NT features let you access files and printers that are NetWare resources
Some people regard the rivalry between Windows NT and Novell NetWare as a holy war. But in many organizations, the two operating systems have to get along for many reasons, including cost, the need for applications that run on one operating system or the other, and politics. With a view toward coexistence, then, let's look at the NT features that let Windows-based clients access files and printers that are Novell resources.
Common Protocol
To communicate with a NetWare server, you need to install a protocol common
to both systems. Typically, the NetWare server runs IPX/SPX, so you need to use
NWLink, which is Microsoft's 32-bit implementation of the IPX/SPX protocol. In
theory, you don't have to worry about installing NWLink: Its documentation says
that installing the software to connect to a NetWare server automatically
installs NWLink. In practice, I have found that NWLink does not always install
correctly unless you specifically tell the software to install it.
NWLink is only a protocol: You need additional software to connect to a
NetWare server. For example, a client application (such as a client/server
database front end) running on a Windows-based client can use NWLink as the
protocol to connect to a database on the NetWare server. But to browse and
connect directly to resources on the NetWare server, you must install either
Client Services for NetWare (CSNW) or Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) on
your NT computer.
Client Services for NetWare
You can install CSNW on any NT workstation. CSNW lets the NT user browse for
and connect to resources on the NetWare server as if they were components of the
Network Neighborhood. In NT 4.0, you install CSNW as a Network Service. From
Control Panel, select Network, Services. Clicking Add brings up a list of the
network services that you can install, as you see on Screen 1. Select
Client Services for NetWare, then click OK. As always when you install new
networking software, NT will prompt you for the CD-ROM that contains the NT
installation files. Reboot your computer to let the changes take effect.
When you restart your computer, NT will ask you for the name of your
preferred NetWare server, as you see in Screen 2. Before you can
connect, you need a user account on this NetWare server and a NetWare client
access license. Then you can browse the network, using the Network Neighborhood
icon. When you click on Entire Network, NT offers you a choice of the Microsoft
Windows Network or the NetWare or Compatible Network. Selecting the NetWare
option will take you to the list of NetWare servers and then to the shared
NetWare volumes. You can also map an available NetWare volume to a drive letter
by right-clicking on the My Computer icon and treating it like any other network
resource.
Gateway Services for NetWare
GSNW comes with NT Server and includes CSNW. GSNW lets many users obtain
occasional access to file-and-print resources on the NetWare server, without
additional software on each workstation. The only connection into the NetWare
server is through the NT Server. Users share this NT server connection just like
any other share; users don't connect to the NetWare server directly. To the
Windows clients, the shared resource appears to be part of the NT server; as
long as they can see the NT server, they can access the resource. Because the
clients don't need to communicate with the NetWare server, you don't have to
load CSNW on all of the workstations. You don't even have to install NWLink on
each client computer. As long as you have installed NWLink on the NT server
(which happens automatically when you install GSNW), the NT server can act as an
intermediary and make the NetWare resources available to the Windows clients.
At one time, some Microsoft sales people claimed that you could use GSNW
with one Novell NetWare license to connect hundreds of users because you had
only one connection to the NetWare server. The Novell license referred to connections,
not clients, but Novell quickly changed the wording. Now you need a
Novell license for each client that uses the NetWare server, even if the client
connects through GSNW. The basis of Microsoft's claim that the gateway would
support hundreds of users was that each user might connect only once or twice a
day, to copy a file or send a quick print job. When more than one user tries to
connect via GSNW, the gateway becomes a bottleneck: with only one connection
into the NetWare server, requests have to wait in line.