Novell courts small business

Novell (NOVL) will roll out a version of IntranetWare for small businesses next week at Fall Internet World '96 as well as provide a first peek the next upgrade of its network operating system.

As previously reported by CNET, the software code-named Kayak will combine some of the of both NetWare and IntranetWare, minus some of the features designed only to support large-scale networks with users in multiple locations. Instead, Kayak will focus on features for companies with less than 100 employees.

Novell officials concede that the introduction is an attempt to make up for previous slights of small to medium-sized businesses while the company focused on beefing up its support for large enterprises with NetWare 3.x and 4.x.

Kayak includes an easy-to-use installation, configuration, and administration tool called Novell Easy Administration Tool; a stripped-down version of the Network Directory Services, a network address book that uses only a single directory tree; and Netscape Communications' Navigator browser.

The product will not include built-in wide area networking features that let remote users log on directly, instead relying on NetWare Connect services as a communications gateway for remote users. Kayak will also be priced on a per node basis so small businesses can add new licenses as they need them.

Novell will also discuss its plans for the next upgrade of IntranetWare due next summer. One of the major goals is to improve remote access features, including adding Private Virtual Networking capabilities, which will allow several private LANs to rent access on public networks while setting up firewalls to keep out intruders.

At Internet World, Novell officials will also preview a new version of Novell's Web Server and some Java development tools for the IntranetWare platform.

The company wants to show off its progress in case it decides not to wait until next summer to release the Java Virtual Machine for NetWare, as well as a proxy cache Web server, and the long-awaited native Internet Protocol implementation. The company is anxious to roll out more Internet-specific features to answer criticisms that it moves to slowly to compete in the Internet market, where product cycles are much shorter than Novell is used to.