Novell has released a public beta of its Open Enterprise Server, which contains technology from SuSE Linux and NetWare. Novell, who have been working on the product since their acquisition of SuSE Linux in November 2003, believe that the software is vital to the company's strategy of "straddling the open-source and proprietary software models."
Novell Open Enterprise Server will allow current customers to run a mixed network of NetWare and SuSE Linux servers and use a common management tool. With one component of the offering, called Novell Nterprise Linux Services 1.0, Novell has rewritten common NetWare functions, such as file- and printer-sharing and security, to run on SuSE Linux.
Included in the package are the NetWare operating system kernel and the SuSE Linux Server 9 Enterprise Edition. Based on the 2.6 kernel, this distribution also includes high-availability software for preventing server crashes and end-user productivity tools iFolder and Virtual Office.