Editing NetWare (section)

== History ==
[[File:Networking card yes it runs with NetWare.jpg|thumb|right|A networking card with a sticker indicating certification with NetWare]]
NetWare evolved from a very simple concept: [[file sharing]] instead of [[disk sharing]]. By controlling access at the level of individual files, instead of entire disks, files could be locked and better access control implemented. In 1983 when the first versions of NetWare originated, all other competing products were based on the concept of providing shared direct disk access. Novell's alternative approach was validated by [[IBM]] in 1984, which helped promote the NetWare product.

Novell NetWare shares disk space in the form of NetWare ''volumes'', comparable to [[Logical volume management|logical volumes]]. Client workstations running DOS run a special [[terminate and stay resident]] (TSR) program that allows them to ''[[Drive mapping|map]]'' a [[Drive letter assignment#Common assignments|local drive letter]] to a NetWare volume. Clients log into a server in order to be allowed to map volumes, and access can be restricted according to the login name. Similarly, they can connect to shared printers on the dedicated [[print server]], and print as if the printer is connected locally.

At the end of the 1990s, with Internet connectivity booming, the Internet's [[TCP/IP]] protocol became dominant on [[local area network|LAN]]s. Novell had introduced limited TCP/IP support in NetWare 3.''x'' ({{Circa|1992}}) and 4.''x'' ({{Circa|1995}}), consisting mainly of FTP services and UNIX-style LPR/LPD printing (available in NetWare 3.''x''), and a Novell-developed webserver (in NetWare 4.''x''). Native TCP/IP support for the client file and print services normally associated with NetWare was introduced in NetWare 5.0 (released in 1998). There was also a short-lived product, NWIP, that encapsulated IPX in TCP/IP, intended to ease transition of an existing NetWare environment from IPX to IP.

During the early to mid-1980s [[Microsoft]] introduced their own LAN system in [[LAN Manager]], based on the competing [[NetBIOS Frames|NBF]] protocol. Early attempts to compete with NetWare failed, but this changed with the inclusion of improved networking support in [[Windows for Workgroups]], and then the successful [[Windows NT]] and [[Windows 95]]. NT, in particular, offered a sub-set of NetWare's services, but on a system that could also be used on a desktop, and due to the vertical integration there was no need for a third-party client.

=== {{anchor|ELS}}Early years ===
NetWare originated from consulting work by [[SuperSet Software]], a group founded by the friends [[Drew Major]], Dale Neibaur, Kyle Powell and later Mark Hurst. This work stemmed from their classwork at [[Brigham Young University]] in [[Provo, Utah]], starting in October 1981.

In 1981, [[Raymond Noorda]] engaged{{Clarify|date=May 2010}} the work by the SuperSet team. The team was originally assigned to create a [[CP/M]] [[disk sharing]] system to help network the Motorola 68000-based hardware that Novell sold at the time. The first [[NetWare 68|S-Net]] is [[CP/M-68K]]-based and shares a hard disk. In 1983, the team was privately convinced that CP/M was a doomed platform and instead came up with a successful file-sharing system for the newly introduced IBM-compatible [[Personal computer|PC]]. They also wrote an application called [[Snipes (video game)|Snipes]] – a text-mode game – and used it to test the new network and demonstrate its capabilities. Snipes [aka 'NSnipes' for 'Network Snipes'] is the first network application ever written for a commercial personal computer, and it is recognized as one of the precursors of many popular multiplayer games such as ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]''.<ref name="Snipes"/><ref name="connor20070405">{{Cite magazine |last=Connor |first=Deni |date=2007-04-05 |title=Novell and the computer game that changed networking |url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/830595/infrastructure-management-novell-and-the-computer-game-that-changed-networking.html |access-date=2025-05-21 |magazine=[[Network World]] |language=en}}</ref>

First called [[ShareNet]] or [[NetWare 68|S-Net]], this [[network operating system]] (NOS) was later called Novell NetWare. NetWare is based on the [[NetWare Core Protocol]] (NCP), which is a packet-based protocol that enables a client to send requests to and receive replies from a NetWare server. Initially, NCP was directly tied to the [[IPX/SPX]] protocol, and NetWare communicated natively using only IPX/SPX.

