systems as clients for all of the Windows Server platforms.

Read More