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How do you get everything you have in Novell with all Windows native products?

Asked by Eric, Michigan - December 5, 2009

We're a school with multiple locations, currently using Novell, but wanting to move to MS. Unfortunately, there is no way to get everything we have with Novell from MS. Novell comes with Zen, which has a number of features that do not come standard with Windows. One is an image deployment method. Microsoft has come a long way in this, but it's not nearly as simple as it is with Zen. Remote control access to computers -- Windows users need to rely on products like VNC or websites like Dimdim. Remote access to files -- Novell has netstorage, and while Windows now has DirectAccess, schools do not have the ability to upgrade every piece of equipment to Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. Finally, login password policies -- Grace periods after a certain number of incorrect attempts, only allow a single user login at a time. How do I tell a school that it is better to switch to Microsoft when they get all these things with Novell? If they switched, they would have to rely on third-party software and pay a lot extra for the features.

Topics: Infrastructure Management , System Management

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  • Eric

    that is a very good question - any time there is a cost involved, and there will be a big cost involved given what you have described, it is not easy.

    Many years ago, I worked for quite a large UK based company that was purely Novell, then we moved to Windows even though we had to buy more, and frankly it was the right move.

    What you could look at doing is moving over to Windows in small chunks - Novell and Windows plays nicely together more than it did in the "old days".

    I know you havent really gone into detail on your environment, but I think you might be missing some information on exactly what Windows can do and it might be worth talking to your local Microsoft office and asking them to come and describe how you could take your current environment and move it forward.

    Another "selling" point might be the product roadmap. Obviously Microsoft have Win 7 and 2008 Server, and will continue to develop those products, along with a lot of other products. Im no longer familiar with the Novell product roadmap so I cant comment, but it might be worth looking at both of those.

    Again, Microsoft and Novell should be able to help you there.

    Andrew Edney
    UsingWindowsHomeServer.com
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