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for all you techies out there,

can any of yall recommend a good cheap (free) way to learn to setup and administer a novell network. I have absolutely no experience with it and vaguely remember seeing it on my High School's networks. I have some basic to intermediate know-how with windows networking but don't know the first thing about novell.

Can anyone think of any simulator's I can download and play with? I'd like something that could simulate an entire network.

The reason I am asking is my old school is looking for someone ANYONE who can do networking. I didn't throw my name in the mix as I figured I didn't have enough experience to do the job but I just found out they hired a Coach to do it.

I've got about six older computers that I'm not using and I'm thinking about setting up a small novell network between them, but I really don't know where to begin.

I need recommendations here.

I'm prob. just going to invite a friend down and get him to bring his computers and we just take a few days off and build a network and learn everything their is to know about it.

wow - there is someone who still uses Netware? Sorry, I can't help you with Novel much, but you would be well served by learning pretty much any Unix or Linux flavor out there as that is the basis for Netware and things will behave quite similar.

for free. You can download Novell OpenSuse 11.1. Then have it install the LAMP server (Linux, Apache http, MySQL, , Php)
You can also start the ppp portion. Which is the basis for a PPPoE interface (dial up, or PPP over Ethernet). It is a User/Password system.
It's all in Linux, but it's all free, and mostly self contained.in OpeSuse 11.1, which is a desktop operating system.

Thanks for the tips. I'm thinking about just seeing if they need an intern. A few months of that and I should be able to do just fine. The opensuse version is fairly new right? I think everything they have is windows based.

Once I get the ball rolling I'm confident I can learn it in no time. I just gotta start. Maybe get a netware for dummies book LOL

Just so you keep in mind that, as others have hinted, there ain't much future in learning Novell. They pretty much gave up their marketshare--where they used to be dominant--a decade ago when they assumed Microsoft would stay focused on the PC and would never become a network operating system threat. I volunteer with a non-profit IT organization in Houston that has almost 650 members, and in the past four years I can't remember the word "Novell" being uttered one single time.

It'd probably be fun for you to play with, and you never said you were looking at it as a possible employment skill. Just thought I'd offer that cautionary note, though, just in case.

TexasComputerDude wrote:for all you techies out there,

can any of yall recommend a good cheap (free) way to learn to setup and administer a novell network. I have absolutely no experience with it and vaguely remember seeing it on my High School's networks. I have some basic to intermediate know-how with windows networking but don't know the first thing about novell.

Can anyone think of any simulator's I can download and play with? I'd like something that could simulate an entire network.

The reason I am asking is my old school is looking for someone ANYONE who can do networking. I didn't throw my name in the mix as I figured I didn't have enough experience to do the job but I just found out they hired a Coach to do it.

I've got about six older computers that I'm not using and I'm thinking about setting up a small novell network between them, but I really don't know where to begin.

I need recommendations here.

I'm prob. just going to invite a friend down and get him to bring his computers and we just take a few days off and build a network and learn everything their is to know about it.

It all depends on the version of Novell. Netware 3.x is way different than 4.x, and then after that you get into the really fun stuff. I don't know many folks who are using 5 or 6, but there are a few out there. it may be worth your time to learn directory services if they have anything newer than 4, but prior to that they didn't use directory services much (4 could, 3 couldn't). Also, check and see if they're using the NDIS-ODI shim on their client network stack (that may give you a hint as to the version of Netware they're using, but it won't be conclusive - some folks kept using that after it wasn't really required).

I've always made due with some textbooks and some familiarity with general OS-level networking and directory services (but I'm a self-trainer by nature, so that may not help you). I just keep telling myself "All NOSes do the same functions, just with different commands" and it seems to help.

I self train too, but I only learn so much from books.

I am a near instant learner when it comes to computers as long as I'm actually doing it (with books for reference)

I'm just looking for some real networking experience because if I did get hired on at the place where an opening might present itself I would basically become the head admin instantly (they've done it before) and I am really picky about my systems running as close to perfectly as possible.