The first product to bear the NetWare name was released in 1983. The original product, ''NetWare 68'' (AKA [[NetWare 68|S-Net]]), ran on Novell's proprietary 68000-based file server hardware, and used a star [[network topology]]. This was later joined by ''NetWare 86'', which could use conventional Intel 8086-based PCs for the server. This was replaced in 1985 with Advanced NetWare 86, which allowed more than one server on the same network. In 1986, after the [[Intel 80286]] processor became available, Novell released Advanced NetWare 286. Two versions were offered for sale; the basic version was sold as ELS I, plus an enhanced version, ELS II. *ELS* stood for "Entry Level System".

=== {{anchor|2.10|2.11|2.12|2.15|2.2|SFT}}NetWare 286 2.''x'' ===
[[File:Novell_NetWare_2.2_floppies.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.85|Floppy disks for NetWare 2.2]]
Advanced NetWare version 2.''x'', launched in 1986, was written for the then-new 80286 CPU. The 80286 CPU features a new [[16-bit]] protected mode that provides access to up to 16&nbsp;MiB RAM as well as new mechanisms to aid multi-tasking. (Prior to the 80286, PC CPU servers used the Intel [[8088]]/8086 [[8-bit|8]]-/16-bit processors, which are limited to an address space of 1&nbsp;MiB with not more than 640&nbsp;KiB of directly addressable RAM.) The combination of a higher 16&nbsp;MiB RAM limit, 80286 processor feature utilization, and 256&nbsp;MB NetWare volume size limit (compared to the 32&nbsp;MB that DOS allowed at that time) allowed the building of reliable, cost-effective server-based local area networks for the first time. The 16&nbsp;MiB RAM limit was especially important, since it makes enough RAM available for disk caching to significantly improve performance. This became the key to Novell's performance while also allowing larger networks to be built.

In a significant innovation, NetWare 286 is also hardware-independent, unlike competing network server systems. Novell servers can be assembled using any brand system with an Intel 80286 CPU, any [[Modified Frequency Modulation|MFM]], [[Run Length Limited|RLL]], [[Enhanced Small Disk Interface|ESDI]], or [[SCSI]] hard drive and any 8- or 16-bit network adapter for which NetWare drivers are available – and 18 different manufacturer's network cards were supported at launch.<ref name="NW2"/>

The server could support up to four network cards,<ref name="NW2"/> and these can be a mixture of technologies such as [[ARCNET]], [[Token Ring]] and [[Ethernet]]. The operating system is provided as a set of compiled [[object module]]s that required configuration and linking. Any change to the operating system requires a re-linking of the [[kernel (operating system)|kernel]]. Installation also requires the use of a proprietary low-level format program for [[Modified Frequency Modulation|MFM]] hard drives called COMPSURF.

The file system used by NetWare&nbsp;2.''x'' is [[NetWare File System]] 286, or NWFS&nbsp;286, supporting volumes of up to 256&nbsp;MB. NetWare&nbsp;286 recognizes 80286 [[protected mode]], extending NetWare's support of RAM from 1&nbsp;MiB to the full 16&nbsp;MiB addressable by the 80286. A minimum of 2&nbsp;MiB is required to start up the operating system; any additional RAM is used for [[File Allocation Table|FAT]], DET and file caching. Since 16-bit protected mode is implemented in the 80286 and every subsequent Intel x86 processor, NetWare&nbsp;286 version 2.''x'' will run on any 80286 or later compatible processor.

NetWare 2.''x'' implements a number of features inspired by [[mainframe computer|mainframe]] and [[minicomputer]] systems that were not available in other [[operating system]]s of the day. The ''[[System Fault Tolerance|System Fault Tolerance (SFT)]]'' features includes standard read-after-write verification (SFT-I) with on-the-fly bad block re-mapping (at the time, disks did not have that feature built in) and software [[RAID1]] (disk mirroring, SFT-II). The [[Transaction Tracking System]] (TTS) optionally protects files against incomplete updates. For single files, this requires only a file attribute to be set. Transactions over multiple files and controlled roll-backs are possible by programming to the TTS [[API]].

