Implementing More Than 250 Connections on NetWare (500 and 1,000-user Servers) Introduction Novell believes that NetWare 4 is the future of network computing. Key features provided in NetWare 4 address a variety of needs for both small single file server networks and large corporate wide networks with distributed services. These features range from NetWare Directory Services (NDS) to dynamic file compression. NetWare 4 is proving to be cost effective as well as easy to implement. Considering the benefits of NetWare 4 and balancing those benefits against the NetWare 3 for configurations above 250 connections per server, NetWare 4 is the clear winner. This paper presents a simple review of various issues which should be considered when implementing configurations with more than 250 connections (specifically 500 and 1,000 connections). The issues include: 1. 1.Issues and limitations of NetWare 3.11 1,000 user. (References to NetWare 1,000-user also means NetWare 500-user.) 2 Key advantages of NetWare 4, particularly for configurations above 250 concurrent connections. 3. How to implement NetWare 4 into an existing NetWare 3 environment. NetWare 3.11 1000-user Issues NetWare 3.11 1000-user is a controlled release product with known limitations. As a result of these limitations, the product has not been fully subjected to Novell's regression testing and certification process. NetWare 3.11 1000-user is an "as is" product with limited support and no further engineering development. NetWare 3.12, which replaces NetWare 3.11, will not be released in either a 500-user or a 1000-user offering. On the other hand, NetWare 4 is available in both 500-user and 1000-user configurations. The major limitation for NetWare 3.11 1000-user is compatibility with server and client applications running above file server connection 255. NetWare 3.11 1,000-user provides support for both single and double byte connection numbers. If an application depends upon connection numbers it must be specifically engineered to use double byte connection numbers or it may not function properly if the user is logged in above connection 255. For example: the user logged in as connection 257 is running a connection number dependent application, which makes a connection call to the server. Depending upon the NCP called, the server returns either a single byte connection number, valid for connections below 256, or a double byte connection number. The point is that the application must make the proper call and correctly handle the information when it is returned from the server. Otherwise, information will be truncated causing connection number 257 to wrap and appear as if it were connection number 1. Continuing the example we see that the largest value that could be expressed by a single byte (8 bits) is: Hex Binary Decimal FF 11111111 255 Adding one to the above values result in 0 because it wraps: Hex Binary Decimal FF 11111111 255 + 1h + 00000001 + 1 0h 00000000 0 Therefore, with a single byte as the connection number, not all Novell and third-party utilities or applications will work correctly above the 256th connection on NetWare 3.11 1000-user. NCPs in older versions of NetWare, such as NetWare 2.15, 2.2, and 3.0, provided support for only single byte connection numbers. The result was a physical limit of 256 (0-255) concurrent connections for these versions. NetWare 3.11 1000-user and NetWare 4 contain NCPs that support multiple byte connection numbers. Although the NetWare 3.11 1000-user operating system removed the limitation by changing the internal connection field at the file server to multiple bytes, the basic programming interfaces to change the applications are not available. NetWare 4 includes NCPs for both single and multiple byte connections numbers, but more importantly, this latest product also includes all the necessary application programming interfaces (APIs) within software development kits (SDKs). These APIs allow the third party software vendors to modify their applications to function properly for connection numbers above the 256 threshold. NetWare 3.11 1000-user Limitations Products affected by the dual byte connection number change are those that use the Novell Connection Services, Broadcast Services, and Queue Management Services. Any utility or application wanting to support connections above 256 and these services need to be modified. Many of Novell's own network administration utilities use connection based calls. All such services have been modified as part of the NetWare 4 release. However, older versions of NetWare, including NetWare 3.11 1000-user, include utilities intended for use only below the 256 connection threshold. Although these utilities function properly below the 256 connection threshold, they do not function correctly above that threshold. These utilities will not be fixed and are maintained in an "as is" state. The following list of NetWare 3 utilities are not supported for engineering changes above the 256 connection threshold by NetWare 3.11 1,000-user: 1. CHKVOL, CHKDIR, and FCONSOLE. 2. All versions of the Novell Macintosh product. If Macintosh connectivity is necessary, we recommend that you off-load the Macintosh NLMs to other NetWare 3.1x servers 3. All versions of the Novell NFS product. We recommend that NFS support be offloaded to other NetWare 3.1x servers. 4. All printing utilities have limited functionality. For example, printing jobs using the NetWare forms and print job configurations is not supported. We recommend that printing be offloaded to other NetWare 3.1x servers. 5. OS/2 support is limited to v2.0 or greater. 6. Workstation with remote boot PROMs will not connect to a NetWare 3.11 1,000-user file server above the 256th connection. 7. A NetWare 3.11 1,000-user file server can not be placed in NNS domains. The NNS management utilities will not run properly if the workstation is connected above the 256th connection threshold. 