'New' Novell Debuts Updated Directory Server'New' Novell Debuts Updated Directory Server

Novell on Tuesday shipped a new version of its widely used enterprise directory that deepens its Web services and identity-management story while setting the stage for a next-generation directory strategy that spans the Java and .Net worlds.

For Novell, which is deep into a company repositioning following years of market floundering, the directory is no longer a big money-maker. Indeed, the company will give the technology away in exchange for market share, but the directory remains the underpinning to almost all of its more-strategic ventures.

For that reason, the release this week of Novell eDirectory 8.7 represents more than just another "point" release. The new version adds significant new security features, beefs up support for Web services protocols, and puts a Web front-end on almost all of its management and administration features.

In addition, it lays the groundwork for the next-generation of eDirectory, which aims to take advantage of the explosion in Web services--which Novell says require an identity-rich directory to reach its potential--as well as serve as a bridge between the apps and services running on both Java and .Net application servers.

Indeed, Novell eDirectory 8.7 "sets the foundation for the next generation of networking and applications showing up now in the Web-services arena," said Ted Haeger, Novell director of product management for Identity Services. "What we're finding is that when it comes to Web services today, people are skipping one major component that people who work on the directory side say 'how can you miss that one?'" Haeger said. "And that is that for Web services to work, they require identity. And of course identity comes out of the directory."

In addition to a major focus on directory-enabled identity management, Novell's eDirectory has steadily been moving away from providing directory services for NetWare to providing such services for a variety of platforms and operating systems. That is only becoming more important as eDirectory--and Novell itself--evolves, said Novell's Haeger.

While .Net vs. Java 2 Enterprise Edition has emerged as a religious battle, Novell's goal is to be "polytheistic," said Haeger, supporting each platform as well as the traditional LDAP market equally well. "A directory should be able to provide services for all of these platforms," he said.

EDirectory 8.7 lays the groundwork for this vision. On the technical side, it includes support for extensions to LDAP 3.0, such as the ability to add and manage dynamic directory groups based on attributes or policies, as well as support for persistent search, which lessens the query load on an enterprise directory. On the security side, version 8.7 includes support for TLS, or transport layer security, as well as SASL, or simple authentication and security layer, encryption.

In addition, eDirectory 8.7 supports the IBM AIX platform for first time, joining the directories existing support for NetWare, Windows, Linux, and Solaris.

On the administration side, the new directory supports hot continuous backups, which lets administrators back up directories without having to take down a server altogether. It also features new role-based administration capabilities and includes a new utility, Novell iManager, which allows customers to manage the directory from a Web browser and a variety of handheld devices.

Novell also announced a plan to migrate customers from the Sun One Directory Server to its eDirectory. Current Sun One customers can receive a free 250,000 user-seat license of eDirectory plus a 25,000-seat license of Novell DirXML Driver for LDAP--a value of about $625,000, according to Novell.