NetWare&nbsp;286&nbsp;2.''x'' normally requires a dedicated PC to act as the server, where the server uses DOS only as a [[boot loader]] to execute the operating system file {{mono|NET$OS.EXE}}. All memory is allocated to NetWare; no DOS ran on the server. However, a "non-dedicated" version was also available for price-conscious customers. In this, DOS&nbsp;3.3 or higher remains in memory, and the processor time-slices between the DOS and NetWare programs, allowing the server computer to be used simultaneously as a network file server and as a user workstation. Because all [[extended memory]] (RAM above 1&nbsp;MiB) is allocated to NetWare, DOS is limited to only 640&nbsp;KiB; [[expanded memory]] managers that used the MMU of 80386 and higher processors, such as EMM386, do not work; 8086-style expanded memory on dedicated plug-in cards is possible however. Time slicing is accomplished using the keyboard [[interrupt]], which requires strict compliance with the IBM PC design model, otherwise performance is affected.

Server licensing on early versions of NetWare&nbsp;286 is accomplished by using a key card. The key card was designed for an 8-bit ISA bus, and has a serial number encoded on a ROM chip. The serial number has to match the serial number of the NetWare software running on the server. To broaden the hardware base, particularly to machines using the IBM MCA bus, later versions of NetWare&nbsp;2.''x'' do not require the key card; serialised license floppy disks are used in place of the key cards.

Licensing is normally for 100 users, but two ELS versions were also available. First a 5-user ELS in 1987, and followed by the 8-user ELS&nbsp;2.12&nbsp;II in 1988.<ref name="NW_1989_ELS"/>

=== {{anchor|3.0|3.10|3.11|3.12|3.2}}NetWare 3.''x'' ===
NetWare's 3.''x'' range was a major step forward. It began with version 3.0 in 1990, followed quickly by version 3.10 and 3.11 in 1991.

A key feature was support for [[32-bit]] [[protected mode]], eliminating the 16&nbsp;MiB memory limit of NetWare&nbsp;286 and therefore allowing larger hard drives to be supported (since NetWare&nbsp;3.''x'' cached the entire [[file allocation table]] and directory entry table into memory for improved performance).

''[[PC (magazine)|PC]]'' described installing NetWare 286 as an "impossible task ... elevated to an art form". Version 3.''x'' is also much simpler to install,{{r|pc19891212}} with disk and network support provided by software modules called a [[NetWare Loadable Module]] (NLM) loaded either at start-up or when it was needed. NLMs could also add functionality such as anti-virus software, backup software, database and web servers. Support for long filenames was also provided by an NLM.

A new file system was introduced by NetWare&nbsp;3.''x''&nbsp;– "[[NetWare File System]] 386", or NWFS&nbsp;386, which significantly extended volume capacity (1&nbsp;TB, 4&nbsp;GB files), and could handle up to 16 volume segments spanning multiple physical disk drives. Volume segments could be added while the server was in use and the volume was mounted, allowing a server to be expanded without interruption.

In NetWare&nbsp;386&nbsp;3.''x'' all NLMs ran on the server at the same level of processor [[memory protection]], known as "[[Ring (computer security)#Supervisor mode|ring 0]]". This provided the best possible performance, it sacrificed reliability because there was no memory protection, and furthermore NetWare 3.''x'' used a [[co-operative multitasking]] model, meaning that an NLM was required to yield to the kernel regularly. For either of these reasons a badly behaved NLM could result in a fatal ([[Abnormal end|ABEND]]) error.

