Microsoft Takes Aim at Novell with New LAN Manager
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
In a challenge to Novell's dominance in the PC network software
market, Microsoft today announced Version 2.0 of its LAN Manager
network operating system. With "LAN Man 2.0," as Microsoft calls
it, the operating system now supports the 386 and 486 processors
and OS/2's new High Performance File System. It has new network
administration facilities that support multiple servers, improved
network security, disk fault tolerance, reduced memory
requirements for DOS-based network nodes, and support for two
processors sharing the network server's computing tasks. Like LAN
Manager 1.0, 2.0 requires OS/2 on the server with at least 5
megabytes of main memory. Network nodes may either run OS/2 or
MS-DOS.
 
A key feature of 2.0 is its network administration facility,
called Domain Administration, that allows network tasks to be
distributed among multiple servers. A group of servers is called
a "domain." One of the servers in the domain serves as the
"domain controller" or master database. The domain controller can
replicate files and directories on other servers, allowing
redundancy and preventing the dreaded "single point of failure"
that often causes networks to crash. An important component of
the Domain Administration facility is a distributed filing system
and directory service, which is basically a hierarchical database
that controls the naming, distribution, and access rights of all
files and directories on the network, and at the same time allows
these files to be distributed among multiple servers, Microsoft
says. The company claims that its Domain Administration facility
differentiates LAN Man 2.0 from Novell's NetWare.
 
LAN Manager 2.0 automatically configures itself according to the
processor of the main network server (286, 386, or 486). It also
supports a dual-processor architecture, in which network tasks
can be shared between two CPUs; for example, the network I/O
scheduler and network operating system functions can run on one
processor while client applications run on the other, thus
minimizing performance degradation of the end user's
applications.
 
LAN Man 2.0 has reduced the memory requirements for DOS
workstations on the network, requiring about 40K RAM rather than
about 100K in LAN Man 1.0.
 
Microsoft only distributes LAN Man 2.0 through original equipment
manufacturers, who will set pricing and availability. Microsoft
says it plans to ship LAN Man 2.0 to OEMs "around the first of
the year."
 
Major computer manufacturers such as Compaq and Olivetti
announced that they will distribute LAN Man 2.0 as their network
operating system.
 
Contact: Microsoft, 16011 NE 36th Way, PO Box 97017,
Redmond, WA 98073-9717; (206) 882-8080; fax (206) 883-8101.
 
                              --- Nick Baran
 
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