8. The security enhancement which enables packet signing is not supported. Like the Novell utilities, all third party utilities and applications that use the Novell Connection Services, Broadcast Services, and Queue Management Services must be modified by the manufacturer to be NW 3.11 1,000-user aware. Please check with the manufacturer of your products for compatibility. Examples of third party products that may be affected: - Print Server software. - Network Management software. - Metering software. - Backup Systems (server based). - Hardware Print Server devices (printer cards that service Novell queues directly). Any third party application that is strictly file based and does not use the connection number from NetWare (meaning: Novell Connection Services, Broadcast Services, or Queue Management Services) are not affected. Examples of applications that are unaffected and should function properly are: - Word Processing software. - Spreadsheet software. - Database software. - E-mail software. - Backup Systems (workstation based). Key advantages of NetWare 4 for 1,000-user environments 1. NetWare 4 includes improved administration utilities. The utilities are more consistent and consolidated than 3.x, than those included with NetWare 3.11, allowing a shorter training cycle for administrative personnel. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) version of all utility functions is supplied with the NetWare 4 product. This interface is comfortable for those users familiar with the popular windowed interface environments. However, character based utilities are also included with the NetWare 4 product for those who are more comfortable with the look and feel of the existing NetWare 3 utilities. More importantly for our purposes here, all NetWare 4 administration utilities have been designed for use above the 1,000-user level. 2. File by file disk compression is available. Compression may be controlled at various file levels based on several parameters. Compression can allow significantly reduced costs for disk storage in 1,000-user environments. Some users have reported a 50% reduction in disk storage requirements to support a given user environment. 3. NetWare 4 allows larger block sizes on the disk than have ever been available before in Novell products. These larger block sizes allow more efficient use of the Disk and its I/O channels. 4. With the larger block size, NetWare 4 also provides a new suballocation feature. This feature allows several small files to share a single physical block on the disk. This feature also adds to the cost savings available in NetWare 4 as the amount of disk required to support an environment with many small files (such as an E-mail server) is greatly reduced. 5. NetWare 4 provides improved memory management services. NetWare 4 will better use available memory, reducing memory fragmentation and related problems. 6. Protected NLM support is available in the NetWare 4 product. As outside parties develop new NLM programs, server security and integrity will be enhanced through implementation of the memory protection feature. 7. New and improved security auditing features are available to allow 1,000-users configurations to be monitored for potential security problems. Larger sites benefit particularly from these auditing and security features. 8. Enhanced security, packet burst transmission and large internet packets are available in the NetWare 4 product. These features will greatly improve the performance of NetWare 4 over NetWare 3.11. 9. Documentation is available in an on line format. The new documentation is easy to use, more available to the larger user community working with 1,000-user servers and easier to update for future versions. Simply copying files to the server will make new documentation available to the entire user community. How to implement NetWare 4 1,000-user into an existing NetWare 3 environment The following guidelines have been developed by Novell Consulting Services (NCS) to allow the conversion of 1,000-user NetWare 3 environments to NetWare 4. Often incorrect or inaccurate information confuses the potential user of NetWare 4. These guidelines are provided to allow the user to implement NetWare 4 in the 1,000-user environment, thus reducing or eliminating much of the planning and problems supposedly required for the standard NetWare 4 installation. These guidelines are also intended to reduce the risk of conversion as existing NetWare 3 systems are moved to the NetWare 4 environment. 1. Converting to the 1,000-user environment implies a new connection number which will exceed the 250 connections allowed in the small server environments of the past. This issue is the same for NetWare 3 or NetWare 4. Third party applications must have support of connection numbers greater than 256. Many applications and third party NLM's have been modified to properly use the connection number greater than 256. 2. NetWare Directory Service Tree planning and naming is eliminated by simply accepting the defaults provided through the installation program. These defaults will establish a tree with a single Organization (O). Under that O you should create a single Organizational Unit (OU) and place the 1,000-user server in that OU. All existing users and known NetWare resources will be migrated into that single OU. More servers can be added later to that OU, or to new OU's, in the Directory Tree. Utilities planned for a future releas will allow the OU to be renamed or moved. 3. Time Synchronization issues are completely eliminated by accepting the default SINGLE REFERENCE SERVER configuration. By default, additional servers will be added as secondary time servers. Again, in the future this can be changed if the needs of the organization change. 4. Normally, through the installation process, the defaults will be accepted. This reduces the time and planning required for the installation. The defaults will normally meet the needs of the initial 1,000-user environment. 5. For all of the standard users of the new server, the client software does not need to be upgraded. This greatly reduces problems which are created as client software and configurations are changed. One or two clients must be upgraded to use the VLM software to run the administrative utilities. The rest of the existing NETX clients can be allowed to connect with the new server using the NETX client software. This step eliminates the requirement to change all clients to the VLM client software during the initial conversion. For the initial conversion, risk will be greatly reduced by leaving the client software and configurations intact. In the future clients, can be changed as a need arises to implement features such as security and packet burst which require the VLM's. The modularized VLM's are more flexible than the NETX architecture. VLM's also take a smaller memory foot print than NETX, allow access to the features of the NetWare Directory Service, allow additional server connections above the eight allowed by NETX and support concurrent connections to different protocols. 