NetWare continued to be administered using console-based utilities.
{{plain image with caption|Yes NetWare Tested and Approved logo.svg|upright=0.7|Beginning in 1992, Novell's third-party vendors received license to use the above logo to market their NetWare-compatible products, for a fee.}}
With version 3.''x'', Novell increased the rigors of compatibility testing with their third-party vendors, revamping their certification program in October 1992 and unveiling a two-tier cooperating marketing program. The first tier provided Novell's vendors a package containing a compatibility guideline book, engineering support lines, self-testing tools, and limited marketing resources, the latter including a license to promote products with a logo stating "Yes, it runs with NetWare"&nbsp;– all free of charge and followed at the vendors' discretion. The second tier required a one-time application fee of $7,000 but replaced the logo's byline with a more confident-sounding "Yes, it's NetWare tested and approved" and accorded partners with more extensive support, including on-location testing by Novell Labs.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Morrissey | first=Jane | date=October 12, 1992 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A12759235/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=Novell to roll out two-tier certification program | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=9 | issue=41 | page=174 | via=Gale}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Foster | first=Ed | date=February 13, 1995 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62 | title=Determining NetWare support can take work—or a bad experience | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=17 | issue=7 | page=62 | via=Google Books}}</ref> Initially limited to the United States, this program was rolled out in the United Kingdom in the following year.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=June 8, 1993 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A13982139/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=Minigrams | journal=[[Computergram International]] | publisher=GlobalData | via=Gale}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Ferrill | first=Paul | date=October 4, 1993 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA70 | title=NetWare application development | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=15 | issue=40 | page=S70 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

{{anchor|Portable NetWare}}For a while, Novell also marketed an [[Original equipment manufacturer|OEM]] version of NetWare&nbsp;3, called '''Portable NetWare'''. Originally announced in 1989 by [[Prime Computer]] as a product for its Prime EXL range, along with a distinct product for Unix System V,<ref name="computerworld19890213_netware">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TcSgWR-qLh8C/page/n13/mode/1up | title=Netware gets its first port to Unix | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Keefe | first1=Patricia | date=13 February 1989 | access-date=21 November 2024 | pages=14 }}</ref> Novell attracted support from a number of other OEMs including [[Data General]], [[Hewlett-Packard]], [[NCR Corporation]], [[Sun Microsystems]] and [[Unisys]].<ref name="computerworld19890306_novell">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1989-03-06_23_9/page/141/mode/1up | title=Novell puts LAN foot down | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Keefe | first1=Patricia | date=6 March 1989 | access-date=21 November 2024 | pages=141 }}</ref> An implementation provided by [[Altos Computer Systems|Altos]] was described in one review as "NetWare 386 for PC Unix systems", running in the standard Unix environment, utilising the native filesystem and network interfaces.<ref name="byte199104_altos">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/199104_byte_magazine_vol16_04_soviet_computing_pdf__mlib/page/253/mode/1up | title=Atlantix, Altos Fill DOS-to-Unix Connectivity Gaps | magazine=Byte | last1=Udell | first1=Jon | last2=Yager | first2=Tom | date=April 1991 | access-date=21 November 2024 | pages=253–255 }}</ref>   Portable NetWare's primary purpose was to offer file and print sharing facilities, but a "native" port of Netware to other platforms was considered necessary to offer the broader feature set of Novell's traditional NetWare products.<ref name="hpprofessional199212_netware">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/HP-Professional_Vol._06_No._12_Dec_1992/page/60/mode/2up | title=The Next Best Thing | magazine=HP Professional | last1=Cahoon | first1=Tim | date=December 1992 | access-date=21 November 2024 | pages=60–61 }}</ref> Alongside Hewlett-Packard, [[IBM]] collaborated with Novell to offer Portable NetWare and more comprehensive "native" ports of NetWare for its platforms.<ref name="networkworld19910624_ibm">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/networkworld825unse/mode/1up | title=IBM-Novell: Strategic or convenient? | magazine=Network World | date=24 June 1991 | access-date=21 November 2024 | last1=O'Brien | first1=Timothy | pages=1,75 }}</ref> Portable NetWare was later known as NetWare for UNIX. As a version of NetWare written in the C programming language, Novell would port functionality from its traditional product to a reference platform, leaving OEMs to port the Novell source code to run on top of their own, typically Unix, operating systems.<ref name="gunn1995">{{ cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/guidetonetwarefo0000gunn/page/3/mode/1up | title=A Guide to NetWare for UNIX | publisher=Prentice Hall PTR | last1=Gunn | first1=Cathy | date=1995 | access-date=21 November 2024 | isbn=0-13-300716-2 | pages=3–4 }}</ref>

