NetWare

NetWare is a discontinued computer <a href="/facts/Network_operating_system/K9MlJLI3">network operating system</a> developed by <a href="/facts/Novell%2c_Inc./lABGMT7U">Novell, Inc.</a> It initially used <a href="/facts/Cooperative_multitasking/svrQ2DMM">cooperative multitasking</a> to run various services on a personal computer, using the <a href="/facts/Internetwork_Packet_Exchange/TEGGak0E">IPX</a> network protocol. The final update release was version 6.5SP8 in May 2009, and it has since been replaced by <a href="/facts/Open_Enterprise_Server/oWwhg2AV">Open Enterprise Server</a>. 
The original NetWare product in 1983 supported clients running both <a href="/facts/CP%2fM/n5rTgXdC">CP/M</a> and <a href="/facts/MS-DOS/fVrrz1uN">MS-DOS</a>, ran over a proprietary <a href="/facts/Star_network/HPQDmFkI">star</a> <a href="/facts/Network_topology/rBYE0kke">network topology</a> and was based on a Novell-built file server using the <a href="/facts/Motorola_68000/3p2wt2D6">Motorola 68000</a> processor. The company soon moved away from building its own hardware, and NetWare became hardware-independent, running on any suitable Intel-based <a href="/facts/IBM_PC_compatible/zGUpl7Sh">IBM PC compatible</a> system, and able to utilize a wide range of network cards. From the beginning NetWare implemented a number of features inspired by <a href="/facts/Mainframe_computer/nrBR6rWa">mainframe</a> and <a href="/facts/Minicomputer/g8hvpQxe">minicomputer</a> systems that were not available in its competitors' products.
In 1991, Novell introduced cheaper <a href="/facts/Peer-to-peer/wCCdPb0H">peer-to-peer</a> networking products for <a href="/facts/DOS/6nkoK02J">DOS</a> and <a href="/facts/Windows/bwhAhuSL">Windows</a>, unrelated to their server-centric NetWare. These are <a href="/facts/NetWare_Lite_1.0/JeB2TuJh">NetWare Lite 1.0</a> (NWL), and later <a href="/facts/Personal_NetWare_1.0/JeB2TuJh">Personal NetWare 1.0</a> (PNW) in 1993. In 1993, the main NetWare product line took a dramatic turn when version 4 introduced <a href="/facts/Novell_Directory_Services/5FcKsra1">NetWare Directory Services</a> (NDS, later in February 2004 renamed <a href="/facts/NetIQ_eDirectory/5FcKsra1">eDirectory</a>), a global <a href="/facts/Directory_service/6fsVdntu">directory service</a> based on <a href="/facts/X.500/zaeao2Lf">ISO X.500</a> concepts (six years later, <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a> released <a href="/facts/Active_Directory/VWd9HhjU">Active Directory</a>). The directory service, along with a new e-mail system (<a href="/facts/GroupWise/ID0aCoyD">GroupWise</a>), application configuration suite (<a href="/facts/Novell_ZENworks/Ta4d1qI6">ZENworks</a>), and security product (<a href="/facts/Novell_BorderManager/2RdGJn3w">BorderManager</a>) were all targeted at the needs of large enterprises.
By 2000, however, Microsoft was taking more of Novell's customer base and Novell increasingly looked to a future based on a <a href="/facts/Linux_kernel/dlkduHuA">Linux kernel</a>. The successor to NetWare, <a href="/facts/Novell_Open_Enterprise_Server/oWwhg2AV">Open Enterprise Server</a> (OES), released in March 2005, offers all the services previously hosted by NetWare 6.5, but on a <a href="/facts/SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server/Fqf31h9R">SUSE Linux Enterprise Server</a>; the NetWare kernel remained an option until OES 11 in late 2011. NetWare 6.5SP8 General Support ended in 2010; Extended Support was available until the end of 2015, and Self Support until the end of 2017.

NetWare open-in-new

NetWare