A Look at Warp Server Beta- by Bernhard Rohrer

Introduction

Most Warp users are probably quite aware of the fact that Warp is a powerful OS for all kinds of server functions. The most commonly used server functions on a LAN are File and Print Services such as those provided by programs like Novell Netware, IBM LAN Server, Windows NT Server and Banyan Vines. IBM's new Warp Server, which is currently in public beta, is the follow-up product to the current LAN Server 4.0 which has steadily increased IBM's market share in the server market from 7% to about 14%.

Until a short time ago, I had spent my networking life with Novell Netware. I started in 1989 with an IBM AT running Netware '86 and I am currently the administrator of a network of 130 users running v3.11. I have learned all my networking with Novell.

On my home machine I have been using OS/2 since November '94 (Warp red spine) and have recently updated to Warp Connect blue spine. Warp Server is my first experience with basic functionality File and Print Services and sharing of other resources.

Using the File and Print Services of Warp Server took some getting used to. In Warp Server you define "Aliases" of directories, printers or serial interfaces in order to make them available to the network. In order to do this you activate sharing through the context-menu of the disk/directory you want to share. This works for any disk-like device, like CDs or even floppy drives. While writing this article, though, I tried it out and completely shot my installation. I had to reinstall the whole system. I think this is a beta bug, because if it wasn't supposed to work, the menu option in the context-menu of the floppy drive wouldn't be there.

Now, sharing a floppy drive on a server is plainly ridiculous, but just ask your local NetWare administrator about sharing a CD drive on a server or, if he has actually done so, about changing the CD in the drive. Let me tell you, it's very difficult and costs a lot of server RAM. Changing a CD will take at least 10 minutes.

With Warp Server, after you have activated sharing, you just drag an object from a template provided in the administration program. This opens a notebook that lets you define the name of the "Alias" (by which the resource will be known to the network), the server, and relevant information for the server to be able to find the resource. You can share a serial port of the server just as easily as you can share a directory. With Netware you have to purchase an additional product, Netware Connect, and have a jolly time setting it up.

Sharing a server-attached printer is a snap: you drag an object off the template and give the resource a name. Then you attach your already defined printer and that's it.

Remote Boot

So far, Warp server supports remote boot for OS/2 and DOS. I strongly hope it will also support remote boot for WIN95, as soon as WIN95 supports it itself. Anyone who has ever installed a remote boot of DOS under Novell knows that this takes some doing. It is quite similar to creating a DOS-boot-image in OS/2 with VMDISK.

Installing DOS-RIPL and OS/2 RIPL by comparison is fairly straightforward. To do this you activate the installation program of Warp Server and select "install remote boot" after this you select which OS's you want to install for remote boot. Then you get prompted for insertion of the appropriate installation disks/CD's.

Once you have installed the OS's to boot, you just create individual machines by dragging them from a template and entering the MAC-address. Here you define what network card to use and that's it. If you want to make any changes in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT or whatever, you can access these files directly, they are not coded into an image. Compared to Netware it's a dream come true.

Administration

Creating a new user is straightforward, (yes, you guessed right) you drag a new object from the user template, enter the name and home directory. A few criticisms here: a) you cannot select it via a file select box, and b) if you enter a directory that does not exist you run into an error rather than being prompted whether you want to create a new directory.

What I like best about Warp Server Admin is the installation of applications: first one does a server setup of the software (I tested it with Ami Pro). After that you create a directory alias for your program's directory and then you create an application object. Here you enter the alias name, the remaining path (in my case "\amipro" and the name of the .exe (amipro.exe). Drag and drop this object to the users that you want to allocate it to and that's it!

You probably have noticed that I didn't talk about install.exe or such things. That's because you don't need it! When I logged in to my client, I got a new folder on the desktop called "Network Applications" containing the Ami Pro icon. I double-clicked on it and Ami Pro started cleanly. I even had the Ami Pro template in my templates folder! I have no clue how this works, although I strongly suspect that DSOM is at work here.

The one thing that I do not like about this GUI Admin Program is that it isn't quite WPS-integrated in some respects. What annoys me most is that you can't drag any object (user, group, printer, etc.) to the shredder to delete it, you have to hit to do it.

Domains

Warp Server is based on the domain concept. That means you don't log on to a single server and have to attach to every additional server you need resources on. Instead, you log on to a domain that can consist of any amount of servers and get all your resources immediately.

Add-ons that come with Warp Server

One of the big things that is new in Warp Server is that there are loads of applications bundled with it. You get a system management tool, a server optimization tool, backup software, a printer facility, a logging tool, extended TCP/IP, a NetWare gateway and a tool for the coordination of passwords and logins between LAN's and host systems.

Conclusions

Warp Server Beta is a powerful network OS that offers by far the best administration I have seen so far. The bundle of applications that come with it is impressive, although in my view Systemview and Personal Safe and Secure are the two most important ones. Once the beta bugs are ironed out, it probably will be the best server on the market, even if NT is more bulletproof. Especially together with OS/2 as a client OS, it offers by far the best Client/Server combination in the industry. Features such as the application installation procedure I have described make it an administrator's dream. I'd rather switch to it from Novell today than tomorrow (after proper training of course). I do recommend at least a week's worth of training for people like me who have NetWare experience and a medium sized LAN on their hands.
The Test System:
Bernhard Rohrer bought his first computer (an Atari ST) in 1987. Since then he has owned a Macintosh and 2 PCs and has had experience with Netware since 1989. Currently he works in a computing centre testing software and administering LANs.

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