While NetWare&nbsp;3.''x'' was current, Novell introduced its first [[high-availability cluster]]ing system, named '''NetWare SFT-III''', which allowed a logical server to be completely mirrored to a separate physical machine. Implemented as a [[Shared nothing architecture|shared-nothing]] cluster, under SFT-III the OS was logically split into an interrupt-driven ''I/O engine'' and the event-driven OS core. The I/O engines serialized their interrupts (disk, network etc.) into a combined event stream that was fed to two identical copies of the system engine through a fast (typically 100&nbsp;Mbit/s) inter-server link. Because of its non-preemptive nature, the OS core, stripped of non-deterministic I/O, behaves deterministically, like a large [[finite-state machine]]. The outputs of the two system engines were compared to ensure proper operation, and two copies fed back to the I/O engines. Using the existing SFT-II software RAID functionality present in the core, disks could be mirrored between the two machines without special hardware. The two machines could be separated as far as the server-to-server link would permit. In case of a server or disk failure, the surviving server could take over client sessions transparently after a short pause since it had full state information. SFT-III was the first NetWare version able to make use of [[symmetric multiprocessing|SMP]] hardware&nbsp;– the I/O engine could optionally be run on its own CPU. NetWare SFT-III, ahead of its time in several ways, was a mixed success.

With NetWare&nbsp;3 an improved routing protocol, [[NetWare Link Services Protocol]], has been introduced which scales better than [[Routing Information Protocol]] and allows building large networks.

=== {{anchor|4.0|4.01|4.02|4.1|4.11|4.12|4.2}}NetWare 4.''x'' ===
[[File:Novell BrainShare sitting outside FAMB 1995.jpg|thumb|right|NetWare&nbsp;4 and NDS were the subjects of many technical sessions at the [[Novell BrainShare]] conference, here seen during a break in 1995.]]
[[File:Novell NetWare 2.0 packages.jpg|thumb|right|Packages of NetWare 4.''x'']]
Version&nbsp;4 in 1993 introduced NetWare Directory Services, later re-branded as [[Novell Directory Services]] (NDS), based on [[X.500]], which replaced the Bindery with a global [[directory service]], in which the infrastructure was described and managed in a single place. Additionally, NDS provided an extensible [[Database schema|schema]], allowing the introduction of new object types. This allowed a single user authentication to NDS to govern access to any server in the directory tree structure. Users could therefore access network resources no matter on which server they resided, although user license counts were still tied to individual servers. (Large enterprises could opt for a license model giving them essentially unlimited per-server users if they let Novell audit their total user count.)

Version&nbsp;4 also introduced a number of useful tools and features, such as transparent compression at file system level and [[RSA (algorithm)|RSA]] public/private [[encryption]].

Another new feature was the NetWare Asynchronous Services Interface (NASI). It allowed network sharing of multiple serial devices, such as [[modems]]. Client port redirection occurred via a DOS or Windows driver allowing companies to consolidate modems and [[plain old telephone service|analog phone]] lines.<ref name="Cisco_2013_IOS"/>

=== NetWare for OS/2 ===
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Promised as early as 1988, when the Microsoft-IBM collaboration was still ongoing and [[OS/2]]&nbsp;1.''x'' was still a 16-bit product,<ref name="NW_1988"/> the product didn't become commercially available until after IBM and Microsoft had parted ways and OS/2&nbsp;2.0 had become a 32-bit, pre-emptive multitasking and multithreading OS.

By August 1993,<ref name="NW_2"/> Novell released its first version of "NetWare for OS/2". This first release supported OS/2&nbsp;2.1 (1993) as the base OS, and required that users first buy and install IBM OS/2, then purchase NetWare&nbsp;4.01, and then install the NetWare for OS/2 product. It retailed for $200.<ref name="NW_2"/>

By around 1995, and coincidental with IBM's renewed marketing push for its 32-bit OS/2 Warp OS, both as a desktop client and as a LAN server (OS/2 Warp Server), NetWare for OS/2 began receiving some good press coverage. "NetWare 4.1 for OS/2" allowed to run Novell's network stack and server modules on top of IBM's 32-bit kernel and network stack. It was basically NetWare 4.''x'' running as a service on top of OS/2. It was compatible with third party client and server utilities and NetWare Loadable Modules.<ref name="IW"/>

