This chapter introduces several NetWare concepts and associated terms. Many of the concepts will not be familiar to the casual computer user. The objectives important to this chapter are:
Key Concepts:Identify What a Network Is and List Its ComponentsA network will consist of several computers that can communicate
with each other and share certain devices. Among the items you will find
in a network, expect that there must be:
The book illustrates possible devices on a net and defines the terms above on pages 1-2 through 1-4. Review these definitions. NetWare is a network operating system that is client-server based. Here are some definitions that may be helpful:
This course, and the related courses in this curriculum, are about Novell NetWare, a suite of software products from the Novell company that are used to create and administer networks. The network administrator should know, in great detail, how the network in structured, what may and may not be on it, and what users are allowed to do. Several kinds of computers may be connected through NetWare. These computers may be categorized by the operating systems they run. A workstation on a NetWare 5.1 network may run any of the operating systems in the list on page 1-4:
While a system administrator may generally administer a network from any workstation, only workstations of types 1and 2 above can be used for this purpose. (This may change in the near future.) In addition, special modifications need to be made to put Mac and UNIX workstations on a Novell net. Features of NetWareNetWare was developed as a product to enable an administrator to connect, manage, and maintain a network, and the network's services. NetWare is actually a suite of programs. Some run on servers, some run on workstations, and some run on both. NetWare is intended to support the five classic network services:
In addition, your text lists ten specific support features found in NetWare:
List the Responsibilities of a Network AdministratorOn page 1-8, you will find a chart of, and explanation of, six duties
of a network administrator. You should be familiar with this chart and
the meaning of each area of duty. Install the Novell Client Software and Perform the Login ProcedureThis chapter asks you to install the Novell Client software on a Windows workstation. This can be done with the Client CD that comes with your book, or by downloading the software from the Novell web site. If using the CD, search it for a file called WINSETUP.EXE. This is a program that will copy the necessary files to their intended locations on a workstation, and will configure the workstation based on your answers to questions it will ask you. The Client software is necessary for a workstation to be able to log in to a Novell network. The login procedure is the first level of security encountered by a user on the network. Generally, until a user logs in, the user has no rights to any resources on the network. A proper login cannot be accomplished without knowing two things: a user ID, and the password for that user ID. In addition to knowing these things, a user must rely on all network components to function properly. Assuming that the network and the workstation are functioning well, the text offers three options for performing a login:
If none of these options work, you should be aware that the login program on a Windows 95 or 98 workstation is LOGINW95.EXE, and that it is probably stored in the Novell\Client32 directory. On a Windows NT or 2000 workstation, the login program is LOGINWNT.EXE, and it is probably stored in the WINNT\System32 directory. The text briefly introduces the concept of login scripts, which are files that store commands that are meant to be executed when a user logs in. Login scripts are discussed in detail in another chapter. List the Resources and Services You AdministerA server on a network provides the users with access to two types of things: resources and services. A resource is a physical entity on the net, like a printer, or a disk drive, or a file. A service is a method or mechanism for getting to the resource. The bulleted list on pages 1-16 and 17 represents the services this text covers in the greatest detail. The first one listed is Novell Directory Services, or NDS. This is the heart of NetWare. In fact, it did not appear in NetWare before version 4. Essentially, it is a database system for keeping track of resources, users, and other objects on the net. Having NDS adds improvements that were not in earlier NetWare versions. It allows a single login for a user, even if the user needs resources on several servers. It replaces the bindery, a flat file resource database that was found in earlier versions of NetWare (3.12 and earlier). In bindery systems, the user had to log in to each server that might provide a service to that user. You should be familiar with the services listed in this section:
Identify the Features of Novell Directory Services (NDS)NDS keeps track of resources on the net as objects. A graphic representation is on page 1-23. Each object in NDS is a collection of information about that resource, like a database record. Within those records are the object's properties, which are like fields (attributes) in a database. Actual values for those properties may be required or optional, and this varies by the type of object. For instance, a User object must be given a value for its User Name property and its Last Name property when it is created. Values for other properties, while useful, are optional. Two types of objects exist in the Directory: containers and leaves. Think about it the way you think about directories in DOS or Windows. (By the way, when the Novell text uses the word Directory, it means NDS. When it uses the word directory, it may mean a file system directory or some other meaning of the word.) Containers are like DOS directories, in that they contain other objects to organize them. Leaves are objects that are usually resources, and they do not contain other objects. Remember the root of a DOS directory? NDS has one too, but we call it the [Root]. Be very precise about that. The [Root] is unique in an NDS tree. It cannot be moved or renamed, and THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! (At least, only one in each NDS tree.) Your book calls the [Root] a third class of object, but it is really just a special container. Its characteristics (it doesn't have properties) are reviewed on page 1-26. Common containers come in three types: Country, Organization, and Organizational Unit, seen on page 1-27. To simplify things, Novell recommends that we do not use Country containers. It is best to start a Directory tree with an Organization just after the [Root] as in the first two examples on page 1-31. The chart on that page is valuable and students should learn the relationships it represents, such as the fact that an Organization may be placed in a Country container, or directly in the [Root], but a Country may only be placed in the [Root] object. Note also that each type of object in the NDS tree has its own icon that appears in graphical representations of the Directory. (Several appear on pages 1-27 and 1-28.) This will be of help when you are looking for an object, creating one, or deleting one. In understanding what NDS does, it will help to learn the chart on page
1-32. This shows the order of the phases of a request that is being
processed in NDS.
Of course, if any step above fails, the user does not get the resource. Browse the NDS TreeThree utilities that a network administrator might use to manage
the net are listed on page 1-38. The main differences between them are:
Either of these utilities may be used to browse the Tree, that is, to search through the NDS Tree to find objects and the information in them. Identify How the NDS Tree Affects Resource AccessNaming objects in an NDS tree is not as confusing as it seems.
Page 1-36 presents a list of terms you will use in referring to objects
and various forms of their names. A distinguished name specifies
the name of an object, and the name of the container that
object exists in, and the name of the container the container exists
in, all the way up to, but not including the [Root]. Each name in a distinguished
name is preceded by a dot (period). For example: A relative distinguished name specifies the path from an object back to a specified point in the tree, not necessarily up to the [Root]. To understand why we would want such a thing, you need to understand a context. A current context is a specific container, the one we are concerned with at any given time. It is analogous to the concept of a current directory in DOS and Windows. Relative distinguished names do not start with periods, but do use them as separators, as above. This way it is easy for the software that uses them to tell the difference. The statement on the bottom of page 1-36 tells us that "a common name is a relative distinguished name". This is true, but it is not accurate. A relative distinguished name tells us every thing we need to know to locate an object, based on our current frame of reference. The object's common name is its relative distinguished name, if and only if our frame of reference is the container that the object is in. If our current context is some other container, a relative distinguished name is longer. The formula on page 1-54 is helpful in understanding the relationship between these concepts. An object's distinguished name is as described above. A relative distinguished name would be the leftmost part of it (WITHOUT the initial period) up to the name of whatever we consider to be the current context, which would be named by the remainder of the distinguished name. (Do the exercise at the end of the chapter and all will become clear.) The last concept about naming is another use of the period. When
you log in on a workstation, you have to specify a log in name, which
the system must find in a context in the Tree. If the workstation is set
to log in to your context, you may log in with your common name, since
it will be found in the first place the system will look for it (the current
context). If, however, the workstation is set to log in to some other
context, you may wish to log in with your distinguished name, since that
notation specifies unambiguously where to find you in the Tree. This should
always work, but it is a lot of typing. A third way of logging
in takes advantage of the fact that the Tree is shaped like a pyramid.
Assume that I want to log in on your workstation. We both have User objects
in the same Tree. Assume my distinguished name is .vincents.novell.instructor.computer_science.baker,
while yours is .you.microsoft.student.computer_science.baker. Your
workstation is set to log in to the microsoft container. If I log in with
my common name, the system will not find me. I can however, use this name: |