Novell Netware 4.11 still works as file server for DOS machines

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redditshreadit@reddit

Isn't that what it was designed to do. What other clients does it support?.

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KingDaveRa@reddit

You could theoretically talk to anything Windows with the NetWare client. I think 4.11 supported tcpip.

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CommunityHairy6695@reddit (OP)

yes also linux clients can access the server. tcp/ip is optional and i don't use it. my lan is not open to internet.

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CommunityHairy6695@reddit (OP)

naturally...

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enrious@reddit

My newer colleagues look at me funny when I tell them that tcp/ip used to be an elective exam for the MCSE.

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redditshreadit@reddit

There are Netware client software for NT and Windows 9x. The operating systems came with the IPX protocol built in.

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pfak@reddit

I used netware with 3.11, NT, 95 and 98.

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probably_platypus@reddit

So the NTM loadable module didn't work after all?

NTM (R) - Novell Time Machine: Goes back in time and breaks future compatibility for existing Novell branded and licensed products.

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Tscotty223@reddit

I’ve had many netware servers with an uptime of over a year but that was a long time ago. Netware and NDS copied from Banyan Vines then copied by Microsoft. In some ways IT life was easier then.

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Dizzy_Bridge_794@reddit

Don’t miss Token Ring though and stuck MAU’s and the token reset tool.

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steppek@reddit

I used to be Netware certified. I have a screenshot of a server from 1993 and at that time had just about 2 years of uptime.

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H3rbert_K0rnfeld@reddit

Back when uptime was a thing to be proud of.

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My ISP in those days included a shell account. Once I got an always-on connection at work I stayed logged into a terminal window 24/7 just so the admin there could see how long it had been since I rebooted my workstation.

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RomanOswald@reddit

Pfff 2 years… We had to relocate out server room, update was almost 6 years.

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steppek@reddit

6 years, impressive. I had to shut this one down for a planned power outage in the business park.

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Tiny-Part-4786@reddit

We had an old box years ago that had monitor.nlm burnt into the CRT.

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PaleDreamer_1969@reddit

Wow, this REALLY brought back memories! Netware 4.11 was so ultra stable. I worked at a company back in the 90’s that had a lost Netware server. We looked and looked for it for years. It was still on the network, responding to network requests and processing print jobs, while storing a copy of the tree. It was old, Pentium 90, with 16 MB of ram and a small HDD. It’s uptime was over 4 years

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ExplodedPenisDiagram@reddit

It works as a fileserver for any machine, really. I used to work there (recently enough to be notable -- it was 2013). I was the guy who had an excellent understanding of Netware and Linux in modern systems, so they had me on migrations non-stop.

AD did that company dirty. They had a directory service that trounced AD even at the time, because Microsoft had ripped it off. It was so much easier to understand and so much more conceptually sound it was unreal.

Also, the software was *good*. So incredibly stable -- solid as a rock on Caldera DOS, which ended up being a favored DOS for me.

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Maximum_Help_4371@reddit

The college I first when to used some Novell domain

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gadget850@reddit

With the right NIC, it should work with the 10BASE2 in my house.

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kaaskugg@reddit

I think my copy of Novell DOS 7 came with a very basic version of this as part of the OS.

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_litz@reddit

All you ever need to know about NetWare (and the fact that after Armageddon, it'll still be running):

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/42s46g/til_in_2001_it_at_unc_decided_to_do_a_server/

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Ok_Study3236@reddit

2 minutes to install, 12 hours to apply all the patches..

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calculatetech@reddit

I did a little project just for fun to slipstream all the patches into 4.10. 4.11 changed quite a bit for such a small version increment and is much harder to do. I think I was able to get it partially done. My intention was to run a server for my classic machines, but keeping data in sync with my primary NAS is the hurdle I haven't bothered to solve yet.

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Ok_Study3236@reddit

I've been looking for a better way to get sync working except the Flex/IP FTP server, which is buggy and very minimally functional. Working on Netware 3.12

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calculatetech@reddit

Gives me inspiration. Appreciate the comment!

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CommunityHairy6695@reddit (OP)

only ide/ata and nic drivers i installed additionally.

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