Since IBM's 32-bit OS/2 included Netbios, IPX/SPX and TCP/IP support, this means that sysadmins could run all three most popular network stacks on a single box, and use the OS/2 box as a workstation too. NetWare for OS/2 shared memory on the system with OS/2 seamlessly. The book "Client Server survival Guide with OS/2" described it as "[[glue code]] that lets the unmodified NetWare&nbsp;4.''x'' server program think it owns all resources on a OS/2 system". It also claimed that a NetWare server running on top of OS/2 only suffered a 5% to 10% overhead over NetWare running over the bare metal hardware, while gaining OS/2's pre-emptive multitasking and object oriented GUI.<ref name="Survival"/>

Novell continued releasing bugfixes and updates to NetWare for OS/2 up to 1998.<ref name="Secure_support"/>

=== Strategic mistakes ===
NetWare was very successful. [[International Data Corporation]] (IDC) reported in 1988 a 53% market share for it among network operating systems, compared to 17.1% for [[MS-Net]] and 8.5% for [[AppleTalk]]. While no dominant technology or vendor of PC networking hardware existed, IDC noted that NetWare was used regardless of hardware "including a significant amount of IBM gear".<ref name=didio19880711>{{cite magazine |first=Laura |last=DiDio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17 |title=Study finds NetWare to be OS of choice |magazine=[[Network World]] |date=11 July 1988 |page=17}}</ref> ''PC'' estimated in 1989 that version &nbsp;286&nbsp;2.''x'' had 40-60% of the network operating system market, while LAN Manager "has made a very small impression on the market"; both 3Com and IBM admitted that they sold more networking cards for use with NetWare than with their own software.<ref name="pc19891212">{{Cite magazine |last=Derfler |first=Frank J. Jr. |last2=Thompson |first2=M. Keith |date=1989-12-12 |title=Novell's NetWare 386 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CmkZ3THZtwC&pg=PT206#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2025-05-02 |magazine=PC Magazine |page=205 |volume=8 |issue=21}}</ref> Before the arrival of [[Windows&nbsp;NT]] Server, Novell claimed 90% of the market for PC based servers.

However, unlike its predecessor NetWare&nbsp;3.''x'' uses a DOS partition to load NetWare server files, and cannot boot from the Novell partition NetWare 286 creates. While NetWare 386 boots much faster,{{r|pc19891212}} and of little technical import,{{efn|DOS merely loaded NetWare into memory and turned execution over to it. In later versions, DOS could be unloaded from RAM.}} this feature became a liability due to the system administration it required. Compounding this, the NetWare console remained text-based at a time the Windows graphical interface gained widespread acceptance. New users preferred the Windows graphical interface to learning DOS commands necessary to build and control a NetWare server.
Novell could have eliminated at least the separately bootable DOS partition requirement at the outset, by retaining the design of NetWare&nbsp;286. Novell finally added support for this in a Support Pack for NetWare&nbsp;6.5.

As Novell initially used [[IPX/SPX]] instead of [[TCP/IP]], they were poorly positioned to take advantage of the Internet in 1995.  This resulted in Novell servers being bypassed for routing and Internet access in favor of hardware routers, [[Unix]]-based operating systems such as [[FreeBSD]], and SOCKS and HTTP [[Proxy server|Proxy Servers]] on Windows and other operating systems.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}

A decision by the management of Novell also took away the ability of independent resellers and engineers to recommend and sell the product. The reduction of their effective sales force created this downward spiral in sales.

=== {{anchor|IntranetWare|FSB}}NetWare 4.1x and NetWare for Small Business ===
[[File:Thai language books in donation pile including one on NetWare (crop).jpg|thumb|right|A book on NetWare published in Thai]]
Novell priced NetWare&nbsp;4.10 similarly to NetWare&nbsp;3.12, allowing customers who resisted NDS (typically small businesses) to try it at no cost.

