Harman Patil (Editor)

Novell Open Enterprise Server

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OS family
  
Unix-like, NetWare

Preceded by
  
NetWare 6.5

Package manager
  
RPM Package Manager

Source model
  
Open source / Closed source

Marketing target
  
Enterprise software Server

Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) is a server operating system published by Novell in March 2005 to succeed their NetWare product.

Contents

Unlike NetWare, Novell OES is a Linux distribution—specifically, one based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. The first two major releases of Open Enterprise Server could run either with a Linux kernel (with a NetWare compatibility layer) or Novell's NetWare kernel (with a Linux compatibility layer). Novell discontinued the NetWare kernel prior to the release of OES 11.

OES 1 and OES 2

Novell released OES 1, the first version of OES, in March 2005. Since some users wanted backward compatibility with NetWare, Novell offered two installation options: OES-NetWare and OES-Linux. These are two different operating systems with different kernels and different userlands.

OES-NetWare is NetWare v6.5 equipped with NetWare Loadable Modules for various Novell services (such as NetWare Core Protocol, Novell eDirectory, Novell Storage Services, and iPrint) and open-source software (such as OpenSSH, Apache Tomcat, and the Apache HTTP Server).

OES-Linux is a variation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) with added NetWare services: the NetWare Core Protocol, Novell eDirectory, Novell Storage Services, and iPrint.

OES 2, released on 8 October 2007, retained the OES-NetWare option. Its operating system, NetWare 6.5 SP7, can run as a paravirtualized guest inside the Xen hypervisor. The OES-Linux edition was updated to SLES 10.

Features introduced in OES 2 include:

  • 64-bit support
  • Hardware virtualization
  • Dynamic Storage Technology, which provides Novell Shadow Volumes
  • Windows domain services
  • Apple Filing Protocol (AFP)

    • OES 11

    OES 11 was released 13 December 2011 based on SLES 11 SP1 64-bit. This is the first version of OES to be 64-bit (x86_64) only, and to be SLES based only (not NetWare).

  • Introduces Novell Kanaka for Mac client
  • Uses Zypper tool to patch up to 100 times faster than OES2
  • Added Automated / Unattended Upgrades from OES2
  • New Novell Linux Volume Manager ( NLVM) provides easier storage management

    • Novell released a service pack, OES 11 SP2, on January 28, 2014.

    OES 2015

  • OES 2015 added new features and improved performance.
  • OES 2015 SP1 was released in 2016.

    • Novell released a service pack, OES 2015 SP1, in 2016.

    Release summary

  • OES, released in March 2005, included NetWare 6.5 SP3 and SLES 9 SP1.
  • OES SP1, released in September 2005, was based on NetWare 6.5 SP4 and SLES 9 SP2.
  • OES SP2, released in January 2006, was based on NetWare 6.5 SP5 and SLES 9 SP3.
  • OES 2, based on NetWare 6.5 SP7 and SLES 10 SP1, was released on October 8, 2007.
  • OES 2 SP1, released on December 1, 2008, based on NetWare 6.5 SP8 and SLES 10 SP2.
  • OES 2 SP2 was released on November 11, 2009, based on SLES 10 SP3.
  • OES 2 SP3 was released on December 22, 2010, based on SLES 10 SP3.
  • OES 11 was released on December 13, 2011, based on SLES 11 SP1 (64-bit only).
  • OES 11 SP1 was released on August 28, 2012, based on SLES 11 SP2.
  • OES 11 SP2 was released on January 28, 2014, based on SLES 11 SP3.
  • OES 11 SP3 was released on August? 2016, based on SLES 11 SP4.
  • OES 2015.
  • OES 2015 SP1 was released in 2016.

    • Components

  • Automatic Client Upgrade (ACU) - automates the upgrade of Novell client software on existing workstations

    • Vendor motivation

    Novell executives, as well as most analysts, expect that porting these services to an OS with growing popularity and better support from hardware and software vendors will give Novell a good opportunity to improve its business results.

    OES is Novell's reaction to two things:

  • the increased significance of Linux and open-source in the company strategy and the industry in general
  • the fact that it lost a lot of market share, not because the customers were dissatisfied with the quality of its networking services, but mostly because these services ran almost exclusively on top of an OS that was narrowly specialized in its initial design and didn't get as strong support from ISVs as most of its competitors.

    • License costs

    Licensing costs are identical regardless of the platform, and the platforms may be mixed under the same license. As with Novell's other products, OES is licensed per user seat, without regard to the number of servers. Pricing is typically not altered by physical CPUs or the use of hardware virtualization technologies (e.g. VMware, Xen). NetWare and OES both include two-node licenses for Novell Cluster Services, allowing basic clustered environments to be created without additional licensing charges.

    In comparison, Microsoft Windows charges per server and per client, with additional charges for larger SMP support and for clustering.

    References

    Novell Open Enterprise Server Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA