Press Release

Novell Leads Cross-Platform Directory Market with Delivery of NDS for Solaris

Cost-Saving Directory Solution Makes Mixed Networks Look, Act and Feel Like One Entity

PROVO, Utah — February 3, 1999 — Further advancing its directory leadership, Novell(R), Inc. today announced the delivery of its directory solution for yet another widely-used network platform — Sun Microsystems' Solaris version 2.6. On the heels of the recent release of NDS(TM) for NT 2.0, Novell is expanding the benefits of Novell Directory Services(R) (NDS) to Sun's leading UNIX operating environment. NDS for Solaris gives Novell and Sun enterprise customers a unified directory service from which to manage users and their access to mission-critical applications.

By extending its directory expertise to Solaris, Novell makes networks more manageable and accessible. NDS for Solaris eases network access by allowing users to log into NetWare(R), NT and Solaris SPARC servers with the same password and user name. In addition, it maximizes IT efficiency by enabling network administrators to manage users, groups and access to multiple network applications from any location and across multiple platforms.

"Novell is focused on making the directory the proactive solution that links the entire network together, making management of all the hardware, users and applications easier and more cost-effective," said Ed McGarr, Novell's vice president of product marketing. "With each additional platform and network resource that NDS integrates, the directory becomes exponentially more valuable. The availability of NDS on yet another platform demonstrates that Novell is years ahead of its competition and continues to lead the network software market."

Customer Benefits

  • IT Efficiency — NDS for Solaris reduces complexity and lowers the cost of network management by eliminating redundant administrative activities across multiple platforms.
  • Reliability and Productivity — NDS is renowned for its ability to prevent network downtime by allowing network information to be stored on multiple systems. This model provides guaranteed login to mission-critical Solaris applications using a single password and allows IT managers to perform administrative tasks from anywhere on the network, anytime.
  • Uninterrupted Growth — NDS is suitable for companies of all sizes and easily accommodates changes to business structure such as company mergers and acquisitions. NDS does this by providing consistency in disparate networks, quickly integrating new and existing technologies from multiple vendors without disruption.
"NDS for Solaris is great for companies that have chosen NDS as their primary directory solution," said Rich Green, vice president of Solaris Software, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "As anytime, anywhere access becomes an IT requirement, Sun believes that open directory services supporting the LDAP standard, such as NDS for Solaris, will become mission-critical."

Pricing and Availability

The first version of NDS for Solaris, called NDS for Solaris 2.0, is available today from Novell. The pricing for NDS for Solaris 2.0 is the same as that for NDS for NT 2.0, with two separate licensing components: a server license and a per-user connection license. Each Solaris server that stores an NDS replica requires a server license for $695. Each user license is $26. To order or for more information, customers may contact an authorized Novell reseller or call at (888) 321-4272 in the U.S. and Canada or (801) 228-4272 worldwide.

Customers who own NetWare 4.x or NetWare 5 are eligible for free matching NDS for Solaris server/replica licenses (less than or equal to the number of NetWare server licenses). Customers can download NDS for Solaris from the Novell Web site at http://www.novell.com/products/edirectory/nds4solaris/.

Enterprise consulting services are available for this and other Novell solutions from Novell Consulting. For more information please visit the Web site at http://consulting.novell.com.

About Novell

Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the leading provider of network software enabled by directory services. Novell Internet solutions make networks more manageable, secure and affordable for organizations of every kind and size. Novell's worldwide channel, developer, education and technical support programs are the most extensive in the network computing industry.

For information on Novell's complete range of products and services, contact Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272), or visit Novell's Web site at http://www.novell.com. Press may access Novell announcements and company information on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

Novell, NetWare and Novell Directory Services are registered trademarks and NDS and NDS for NT are trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holder.

Press Contact:
Carrie Merritt
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
(650) 858-3788
Internet: cmerritt@ccipr.com