Later Novell released NetWare version 4.11 in 1996 which included many enhancements that made the operating system easier to install, easier to operate, faster, and more stable. It also included the first full 32-bit client for [[Microsoft Windows]]-based workstations, [[Symmetric multiprocessing|SMP]] support and the NetWare Administrator (NWADMIN or NWADMN32), a GUI-based administration tool for NetWare. Previous administration tools used the [[Cworthy]] interface, the character-based GUI tools such as SYSCON and PCONSOLE with blue text-based background. Some of these tools survive to this day, for instance MONITOR.NLM.

Novell packaged NetWare&nbsp;4.11 with its Web server, TCP/IP support and the [[Netscape]] browser into a bundle dubbed '''IntranetWare''' (also written as intraNetWare). A version designed for networks of 25 or fewer users was named '''IntranetWare for Small Business''' and contained a limited version of NDS and tried to simplify NDS administration. The intranetWare name was dropped in NetWare&nbsp;5.

During this time Novell also began to leverage its directory service, NDS, by tying their other products into the directory. Their e-mail system, [[Novell GroupWise|GroupWise]], was integrated with NDS, and Novell released many other directory-enabled products such as [[Novell ZENworks|ZENworks]] and [[Novell BorderManager|BorderManager]].

NetWare still required IPX/SPX as NCP used it, but Novell started to acknowledge the demand for TCP/IP with NetWare&nbsp;4.11 by including tools and utilities that made it easier to create intranets and link networks to the Internet. Novell bundled tools, such as the IPX/IP gateway, to ease the connection between IPX workstations and IP networks. It also began integrating Internet technologies and support through features such as a natively hosted [[web server]].

=== {{anchor|5.0|5.1}}NetWare 5.''x'' ===
With the release of NetWare&nbsp;5 in October 1998 Novell switched its primary NCP interface from the [[IPX/SPX]] network protocol to TCP/IP to meet market demand.<ref name="IW_2"/> Products continued to support IPX/SPX, but the emphasis shifted to TCP/IP. New features included:

* a [[GUI]] for NetWare
* [[Novell Storage Services]] (NSS), a file system to replace the traditional [[NetWare File System]] (which Novell continued to support)
* [[Java virtual machine]] for NetWare
* Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS), an infrastructure for printing over networks<ref name="Harris_2005_Novell"/>
* ConsoleOne, a Java-based GUI administration console
* directory-enabled [[Public key infrastructure]] services (PKIS)
* directory-enabled [[Domain Name System|DNS]] and [[Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol|DHCP]] servers
* support for [[Storage Area Network]]s (SANs)
* Novell Cluster Services (NCS), a replacement for SFT-III 
* [[Oracle database|Oracle 8i]] with a 5-user license

The Cluster Services improved on SFT-III, as NCS did not require specialized hardware or identical server configurations.

Novell released NetWare&nbsp;5 during a time when NetWare's [[market share]] had started dropping precipitously; many companies and organizations replaced their NetWare servers with servers running [[Microsoft]]'s [[Windows NT]] operating system.

Around this time Novell also released their last upgrade to the NetWare&nbsp;4 operating system, NetWare&nbsp;4.2.

NetWare&nbsp;5 and above supported Novell NetStorage for Internet-based access to files stored within NetWare.<ref name="Kennard_2004_More"/><ref name="Johnson_2003_Upgrade"/>
Novell released NetWare&nbsp;5.1 in January 2000. It introduced a number of tools, such as:

* [[IBM WebSphere Application Server]]
* NetWare Management Portal (later called Novell Remote Manager), web-based management of the operating system
* [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]], [[Network News Transfer Protocol|NNTP]] and [[streaming media|streaming-media]] servers
* NetWare Web Search Server
* [[WebDAV]] support

=== {{anchor|6.0}}NetWare 6.0 ===
NetWare&nbsp;6 was released in October 2001, shortly after its predecessor. This version has a simplified licensing scheme based on users, not server connections. This allows unlimited connections per user to any number of NetWare servers in the network.<ref name="Novell_2002_License"/> Novell Cluster Services was also improved to support 32-node clusters;<ref name="Novell_2002_Cluster"/> the base NetWare&nbsp;6.0 product included a two-node clustering license.