6. The migration utilities provided with the NetWare 4 product will be used to migrate the existing NetWare 3 server during the installation process. These utilities work very well in the environment we are addressing. The user must select either the "in place" method of migration or the "across the wire" method of migration. a. In Place Considerations - In place migration allows an existing NetWare 3 server to be migrated to NetWare 4 without using additional hardware or requiring the additional network or tape backup time which might be required to move the existing server data. The existing server will become the new NetWare 4 server. i. In place preserves all NetWare volume definitions as they were on the NetWare system. This precludes changing the block size of the NetWare disk volumes. ii. In place migration uses the existing hardware. This eliminates the cost of a new system just for the migration process. iii. In place migration is able to preserve print jobs and other definitions. iv. In place migration is very fast. No data needs to be transferred. The volumes are simply upgraded and the large data volumes remain largely un- disturbed reducing the time required to complete the migration process. v. Because in place is upgrading the system on the existing volumes, it requires an excellent backup strategy. If a problem occurs with the in place migration, all data must be restored from the backup to return the system to the pre-migration condition. b. Across The Wire Considerations - Across the wire migration allows an existing NetWare 3 server to be migrated by moving the information from the existing server to a new server which will replace the existing server at the completion of the upgrade process. i. Across the wire allows the block size to be changed as the new NetWare volumes are defined. ii. Across the wire requires two sets of hardware. One for the existing NetWare 3 system and one set for the new NetWare 4 system. If the 1,000-user configuration will require a new processer or a hardware migration is planned, across the wire becomes a great way to move to the new server. iii. Across the wire will not convert all the print job configurations. All bindery objects are converted in either method, but the print job configurations are not properly converted when using the across the wire method. iv. Across the wire can be much slower based on the amount of data which must be transferred across the network to the new server. v. Across the wire provides an excellent backup and recovery strategy because the existing server is not modified allowing the conversion to occur with no risk to the existing system. 7. Printing with NetWare 4 is fully supported and significantly enhanced with more features, capacity and performance over the support available in NetWare 3. Printing in the NetWare 3.11 1,000-user environment has limited support, as stated above. 8. Bindery emulation issues are often raised as problems when implementing NetWare 4. Bindery emulation is not a limitation in NetWare 4, it is a feature that allows those products which have not yet been upgraded to work with NetWare 4. Using bindery emulation, these products will continue to run on NetWare 4 while the vendor of those products, provide upgrades that are fully compatible with and exploit the features of NetWare 4. As stated above, we recommend that Directory Services is implemented as a single OU (under a single O) and that Bindery Context is set to this OU. Be aware of where the Bindery Context on the file server is actually set during the file server installation. The Bindery Context is set automatically during installation, just check the value being set. All of the users should be migrated into this single OU. This configuration eliminates bindery emulation issues and makes the new NetWare 4 1,000-user function very much like the NetWare 3 server. Almost all products which use the bindery will work properly in the new environment. 9. As previously stated, NetWare 3.11 1,000-user suffered several incompatibilities with Novell products. Most of those issues are eliminated with the NetWare 4 implementation. NetWare 4 is the future direction of Novell and all products will be enhanced to further support the NetWare 4 environment. No further enhancements to Novell products will made be for support of the NetWare 3.11 1,000-user product. NetWare 4 is the future and NetWare Directory Services will be further exploited with each new release of the Novell products attaching them directly into the NetWare 4 NDS environment. 10. Compatibility of products provided by third party vendors will continue to improve as they introduce NetWare 4 capable products. Several NLM's have been certified for NetWare 4 and many more are in the certification process. Compatibility issues will be resolved and enhanced as vendors support the NetWare 4 product. Summary Our message is simple. NetWare 3.11 1,000-user is no longer available and should not be used for configurations above 250 connections per server. Further NetWare 3.12 will not be provided in configurations above 250. On the other hand, NetWare 4 is readily available in 500 and 1,000-user configurrations. And NetWare 4 1,000-user is easy to install, cost effective and provides the power and flexibility that customers need. NetWare 4 is the future of Network Computing. By using these migration guidelines the user is able to preserve his investment in NetWare 3 applications and training and, at the same time, exploit the latest NetWare technology. During the migration, risk is minimized by following established and tested procedures. Migrating to NetWare 4 for configurations above the 250 connections per server is the best solution available today and in the future.