=== {{anchor|6.5}}NetWare 6.5 ===
NetWare&nbsp;6.5 was released in August 2003. Some of the new features in this version included:

* more open-source products such as [[PHP]], [[MySQL]] and [[OpenSSH]]
* a port of the [[Bash (Unix shell)|Bash]] shell and a lot of traditional Unix utilities such as [[wget]], [[grep]], [[awk]] and [[sed]] to provide additional capabilities for scripting
* [[iSCSI]] support (both target and initiator)
* Virtual Office – an "out of the box" web portal for end users providing access to e-mail, personal file storage, company address book, etc.
* [[Domain controller]] functionality
* Universal password
* DirXML Starter Pack – synchronization of user accounts with another eDirectory tree, a [[Windows Server domain|Windows NT domain]] or Active Directory.
* exteNd Application Server – a [[Java EE]] 1.3-compatible [[application server]]
* support for customized printer driver profiles and printer usage auditing
* [[NX bit]] support
* support for [[USB]] storage devices
* support for encrypted volumes

The latest – and apparently last – Service Pack for NetWare&nbsp;6.5 is SP8, released May 2009.

=== Open Enterprise Server ===
{{Main|Novell Open Enterprise Server}}

==== 1.0 ====
In 2003, Novell announced the successor product to NetWare: [[Open Enterprise Server]] (OES). First released in March 2005, OES completes the separation of the services traditionally associated with NetWare (such as Directory Services, and file-and-print) from the platform underlying the delivery of those services. OES is essentially a set of applications (eDirectory, [[NetWare Core Protocol]] services, iPrint, etc.) that can run atop either a [[Linux]] or a NetWare kernel platform. Clustered OES implementations can even migrate services from Linux to NetWare and back again, making Novell one of the very few vendors to offer a multi-platform clustering solution.

Consequent to Novell's acquisitions of [[Ximian]] and the German Linux distributor [[SUSE S.A.|SuSE]], Novell moved away from NetWare and shifted its focus towards Linux. Marketing was focused on getting faithful NetWare users to move to the Linux platform for future releases.<ref name="Vaughan-Nichols_2006"/> The clearest indication of this direction was Novell's controversial decision to release Open Enterprise Server on Linux only, not NetWare. Novell later watered down this decision and stated that NetWare's 90 million users would be supported until at least 2015.<ref name="Galli_2006"/> Meanwhile, many former NetWare customers rejected the confusing mix of licensed software running on an [[Open-source software|open-source]] Linux operating system in favor of moving to complete Open Source solutions such as those offered by [[Red Hat]].<ref name="Bray_2005"/>

==== 2.0 ====
OES 2 was released on 8 October 2007. It includes NetWare&nbsp;6.5 SP7, which supports running as a paravirtualized guest inside the [[Xen]] hypervisor and new Linux based version using SLES10.
;New features include:

* [[64-bit computing|64-bit]] support
* Virtualization
* Dynamic Storage Technology, which provide Shadow Volumes
* Domain services for Windows (provided in OES&nbsp;2 service pack 1)

=== From the 1990s ===
{{As of|2010}} some organizations still used Novell NetWare, but it had started to lose popularity from the mid-1990s, when NetWare was the de facto standard for file- and printer-sharing software for the [[Intel x86]] server platform.<ref name="Register_2013"/>

Microsoft successfully took market share from NetWare products from the late-1990s.<ref name="CBS_Linux"/><ref name="LinuxInsider_Microsoft"/> Microsoft's more aggressive marketing was aimed directly at non-technical management through major magazines, while Novell NetWare's was through more technical magazines read by IT personnel.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

Novell did not adapt their pricing structure to current market conditions, and NetWare sales suffered.<ref name="Galli_2003"/>

=== NetWare Lite / Personal NetWare ===
{{Main|NetWare Lite|Personal NetWare}}

[[NetWare Lite]] and [[Personal NetWare]] were a series of peer-to-peer networks developed by Novell for [[DOS]]- and [[Windows]]-based computers aimed at personal users and [[small business]]es between 1991 and 1995.